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Birthday Parties
Topic Started: Sep 4 2012, 12:08 PM (591 Views)
conundrum1
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Yummy's Mommy
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G-d willing, we will be celebrating my oldest son's fourth birthday soon!!!!!! I can't believe how he went from a bump in my belly to a preschooler so fast. It's craziness, but I digress. Since he seems to be enamored by all things to do with firetrucks, we are going to have a fireman/truck themed party. I've collected some good suggestions online, but I was wondering if any of you creative and crafty ladies have any suggestions.

Also, how many friends do you think is appropriate to invite at this age? There are only 6 other boys in his class, so it might be doable. Add his two first cousins in the mix and then we'll have 9 boys between the age of 3 to 5. I don't know how my niece will feel...she's 7 and while she can come to the party and maybe next year's as well, she's going to slowly be left out of her cousins' parties.

Here are some games that I might use:


  • Crawl below the smoke: Use a bed sheet and let some children hold the sheet on each side. Have children "shake" the sheet up and down to make pretend smoke. The other children practice crawling under the sheet on their hands and knees to escape the smoke.
  • Smoke, Smoke, FIRE! Played like "Duck, Duck, Goose" . Once child goes around the circle, and saying "smoke, smoke, Fire."
  • Jump through Fire: This is a fireman birthday party activity for a younger group. Decorate hula hoops with orange and red paper streamers (to make flames). Get the kids to jump and hop through the hoops for super fun!
  • Stop, Drop and Roll: Here is a fun fireman birthday party game that shows fire safety to the kids. Have music playing in the background. Kids can do dance moves or any other actions they like. Explain to the kids that when you stop the music, they must stop immediately whatever they are doing, drop on the ground, and roll several times to put out imaginary flames. Try the game several times and challenge the kids to go faster each time. (Note: would probably try to use the barney song - hurry hurry to the fire station for this activity).
  • Find the Fire Hydrant: Cut out fire hydrants on red (or yellow or whatever color you choose) construction paper. (Here’s a .pdf template.)Before the guests arrive, place them all over your party space. Have them line the walkway or stairway into the house or party area. Place them under tables, in easy-to-find hiding spots and in a couple higher spots for any older children.
    To start the game, explain that when there is a fire, firefighters have to find a fire hydrant to hook up the hose in order to get water to put out the fire. I may cue them to make fire sirens while they are on their hunt because it will make for a good video even if I’ll be deaf for two days. Pairing up older children with the youngest will assure that everyone gets at least one fire hydrant. (Cut out three to four times the number of fire hydrants to children attending.) The winner is the one with the most fire hydrants.
  • traffic lights: (you shout red - they stop, you shout green - they go, you shout amber - they get ready to stop). you could even shout fire and they have to run to you (last one is out).


Obviously we wouldn't have time for all those games, but I can pick and choose and have a few as backup - just in case. I might also want to have a craft, but I haven't decided what to do as of yet.

So how do birthday parties work? In the past we've just had family. Do the children play for an hour? Longer? Then eat? What's typical?
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hallie_ari_mom
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Rebbetzin
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The smaller party the better, and under 10 sounds perfect. See if you can get some helpers as well. Little kids like a craft at a party, as well as organized play, food and then some free play. Sounds like you have it all. Try and keep it all under 90 minutes (including food). Start with open shmooze so they can say hi to eachother while waiting for all the guests to arrive. Then craft, play, food, goodbye! Big suggestion is not to open gifts at the party. Then no feelings will be hurt if your child already has that toy, or doesn't like it and can't hide the expression.
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npl
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At age 4, I'd count on some kids needing a parent to stay with them. The typical wisdom is 1 guest per year of age, so that would be 4 guests, but I haven't ever stuck with that rule. I think you have to decide who you really want there - best friends, family, etc. And a lot depends on how much space you have. I don't think you need to worry about whether to invite a female cousin. He's in a co-ed preschool, so I'd say it's just fine.
I like to start parties with an open-ended activity while everyone arrives - colouring pictures of fire trucks would work well.
Most of the games sound good, but I'd stick with the ones that emphasize what to do to stay safe from fire. The one with the hoops where you jump through the "fire" sounds more like playing with fire, and sends the wrong message imho. Others may see it differently.
Definitely have more games than you think you need.
Allocate time for food, but have an activity that you can do if they all finish eating quickly! I like to serve food after about an hour, and then have quiet activities afterwards. At that age, I would keep the total length of the party a max of 1.5 hours, but shorter will also work.
Something I've done for an optional wind-down activity at the end of a party for preschoolers is a story - I don't know if you can find Fireman Sam books here, but it's a great TV series for kids from the UK (there are episodes on youtube). Don't know of any N. American firefighter stories or characters, but there are probably good books at the library.

Can't think of any other advice for now.
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conundrum1
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Yummy's Mommy
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My son LOVES fireman sam. The vpl doesn't have any fireman sam books :-/ .

thanks for the suggestions!
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Marion
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aishes chayil
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Can you get one from Amazon? Save it for the party and then add it to your bookshelf. IME Amazon ships fast; last book I ordered (in Toronto) arrived within 3 days, and the order had been placed close to midnight, so definitely after business hours!
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npl
Bala Buste
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Or Book Depository might have, too. I'm looking for Fireman Sam and Postman Pat dvds. Have to check whether I can buy in England and play them in Canada, and if so, I'm stocking up next time I go "home"!
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Jo :-)
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queen
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We did a firefighter/engine party when my son was 3 - we actually arranged with the local firestation to go down there with about 10 kids for an hour, they got to climb on the fire engine and play with the hose. They played a couple of games when we got home and then had food. All the kids LOVED it - and it was free! The kids even got a pack of goodies to take home from the firestation (what they usually give to the kids who come to visit from the schools)

I also of course made a fire engine cake - have a look at the photo I attached...I had a lot of fun!
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Attachments: birthday_cakesmall.jpg (162.63 KB)
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Marion
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aishes chayil
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Cool cake Jo!
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Jo :-)
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queen
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Marion
Sep 5 2012, 12:40 PM
Cool cake Jo!
Thanks :-)
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zuncompany
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Sounds like fun. We don't do birthday parties and instead spend the day as a family doing special family things.
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4hope
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Bala Buste
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great cake, jo!

we definately do bday parties, and also celebrate as a family, with or without 'grown-up' kids. i have lots of great memories from my bdays. dh's family didn't celebrate much, so he thoroughly enjoys the bdays now, although sometimes it is lots of work....
but the memories it creates are a treasure!
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conundrum1
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Yummy's Mommy
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Wow Jo! That's incredible! I love making birthday parties (as long as it isn't my own - I always felt uncomfortable being the centre of attention). My birthday is Erev Rosh Hashana, so this year I'll be spending it at the farm with my kids. The apple crop wasn't so good this year - not sure if we'll be able to pick any apples. Actually, I just checked the website and there is a limited amount of "pick your own" Gala apples starting Sept. 15th. We may be in luck! And I just happen to like Gala apples :). I won't have time to use them to make any apple treats for Rosh Hashana, but we can definitely use them for during the week or even succos.

npl, you can get fireman sam DVDs from Future Shop - I've seen it there. They probably sell it at other stores as well. I let my son watch it on youtube. Of course it would be best if the library had it because that's free.

Ah, on the topic of birthdays, am I a bad aunt for buying my nephew some Car related games even though his mother said to get regular board games? :-P. Hehe, I'm going by the kid's wishes, not his mommy's. I don't think she'll say anything :).

So next on my list is to finalize the invitations - I made a really cool one using my wannabe artist skills and Gimp. It's a month away! Another mother came up to me and said that she heard that my son was having a party - and so is her son, so let's make sure we aren't doing it on the same day. B"H, our two parties are a week apart. My son is going to be busy! So will I because unless the food is from either a sesame-free pizza store or the one sesame-free bakery I will have to make sure that he has something similar in yumminess to eat. My son is very good about his food allergy and doesn't usually mind if he eats something different. I wouldn't want him to feel left out because of it.

4hope, I agree with what you've said. Plus, it's an excuse to make a simcha, which is a much better reason to bring people together than the alternative...
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