| There is nothing wrong with having a birthday party at | | | | MUSIC: |
| Chuck E. Cheese or a place with bouncy houses, but | | | | Nothing sets the mood of a party like music. For the |
| with just a little planning and effort, you can give a | | | | Egyptian party we got a cd of the music they played |
| birthday party that people will be talking about for a | | | | at King Tut's tour (from 30 years ago, not the current |
| long time. My husband and I consider planning our 2 | | | | tour). It sounded ancient and mysterious and a little |
| sons yearly parties as a hobby. We work on them all | | | | eery. For the games we revved things up with the |
| year long, and are able to take our time as well as | | | | Indiana Jones theme and "Walk Like An Egyptian" by |
| spread the costs out. If you pick your theme early | | | | the Bangles. For the Indiana Jones party we had old |
| enough, you can afford to wait for sales, clearances, | | | | 1930's jazz playing in Club Obi Wan, and an Indiana |
| and coupons to buy a lot of the supplies. | | | | Jones soundtrack in another area of the house. |
| The most important thing to decide on is the theme. | | | | SCENTS: |
| Your child will most likely have 2 cents to put in on this | | | | This may seem strange, but there is a variety of |
| unless he is young enough to let you decide. With our | | | | scented oils, candles, and incense you can get that |
| older son, we decided as soon as he was born that | | | | really enhance the setting also. Think what it would |
| each year we would choose a different continent as | | | | smell like. Are you by the ocean, in the dessert, in the |
| his theme. When he turned 8, he finally got to pick his | | | | forest? Make the smell of your house match. |
| own. With our younger son, we are doing different | | | | Remember you want to indulge all 5 senses to evoke |
| periods of Americana starting with the California Gold | | | | the feeling that they have traveled through time and |
| Rush c.1850. | | | | ended up smack dab in your theme. |
| Once you have the theme, you can use a simple | | | | GAMES AND ACTIVITIES: |
| outline of what you will need, and start filling it in. | | | | Have you ever been to a party where there is |
| INVITATIONS: | | | | absolutely nothing to do or maybe just a rented |
| The first thing you will need is an invitation to send out. | | | | bouncy house? The kids get bored after a little while |
| Most people are computer savvy enough to do simple | | | | or start to run crazy and get into trouble. Am I right? |
| desktop publishing from their own computers for this. | | | | Have you been there? You want to keep your party |
| All you need is some nice paper or blank note cards, | | | | structured structured structured. I actually give out an |
| and you can give the details inside. We always liked to | | | | event timeline at the start so everybody knows what |
| steer clear of the ho hum fill in fields look, and rather | | | | is happening when. I plan for at least 3 games, and |
| make it pertinent to the theme. For our son's Egyptian | | | | then a craft or coloring activity also. Some children will |
| party, it was a 1920's telegram announcing the | | | | refuse to eat and will need something to keep them |
| discovery of a new tomb and asking fellow | | | | busy. For an Indiana Jones party we gave, we had the |
| archaeologists to come and assist with the dig. The | | | | kids decipher a code, choose the correct Holy Grail |
| invitation should set the stage for the actual party. For | | | | out of several choices, find a diamond and an |
| example, the telegrams were printed on tan | | | | antidote vial in a pool filled with ice, paint necklaces, |
| parchment paper and used an actual telegram font for | | | | play a steal the grail game, and walk on stepping |
| the printing. They were slipped into window envelopes | | | | stones in the correct order to spell I-E-H-O-V-A-H. It's |
| just like the old time Western Union ones. An Egyptian | | | | better to have too many activities than not enough. |
| sticker sealed the envelope, and we printed CAIRO in | | | | PRIZES: |
| faded red letters on the front as if it had been | | | | You will probably want to invest in a few special prizes |
| stamped. The stamp itself is very important. Do not | | | | for the winners of the games. Again, you can find |
| use any new postage stamp just because it has the | | | | really nice things at deep discounts sometimes. |
| correct postage. You can use any US stamp ever | | | | GOODY BOXES OR BAGS: |
| issued as long as it has not been canceled. eBay has | | | | Make these as unique as you can. For Indy we found |
| tons of vintage unused stamps, and I bet you can find | | | | mini wooden crates on Craigslist. With a little stenciling |
| many that suit your theme. You may just have to use | | | | they looked just like the crate the ark of the covenant |
| multiples or get different ones to equal the correct | | | | was placed in. We put in a museum tag, a mini |
| amount. | | | | sankara stone, a small cross of Coronado, antidote vial, |
| DECORATIONS: | | | | plastic diamond, gold coin, spider, snake, rat, bug, and |
| Next, you'll want to put some thought into decorations. | | | | an archaeology club pin. We also gave each child a |
| You want to transform your house into a location of | | | | plastic goblet (grail) to take home. Give one to each |
| your theme. Using the example of the Egyptian party | | | | child. Adults do not need to receive one. |
| again, we created an archaeological site roping off the | | | | FAVORS: |
| yard and setting up tents. The tomb was the largest | | | | Yes, favors are different than goody bags, and you |
| tent and inside was a cardboard sarcophagus, canopic | | | | should have enough for all guests. I usually make |
| jars, animal print blankets, and anything we thought | | | | cookies and place them in those nice clear bags you |
| looked like it would have been in a tomb. Try to keep | | | | can get at Michael's. Again using the Indiana Jones |
| this in mind when shopping, do not go for printed | | | | theme, we purchased a replica headpiece to the staff |
| "theme" items. Ask yourself what people would have | | | | of Ra on eBay. My husband made an impression in |
| really seen and used. For example, Indiana Jones | | | | sculpey (just like Toht did with his hand). I used this to |
| would not use plates, cups, and napkins with his face | | | | make springerle cookies and even melted crushed |
| on them. He would most likely use some sort of metal | | | | orange lollipop into the centers so it looked like a jewel. |
| mess kit, bamboo plates, coconut shells, etc. | | | | After baking, I brushed with edible gold petal dust and |
| FOOD: | | | | they looked pretty neat. Instead of using the silver twist |
| Here is where my husband and I disagree. He thinks | | | | tie that comes with the bags, we tied museum tags on |
| we should serve kid friendly food no matter what the | | | | them with rough twine. |
| theme. We invite the entire family of each child who | | | | THANK YOU'S: |
| receives an invitation, so the food is not just for the | | | | Lastly, you will need some nice thank you cards to |
| kids, and I want it to be an educational experience also. | | | | send out after the party. It is nice if you can find time |
| (Definitely plan on having enough food for adults too. I | | | | to take photos of the guests at the party to include. |
| have been to parties before where the food "is just | | | | For a Pirates of the Caribbean theme, we took head |
| for the kids" and the adults stand around hungry.) For | | | | shots of everyone as they entered and didn't tell them |
| the Egyptian party we had kebabs, hummus, baklava, | | | | that on the DVD there is special feature that allows |
| and yogurt drinks. I just looked up Egyptian recipes | | | | you to turn pictures into the "cursed". It was really really |
| online and went with what sounded good. The cake | | | | creepy, but funny too. Our guests were shocked |
| we made to look like the 3 pyramids on a cake board | | | | when they got those in the mail. You will probably not |
| sprinkled with crushed graham crackers, and added | | | | need to have as many Thank You cards as you did |
| little figurines and trees. Make sure you have plenty to | | | | invitations because not everybody was able to attend. |
| drink especially if the weather is warm. Allow for 3-4 | | | | You can spend a little more time to make these |
| servings of punch, water, soda per person. Be sure to | | | | personal especially if you have scrap booking skills. |
| prepare whatever you can ahead of time so that you | | | | Use stickers and cut outs and make it a little 3 |
| aren't rushed on party day. | | | | dimensional if you can. |