9.05.2012

Fire Engine Birthday Party

 For my son's third birthday, we had a fire engine theme. This was a very easy party to plan--and yet it was such a big hit.

We met at a local park and had lunch to start--we just ordered pizza. Meeting at a park was great because we could invite a lot of kids but we didn't feel too overwhelmed because there was plenty of space to run around and the kids had a lot of fun playing on the playground equipment.

After lunch, the kids went through an obstacle course to "train" to become fire fighters. They climbed over a tower of cinderblocks, through a tunnel, and weaved their way through a zigzag maze of ropes and tent stakes. At the end, they each got a firefighter badge and a water gun as party favors. Then, when all of our fire fighters were ready, we went to put out a "fire." My husband cut squares out of a cardboard box to look like windows in a skyscraper. We then taped red and orange tissue paper in each of the windows. The kids had to squirt the tissue paper blaze until the paper disintegrated and the fire was "put out." They loved this.

We then had a fire engine cake and ice cream. I used this Betty Crocker tutorial to make the cake.
The climax of the party was a trip to the local fire station for a tour. I gave each family a map to the fire station and we caravaned over to the station. We had called a couple of weeks ahead to request a tour. The fire fighters were so fun with the children--they let the kids climb all over the trucks and they even let them spray a small hose. We had adults and kids of all ages at the party, and everyone loved the fire station tour.
Though my son was only three when we did this party, it would be a fun party to do with older kids as well. The oldest kids at the party were 8 and 9 and they loved it just as much as the preschool-aged kids.

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