Nerf Wars & S'mores Birthday Party

Planning a birthday right now can be tricky. Georgia is still very much in the thick of all things Covid-19, and while having a party at a trampoline park or arcade is possible, it's also more risk than we were willing to take for our son's 10th birthday celebration. 

Weather is also tricky this time of year. This is "Hot-lanta" so Winter days can be in the 70's or, on occasion, the 20's. The bigger threat though is rain. 

Thinking of the two obstacles, we almost scrapped a birthday party all together. But at the same time I felt like so much has been missed these past months, that celebrating might be a good thing. In the end, we brainstormed and came up with a "Nerf Wars & S'mores" themed birthday party. 

And let me tell you - best. idea. ever! 

It was a super easy party to plan, and allotted for safety measures to be in place without limiting the fun. Originally I was going to buy a bunch of Nerf War supplies I found on Amazon, but then I found a local company that specializes in outdoor Nerf War Parties (if you are local to Atlanta - check them out!). 

Here's a quick peek at some of the fun and details from the day...

PARTY DETAILS

In an effort to keep everyone safe, I kept the party pretty simple with the goal of everyone staying outside. I did very little decorating with a few fun Nerf themed party items I found on Amazon. 

| Nerf Party Supplies | 3-tier Serving Tray |

We hosted it in early afternoon so we could keep food to a minimum and adhered to the whole "pre-packaged snacks only" suggestion for the most part. 

We did order pizza for the boys (because - trust me - they worked up an appetite), and I made my new favorite dip to have on hand for the adults. 

We have a huge fire pit in our backyard and s'mores worked so well for my daughter's birthday in October that we thought we would reuse the idea for this party too. The kids loved it! 

| Clear S'mores Bags |

The only change I made to make it a little more Covid safe was pre-package the graham crackers and marshmallows so that a bunch of little hands weren't digging into boxes and bags together. I got the idea from our New Year's trip to Barnsley Resort last month. 

The party favors might have been one of my favorite finds. I found these Nerf Wars kits on Amazon that the kids could take home to continue the party. Each kit includes a mask, goggles, two sets of Nerf bullets, and a target bag that can store everything as well. 

I hired an outside company to host the party, but these little kits would be great if you opted to host your own party. 

I topped the bags with these fun easy to print Nerf themed thank you notes I found on Etsy. 

NERF WARS & S'MORE FUN

Here's a quick peek at some pictures from the day. The kids (and some dads too!) had a BLAST at this party. This age group for boys is tricky to plan a party for when it seems all the want to do is play Fortnite with each other, but this was a total crowd pleaser. The company set up the course and played a ton of different games with them (capture the flag, total elimination, and grab the pin just to name a few I remember). 

Now let me just tell you the audible gasp all of the parents on the sidelines released when we saw one of the employees bring out this little gadget.

It just rolled and picked up all the darts! We were amazed to say the least. I mean can you imagine how time saving this is?! (I might or might not have one on order.)

HOSTING YOUR OWN PARTY

If you want to host your own Nerf Wars & S'mores party I found a ton of fun items in my research. It would be super easy to put together (especially if everyone brought their own gun)! I've linked everything in this post, but here is a link to all my Amazon Nerf Party finds too! 

Come spend the day with us on:

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Tie-Dye Birthday Party

A few weeks ago my oldest turned 11 and we celebrated last week with a tie-dye birthday party! We had done tie-dying kit I picked up a few weeks ago and the kids had so much fun that I suggested doing it as a party theme.  She loved the idea and so did all the other kids who attended the party.  

I bought this tie-dye kit for the party and it was perfect because it comes with everything needed…the dye, rubber bands and plastic gloves. 

I did end up buying extra rubber bands and rubber gloves to just be sure we would have enough and I’m glad I did.  

I bought packs of white t-shirts (they shrink, so size up!) and also white pillowcases so that each girl could dye two items. The kit came with instructions on how to do different designs and after doing a test run previously I could help the girls with a few different methods.  

I set up a table outside with a plastic table cloth to try to protect the best I could and had all of the colors of dye available for the girls to use. 

We used clear plastic bins to do the dying in so that it wouldn’t go everywhere and every time I went to grab my phone and take a picture, I had to rush and avoid a tie-dye emergency.  I told Jen that next time I want to tie-dye with 12 girls she needs to remind me to think again. In all seriousness though, the kids had a blast and it was such a fun party. 

Because the tie-dye needs to set for 6-8 hour we weren’t able to actually finish them off before the party was over so I had the kids put each of their projects into a gallon zip-top bag and then I sent them home with an extra set of rubber gloves and this free printable directions of how to wash out and finish the tie-dye at home.  

The party was in the afternoon so I just did a nugget tray, fruit and a few other snacks for the girls along with some pink lemonade and waters.  I found these tie-dye bandanas at my local craft store that we cut to use for a garland. 

The birthday girl wanted cookies instead of cakes so I had a local mom that I knew make these decorated sugar cookies.  

We had so much fun untying the shirts my kids did and seeing how they turned out!  Everyone was pretty impressed and have been wearing their shirts a bunch.  

Whether you are looking for a birthday party idea or just want a fun activity to do with your kids this summer, tie-dying was a hit and I am sure we'll be doing it again soon!

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Minute-To-Win-It Birthday Party

Mondays are always hard, especially Mondays after Spring Break. However, today is a very special Monday because my Blondie turns 8 today.  She's been looking forward to this birthday for months and since a lot of her friends are already 8 she couldn't wait to celebrate her big day and reach the 8 is great milestone herself.  

We celebrated her birthday with her friends a week ago with a Minute-To-Win-It birthday party.  She didn't really like any of the other suggestions I came up with for a party, but this party ended up being a blast!  All of the kids had tons of fun and it was an easy, at-home party.  

I set up the food and snacks inside, and we played all of the games outdoors.  They kids ate snacks as we waited for everyone to arrive.

As soon as snacks were finished and everyone had arrived we made our way outside to begin the games.  I had 5 games planned, plus Giant Jenga, as a filler and it was the perfect amount of time spent on games.  

Clip The Clothes Pins

For this game I got 100 clothes pins and divided them into two different buckets.  The kids were divided into teams and had to pick one person to be the captain.  They had to race and see which team could clip all the clothes pins on their team captain first.  

They loved it so much that we played several times letting different people have a turn to get clipped!

This game also must be played backwards.  After all of them are clipped on they have to race to see which team can get them off and back into their bucket the fastest. 

Move The Candy

For this game each kid got two cupcake liners on a plate, a straw, and some sort of candy. We used Sixlets that matched the party colors.  All of the candy is put in one cupcake liner and then they have to use a straw to suck it up and move it to the other cupcake liner. The person who moved the most in one minute was the winner. 

Junk In The Trunk

This game was a hoot to watch.  I took empty tissue boxes and cut slits on the bottom on each side so I could slide a ribbon through it and tie it around the kids' waists.  They each got 7 plastic golf balls (or you can use ping pong balls) put in the tissue box.  They had to shake, wiggle and maneuver to see who could get the balls out the quickest.  Then they had to pick them up, put them back in and pass the box to the next person in line.  

Stack The Cups

Each child got 15 cups and had to make a tower (starting with 5 on the bottom) then stack them all back together using only ONE hand.  They worked with a partner so each partner had to complete the  task to be the winner.  

Elephant Trunk 

This was another favorite by the kids.  I took a pair of tights for each child and put a tennis ball down in one foot. The kids had to put the waist band of the tights on their head and use the end with a ball in it like an elephant trunk.  There were six water bottles set up for each kid and they had to see who could knock them down the fastest with their "elephant trunk." 

After the games we made our way inside for dessert. Instead of cupcakes she wanted an ice cream bar and it was the perfect way to top off a great party. We had several different types of ice cream and tons of toppings to choose from!

We stuck a candle right in the ice cream and everyone sang happy birthday!  It was such a fun, sweet way to celebrate my Blondie!

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