Golden Oldies
"This theme is great for people that were teenagers in the 1950?s¡ or wished they had been - it is not only simple, but easy to arrange, decorate and organize. Send invitations out shaped in the old black 45 record styles, with "Side One" listing the information and "Side 2" listing the directions to the party. Decorate with jukebox style decorations, 45 records, photos of poodle skirts, hula hoops, hot rods. Games can include Bazooka Bubble Blowing Contest, Hula Hoop and Limbo contests, dancing to the Twist and doing the Stroll."
Unique Themes
Look beyond the obvious and instead choose your child?s favorite toy, book, activity or hero and build a theme around that.
Good Old Days
"A great theme for any adult birthday party is "Good Old Days" celebration, where memorabilia from childhood through adulthood is incorporated throughout the entire party."
Time Capsule
I just heard a great first birthday idea! A time capsule party!!! It could have a theme like "Somewhere in Time" or "Time after Time", etc. On the invitation you ask people to bring something for your child?s time capsule. You could also have them fill out a questionaire about their favorite things in 2000 (or whichever year it is). Find 2000 themed plates and napkins (check for old New Year?s items on sale). Have guests either sign a picture of the one year old or sign on an actual time capsule box. Then keep the time capsule until the child is 18 or 20 and open it up again at their party!
Bowling Party
Once kids are about 6 or 7 they could have real fun at the bowling alley! Most alleys now provide birthday packages which include bowling, shoe rental and food. This might be an idea if you?re looking for something easy - someone else does the work and planning, and your kids are entertained! Try to hit the alley when "moonlight bowling" starts - they turn off most of the lights, and anything that is white or pastel glows in the dark!
Outdoor Toga Party
One neat idea I read about once was an outdoor toga party...serve snacks (fingerfood!!) on simple plaster pillars and have cloth and pillows draped around. Hide the chairs. :)
Let the Countdown Begin
"Let?s pretend we are planning a "50 days until 50" party (these ideas can be adapted to a "30 Days Until 30" party, any milestone birthday). Set up a calendar for the birthday person reminding them how many days are left before the Big 5-0. Mark certain days with sarcastic sayings, funny quotes about aging, or words of wisdom. Mail the invitations/announcements out 50 days ahead of time and use a calendar as the invitation (easy to make on computers). Let the guests know who?s turning 50 (or any other milestone age) and the date. Be sure to follow up with a "25 days left" announcement so the guests won?t forget. Ask everyone to mail in an idea when they RSVP. Create a list of the 50 signs you know the celebrant is getting older, such as:"Age is a number, old is in your head""Age isn?t important unless you are cheese""Age does not determine who?s right, it only determines who?s left""You?re still on the right side of the grass""You?ve seen it all, heard it all, done it all, you just can?t remember it all""At your age, you?ve got achy, breaky everything""You know you are getting old when you remember when Queen Elizabeth was a Princess"My personal favorites:"Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age" - Victor Hugo"Growing old is mandatory¡ growing up is optional!"The day of the party, hang the 50 days calendar up for everyone to see. Use a variety of colors of balloons and streamers for simple decorations, decorate according to the season or the celebrants? hobbies. Create a festive atmosphere rather than the ?Over the Hill? theme that is, in my opinion, a depressing reminder."
Birthday Theme: Treasure Hunt for Presents
A fun birthday theme is to hide the presents and give the birthday person (whether adult or child) scavenger hunt style tips about the where the present is located. On a piece of paper, write a clue about where the next clue can be found. Lead them on a chase of however many clues their age can handle: two or three for younger kids and more for the older ones. For really small children, use pictures rather than words to indicate the location of the next clue. Another similar birthday theme is to tie a string to the present, then run the string all over the house and end up on the birthday child's bed. When they get up in the morning, they have to follow the string to find their first gift.
Glow in the Dark Party
Outfit guests with glow necklaces or glow sticks. Use glow paint on invitations. Use green and purple plates with glow in the dark stickers on tablecover and cups. Play Hot Potato with a glow-in-the-dark ball, flashlight tag, and make glow bracelets with glow beads, paint nails with glow paint or use milky pens to make designs. Serve neon-green drinks with glow straws. For older children, rent a black light for a glow dance party.
Medieval Celebration
"Computer-generated invitations are easy and inexpensive. There are lots of graphics are available on the Internet for designs, such as -- a castle, a moat, knight in armor, ladies in waiting, etc. Ask the guests to come in costume. Ask the male guest of honor to dress as the Knight in Shining Armor or the female guest of honor to dress as a Lady In Waiting for the party. Decorate the area with paper swords, shields, castle backgrounds, gold, and black tableware, streamers and balloons. No silverware¡ wasn?t invented we are told until the 17th Century in France -- serve finger foods. Set the table with plastic goblets for serving drinks and serve red wine (or cranberry juice) for the toast. Lace doilies, elaborate settings, and plenty of candles will give the room the dramatic effect you?re looking for."
Birthday Theme: Legos
Choose a birthday theme that suits your child's personality. If you haven't seen it done before, just adapt classic party ideas to match your theme. If your child likes to build with Legos, make that the theme. You can make a cake decorated with Lego figures or make the cake look like a big Lego piece. Have games that challenge how fast kids can build certain things from Legos. Put a bunch of Legos in a jar and have kids guess how many pieces there are inside. Send each child home with a small Lego kit for the party favor.
Birthday Theme: Half Birthdays
Many parents of young children like to celebrate half birthdays. Especially for children whose birthdays can be diminished by major holidays on or near their birthdays, having a birthday theme of a half birthday can make them feel special. Want some great half birthday party ideas? You can bake a cake and cut it in half. (Freeze the other half for some other special dinner.) Come up with other "half themes" as well. You might decorate only half a room or make half a birthday card.
Child Theme Party: Swimming
For a child theme party, it's often fun to focus on a sport or favorite activity of the birthday child. If your child likes to swim and is old enough that you think most of the guests will be water safe as well, find out about having the party at your neighborhood swimming pool if one is available. At the neighborhood swimming pool, you can decorate a picnic table at the pool with a Hawaiian or island theme, get a pinata, and provide some snacks or have pizzas delivered. Kids can generally entertain themselves for hours in a pool and will spontaneously come up with all sorts of games to play.
Party on a Budget
If you're on a tight budget and your child is clamoring for a birthday party, don¡¯t despair. At the heart of everything, most kids really just want to have a handful of friends over to play. You can make the party as simple as an outing to a local park or the community swimming pool. Pick some old-fashioned games to play like pin the tail on the donkey, have a 3-legged race or a potato on a spoon race, and play charades. You can provide lunch sacks to be decorated as an activity rather than buying decorated "goody" bags. If you want to provide more than cake and ice cream, have a "make your own pizza" party, with homemade dough and pizza sauce plus a variety of toppings.
Solid Colors
An easy way to keep a party theme going throughout is to pick one color for everything. For example, if the party?s theme is Elmo, buy red plates, cups, napkins, streamers and balloons at the grocery or "dollar" store.The decorations will carry the theme, and you will have paid much less than had you bought the expensive printed goods.