tow mater birthday :: ideas for a themed party

My son is excited about his birthday coming up next month, and he’s already talking about what kind of party he wants to have!  He absolutely loves Lightning McQueen so there’s no question in his mind about what theme he wants for the party.  His wish list is simple too!  He wants a Chester Whipplefilter (a disguised Lightning McQueen from Cars 3) and a pair of footed pajamas.  It’s fun to see his excitement for his birthday.

His little sister’s birthday was a couple months ago, and since she absolutely adores her brother and everything he does, she’s become quite attached to Tow Mater the tow truck.  She was convinced she wanted a pink Tow Mater party, so I began looking for some things to make this happen.  Pink Tow Mater things do not exist!  I looked everywhere and I did find a few Mater things, but most everything out there was geared around Lightning McQueen and definitely was not pink.  So, we came up with our own ways to make this party fun for her, and when it all came together she loved the her party and just enjoyed the day with her friends and family. Here’s a few ideas to make a themed party simple and fun!

• Cake or Cupcakes- There are a lot of ideas out there for different ways to decorate cakes, so if you have a theme that seems a little more difficult to find ideas, you can usually find something for a cake, and kids love seeing a fun cake for their birthday!  And of course, there are so many talented bakers out there that could make a cake with just about any theme in mind.

• Make your own.  Each year I try to find a fun shirt for the kids to wear on their birthday.  Sometimes with a birthday message, the age they are turning, or even a character they love. This year I decided to use my Cricut and make up a quick shirt for my daughter to wear since I couldn’t find a pink shirt with Tow Mater.  Well, I loved the way it came out so we ended up making more and used them as party favors.

• Food.  Since my kids are little we just have one party with family and a couple close family friends with kids.  We usually enjoy a meal together to celebrate the birthday.  Some years I’ve planned the food around the theme.  It’s easy to come up with quick ideas that the kids will get a kick out of.  For Tow Mater we used chocolate donuts and called them tires, labeled the drinks as fuel, and Twizzlers for Mater’s tow cables!

While we don’t plan out every detail for the party with the theme in mind, we always try to have a couple things that we know our kids will love to help celebrate their special day!  This year a friend of ours just happened to have a truck that they call Mater’s cousin so all the kids were thrilled to see that sitting out in the yard!