Super Hero Party

My son is a huge super hero fan. He loves them all, but his favorites are Flash and Hulk. When it came time to choose a theme for his party, he couldn't decide between the two. So, he didn't! 

I love to be creative with parties. I find nothing but pleasure in planning and throwing them. I try to be creative with theme, decorations, party favors, food, etc. Once again, I scoured my brain for ways to make sure that this Super Hero party wouldn't be a generic, cookie cutter version. My first assignment, was the food. There is an amazing bakery, here in Sherwood, that creates beautiful, yummy treats. We used them a few years back for another one of Liam's birthday parties. We asked them to create Hulk hands and Flash lightening cookies. They turned out awesome, and were a huge hit!

The next order of business was themed (yet, not canned) decorations. I went simplistic this time around. Putting out colored table clothes, napkins, plates, and silverware and pairing them with a few of Liam's toys. I put together a themed table for each of the heroes, and moved on to more important things......party favors!

I have to say, that this is one of my proudest party ideas. I'm a reading teacher. My boys love books. Normal party favors tend to be cheap toys, candy, and nick knacks that are thrown away. I wanted to make Liam's party favors useful, memorable, and worth taking home. So I went with books!

I searched local book stores, Facebook buy/sell pages, and garage sales, for new/like new children's books. I was able to come up with quite a stash for less money than the normal goodie bags would require. I displayed the book options in a decorative basket, near the front door, so as not to forget them. This also allowed the children, to flip through and choose the book that they wanted, while heading out.

To personalize the gift for Liam and his guests, I typed up and printed a little note on address labels and stuck them on the front cover of each book. Once again, our guests loved the idea! I have received more compliments on this idea, than any other. I'm so happy that everyone liked it, and I love that it promotes reading!

The last hurtle to get the party started, was an activity for the kiddos. I hate party games. Especially, for infant/toddler parties. Kids just want to play. Party games are complicated, can be difficult to organize, and they require that someone who is throwing the party, be taken away from their guests to facilitate. I'm just not a fan. In past parties, I set up a cookie decorating station, homemade playdough, Mr. Potato Head felt game, and created a punch for the prize game, You can check out these ideas at Teddy Bear Picnic Birthday Party and To Infinity and Beyond!

This time, I created bookmarks that went along with the Hulk/Flash theme. I printed them in black and white, and put markers and crayons on the same table. This way, each kiddo would leave the party with a book and bookmark that they colored, and would have a fun, calm activity to do, while at the party.

This was a super easy and simple way to throw a birthday party, and I got nothing but compliments for how it turned out. I learned that parties don't need to be fancy, expensive, and super-structured to be a hit. They just need to be well thought out and creative!