My son was turning six and this was the easiest and the most fun birthday party that I had organized for him till date. Simply because I did not over think anything. I let my son do it all. He chose the guests all by himself. My only request to him was that he call only his close friends to keep the party size manageable so that his younger brother would not feel overwhelmed.
The Setting
We had the party in the open courtyard of our condominium and I moved most of the furniture so there would be lots of room for the children to run around. I deliberately did not organize any activities for the kids, I just put out a few games on the table. I wanted this party to be more like a glorified play date rather than a regular birthday party. I wanted food to be there for everybody to help themselves whenever they wanted. I wanted the kids to interact and play with each other or occupy themselves however they wanted. I wanted us adults to just hang out and have a relaxing time.
The Food
Food was simple and not a single item was homemade - unlike any other party I have organized before: Pizza, drinks, fruit, salad, candy and ice cream cake.
The Theme
Handmade Invitations
Handmade Banner
Yellow and Blue Balloons
School Bus Tent
This tripled as an in-theme decoration, a play thing and a photo prop.
https://www.amazon.com/Giga-Tent-First-School-GigaTent/dp/B01GGEZ7ZQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1467789127&sr=8-2&keywords=Giga-Tent-First-School-Play
Globe and Flowers
My son loves flowers - he chose this colorful bunch. We thought his globe as a decoration went perfectly well with the theme.
Party Favors
My son gave a handmade bus ticket and the party favor as soon as he received each of his guests. I taped name tags on the favors so that there would be no mix up.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SWBM78/ref=s9_hps_bw_g21_i7
Cake
We got an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins for which my son chose the design from a catalog. Then we made it in-theme simply by printing out his favorite characters from The Magic School Bus, cut and glued them on skewer sticks and stuck them on the cake. I made a fondant school bus, custom made to my son's wishes.
Final Touch
My son remembered the throne from Pump It Up and wanted a special chair just for him. Impromptu, we customized a chair by drawing on a white t-shirt of his dad's with markers and dressing the chair cushion in it. Voila!
My son thoroughly enjoyed his party and every one of his guests made his day. All of us had an enjoyable time.
This time, the thank you notes went by email and SMS, since we sometimes forget to deliver handwritten notes in time.
