21741

Construction Party -2yr- Personalized T-Shirts

July 2010

Abigail in Lawrenceville, GA USA

Special Mention

My son is captivated by excavators and road work, so we decided to give him a construction themed birthday party. We decided to have the party at home to save money and increase the interation between the kids. 

Invitation: I created an online invitation with a photo of the birthday boy in a hard hat and construction vest playing with his toy backhoe. I titled it Foreman Bobby's Turning 2!" and wrote "Foreman Bobby's turning two here's what we need you to do assemble your construction crew and meet us at our house at two." I also added that we would be serving cake and snacks so people knew ahead of time what kind of food to expect. 

Decorations: Out of yellow white and orange poster board we created road signs. At the end of the driveway we staked a sign that said "Road Work Ahead" with an arrow to the door on the back it said "Work Zone Ends" for the guests to see as they were leaving. We decorated the front door with Caution tape and a sign that said "Road Work Next 2 Hours". Inside we roped off the stairs with Caution tape and put a Detour sign with an arrow pointing to our living room.

In the living room there was a Dump Zone sign with a picture of a birthday present so people knew where to put the gift. Then we had two tables with Kids At Work signs for the activities/crafts. We hung Caution tape from the doorway to the playroom and put a sign that said "Construction Zone/Caution Hard Hat Required". We hung yellow and black balloons from our mailbox and covered the tables with yellow tablecloths. The napkins plates and cups were yellow and black. 

Activities: At one table each child had a t-shirt and a printable iron on transfer (Office Depot) that said "Bobby's Construction" at the top had a picture of a construction vehicle/worker and said "Crew Member _____" with the child's name at the bottom. I found the pictures online at free coloring page websites. Ahead of time I pinned the transfer to the correct shirt to make sure everyone got the right size. Each transfer was half a sheet. The kids colored in their picture with crayons and we ironed it on to the t-shirt. I assigned big sister the job of ironing so I wasn't distracted.

While kids were waiting for their shirts they went to the other table which had plastic hard hats (Oriental Trading) for kids to decorate with foam letters and foam cutouts of vehicles (Hobby Lobby). Before the party I made a baggie for each child with the letters of their name and the cutouts so everyone got the same amount no arguing or searching for the right letters! We also put out Sharpie markers so the kids could color whatever they wanted on the hat. 

Games: After making the hats and shirts kids went to the playroom where I put out building blocks Duplo blocks and all the cars/trucks we own. Kids constructed ramps buildings and roads for the vehicles. Since most of the kids were under 4 organized games would have been a little difficult after organized crafts so this was time for them to play and grown-ups to visit a little. I also checked out tons of construction themed books from the library and had them in baskets.

Near the end of the party just before cake and ice cream I called the kids together to clean up the construction site (put blocks away) and read one of the stories. I chose Trucks Roll! By George Ella Lyon since it rhymed and had repetition. Whenever the book said "Trucks Roll!" the kids yelled "Trucks Roll!" and rolled their arms. Then I instructed them to Roll on outside for cake and ice cream. 

Costumes: Ahead of time we made t-shirts for our family just like the ones the kids would be making. Dad's title was Quantity Surveyor Ron since it was his job to make sure everyone had what they needed Mom's said Project Manager Abigail for obvious reasons : ) big sister's said Site Manager Julia she was my right hand man with getting the kids where they needed to be the birthday boy's said General Foreman Bobby to match the invitation and little sister's said Site Manager Trainee Alice. It was fun to color these together to get ready for the birthday! Kids were welcome to wear their shirts and hats after making them. 

Party Snacks: I served chips and dip (2 kinds) and put a sign that said Dip Ahead. I washed out our Tonka dump truck and lined with with aluminum foil and put the chips in the back of it and I borrowed another one from my niece for the other chips.

Cake: We made 2 chocolate 9x13 cakes and layered them. We frosted them green on the sides and grey (street color) on top. We covered the sides with coconut dyed green (grass) and piped yellow and white lines on top to look like a road. On the side of the road we sprinkled brown sugar (dirt) and dug a hole in the cake and piled it up elsewhere. We put a toy excavator near the hole a dump truck nearby with some of the dirt in the back and toy cars on the road. We used orange cone candles to separate the road from the construction they were oversized for the cars but still cute. For ice cream I served Skippy cups so no one had to deal with serving and everyone got the same amount. 

Favors: Kids got their hard hats and t-shirts as their favor. There were a few kids there under 1 yr and since they didn't make hats or t-shirts I bought them each a small toy truck."

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