20029

Backyard Tournament -7yr- Backyard Miniature Golf

June 2009

Kopchak in Sacrameno, California, United States

Special Mention

My son (7 years old) is an avid golfer and wanted a golf-themed birthday party.   

INVITATIONS :  We bought scrapbook paper that was black and corrogated and white paper that was the texture of a golf ball.  We folded the black paper in half and glued the sides together so that we could put something in the top.  We cut the white paper into circles and printed the invitation on it.  We told them to report to Jacob's Happy Place (our home) for a golf tournament.  We slipped the ball halfway into the black square so it looked like the cup that you putt into.  We added pipecleaner to one side of the cup" and added a small contruction paper flag at the top.  The flag had the number 7 on it. 

ACTIVITIES:  We created a 7-hole mini golf course in our yard.  It started in the front yard and continued through the side gate into the back and ended with a chip into the pool!  We used some cheap astroturf laid on our lawn for the greens.  At the end of the turf we cut a hole and inserted the bottom part of a plastic driking cup that we had cut off.  This served as the "hole".  Each hole had a flag coming out of it and a sign stating the title of the hole the number of yards and what "Par" was.  Each of the seven holes were different.  ( all of the obstacles were stuck into the ground using wooden dowels)

1) Against the grain- a Pool noodle was cut down to make a "U" shape near the pin and the kids had to go up and around the u to make it in the hole.  2.5 yards par 2

2)  Thread the needle- we bought styrofoam "u's" at micheal's and placed 5 of them in succession down the great.  We bought the letters JACOB to spell my son's name and glued them to the top of the inverted U for decoration.  The kids had to hit through the obstacles to make it in.  3 yards par 3

3)  Day at the beach- there was a natural slope in our yard that we placed the green in the middle of.  On both sides we built sand traps using sand from the back yard.  We decorated with a beach umbrella and sand toys.  Just avoid the sand and it was an eay shot! 3.5 yards par 4

4) Clowning around- usind posterboard I drew a clown face and colored it with markers.  We cut out his mouth and made a ramp leading up to the hole.  The ramp was painted like a tongue.  You had to hit it up the ramp and into the mouth.  2 yards par 2

5) Around the bend- we curved two cut pool noodles to form a "J" shape.  The payer had to follow the curve to make it into the hole.  3 yards par 3

6) No place like home- we painted a cardboard bos to look like a 3D house.  We cut the door shaap out but left the top of the door attached.  We secured a string to the bottom of the door.  We had an adult open and close the door with steady motion.  The player needed to make it into the house. 4 yards par 2

7) Floating Green- we purchsed a floating green game from amazon.com ($20) the kids had three tries to chip the ball into our pool and land on the green.  5 yards par 2 

We used old putter's from family and friends.  I purchased personalized golf balls online with the date and the "JakeyT Invitational" on them to use on the course.  We had family friends monitor each hole.  Each child had a scorecard and coursemap.  I made the map on the computer using Excel.  

There were descriptions of each hole such as: 4- Clownin Around: 2 yards Par 2 "Don't be intimidated by this guy.  Short straight strokes will get you where you need to be!"  There was a leader board posted with scores.  We separated the bigger kids from the little ones and had a winner for each group. The winner got a plastic golf set to play with and a plastic trophy we had purchased.   

FAVORS: We found green wire baskets like range buckets at $1 store.  We filled them with personalized balls Personalized tees (Jakey T invitational and date) mini-pencilscandy and each child got a t-shirt.  We had t-shirts made that had "JakeyT Invitational"  Happy Birthday Jacob" the date and a golf picture on them. 

DÉCOR:  The favor table was labeled the "registration desk".  The food area awas deemed the clubhouse and the yard was decorated with the holes themselves but we added colorful balloons and golf-related décor.  We made signes that said "Quiet Please" and stuck them all over the yard. 

FOOD: We made lots of fast-foods like chips dips fruit veggies salads and pizza.   

CAKE:  We made cupcakes in green cupcake papers and piped green frosting on the top.  I hot-glued white practice golf balls(like wiffle balls) onto some of the personalized tees and stuck them in the cupcake.  We added miniature flags made of toothpicks and construction paper.  All of the kids had a blast and said it was the best party ever! My son made us leave the holes up for the next week so that he could play them.  "

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