construction party

construction party
www.Kaboose.com
www.BirthdayinaBox.com
party planning checklist
6 to 8 weeks before the birthday party
1. Decide on the number of guests and develop a guest list.
2. If party will be held outside your home, select a location.
3. Choose a date and time.
4. If using an entertainer, call to book entertainer.
3 to 4 weeks before the party
1. Prepare and mail invitations.
2 to 3 weeks before the party
1. Keep a list of invitees near the phone for RSVP's.
2. Discuss and select 4 - 6 party activities with your child.
3. Collect prizes and items needed for activities.
4. If serving a meal, decide on the menu.
5. Order a cake (if you aren't baking one yourself).
6. Consider asking a favorite babysitter to help at the party.
1 week ahead
1. Decide on the order of activities.
2. Try any games or activities with which you are unfamiliar.
3. Check out any books or tapes you'll be borrowing from the
library.
2-3 days ahead
1. Call any guests who have not responded.
2. Shop for groceries or other food being served.
3. Purchase any candy for favors or pinata.
4. Put favors together.
5. Prepare (copy, cut out, etc.) any crafts that can be done
ahead.
6. Check camera. Charge video camera. Get film.
7. Locate matches for candles.
8. Bake any cookies or treats that can be made ahead.
The day before the party
1

1. Clean party area. Put away items that are dangerous
or distracting.
2. Bake or pick up cake.
3. If ordering food such as pizza, call to arrange
delivery.
4. If necessary, confirm entertainer or any helpers.
5. Sit with your child to discuss his or her expectations for
the party.
6. For younger children, practice opening gifts and saying,
"Thank you."
4 -5 hours ahead
1. Set table and decorate.
2. Put candles in cake and place matches nearby.
3. Get balloons filled or pick up helium balloons.
4. Tie some balloons to the
mailbox or front porch.
Present Pass
Place guests in a circle
with the birthday child at the
head. Have guests get their gift
and hold it in their laps. Begin
playing some music as guests pass
the presents slowly around the circle.
When the music stops the
present that the birthday child
is holding is the one that
is opened next.
5. Place crafts and
prizes near the
activity locations.
6. Locate paper
and pencil for
recording gifts
(for thankyou's).
1 -2 hours ahead
1. Consider putting any
pets in an area away from the guests.
2. Get birthday child and siblings dressed.
3. Set up food and let your child help as much as possible.
4. Set up first activity. . . . Have a great party!
food and decorating
Adults and children alike often stare in wonderment at construction
sites, watching the massive machines haul away
the earth and erect buildings.
Here are a few facts to share with you guests about the
machines that make it all possible:
A Bulldozer are used to push dirt and other
debris around the construction site. It is
strong enough to push a small elephant.
A front end loader is used to haul sand, dirt and rock around
a construction site. It weighs over 27,000 pounds and can
hold up to three bathtubs full of sand in its bucket.
A cement truck mixes cement powder, stone
and water to make concrete. The drum
can hold up to 12 cubic yards of concrete
or about 7,000 glasses of soda.
Dumptrucks are used to haul heavy loads
to and around a construction site. They are
usually about 25-30 feet long and can hold 18 tons of material.
This means that a dump truck could carry more than 6
million Lifesaver candies!
Use plenty of toy trucks and tools to decorate the party area.
If you have access to larger toy trucks, consider using them
to store and transport the gifts to the birthday child at opening
time or using them to place chips and other snacks in at
the table.
Hang construction signs throughout
the party area, using the birthday
child’s name within the sign whenever
possible. Or use a guest’s name
on each of the signs and at the end of
the party let each guest take home
the sign with his or her name on it.
2

Have children “build” their
own sandwiches at the party
by giving the ingredients
unique construction material
names. For example have a slices
of bread in a container marked foundation,
peanut butter in another container marked
dirt, jelly in a container marked cement and
more bread in a container marked roof.
Use crushed Oreo cookies to top cakes or
pudding to give the appearance of dirt.
Mound the crushed cookies for dirt hills
on cake and add brown peanut M&Ms
for rocks.
Consider purchasing small shovels
to be used as spoons for eating
ice cream. They can be purchased at most craft stores in the
doll section for a reasonable price.
Draw “One Way” signs on the side walk or driveway to
point guests to the front door.
If there are areas within your house or yard that you would
like to block off so guests can’t enter, purchase caution tape
from any home improvement store to tape across the
entrance way.
Cut fruit and/or cheese into cubes and rectangular blocks
and use a melon baller to make some round fruit pieces. For
younger children use the food to build a tower from which
children can eat from or for older children give them a couple
pieces of each shape and allow them to build their own
building. Have guests vote on which is the best before eating
their architectural wonders!
A dump truck or construction hat filled with candy will
make a perfect centerpiece and children can each have
some of the candy to take home at the party’s end.
activities
Dump Truck Relay
Before the party, decorate two boxes to look like trucks,
using pie tins for wheels, construction paper for doors and
headlights. (See illustration for
ideas) Make 60-100 “rocks”
with wadded up newspaper
and masking
tape. Divide the
balls evenly
between the two
dump trucks.
At the party,
divide the children
into two
teams. Place one dump
truck full of rocks by each team. At the other end of the
room, or running distance away if outdoors, place an empty
box.
Explain to the children that their goal is to move all of the
rocks from their dump truck to the empty box without moving
the dump truck. For example, they may run with a handful,
line up and pass them from player to player, etc.
When you say, “Go,” the first team to move all of their rocks
from one box to the other wins.
Treasure Excavation
Using the same rocks you prepared for the dump truck relay
as the excavation material, fill another large box, kiddie pool
or even the bath tub with the rocks. Add several little toys
and pieces of candy and mix them all up. Taking the guests
one by one, give them a small shovel, which can be purchased
in the doll section of most craft stores, or a spoon and
allow them to dig through the rocks looking for prizes.
Explain that they can only use the shovel or spoon to move
the rocks and pick up the items. Allow each child 30 seconds
to 1 minute in the excavation site. After each child is done
place any of the rocks that fell out back in the site and give
the next guest his/her turn. You may want to play this game
over and over until all the prizes are gone.
3

Chain Tag
Depending on the size of the party, choose two or three guests
to be loose links.
Divide the other guests into groups of three or more. These
children are the chains. You should have at least as many
chains as links. The groups line up with their hands on the
waist of the person in front of them.
When you say, “Go,” the links try to catch and hold onto the
end of the chain. The chains twist and turn trying to avoid
being caught from behind.
If a link holds onto the a chain, the player at the front of the
chain becomes a loose link.
Dump Truck Craft
EQUIPMENT
Scissors
Thin cardboard (Manila folders work well)
An Exacto knife
Glue
Scotch Tape
Markers
A copy of the enclosed pattern for each child
Before the party, photocopy the attached patters onto white
paper; one for each child. Use an Exacto knife to cut patterns
from cardboard for each child.
At the party, have children cut out paper patterns and decorate
them with crayons or markers. When decorated, glue the paper
patterns to the cardboard patters. Fold along the dotted lines. Fold
tabs inward and tape tabs and edges closed. Tape the upper portion
of the truck to the body at an angle.
crafts
Crane Tag
Mark two line in
the play area
approximately 15
feet apart.
Pick one guest to
be the crane. The
other players stand
behind one of the lines.
To start the game, the crane yells,
“Cross if you can,” and all the of the
children try to run across the “construction
site” past the other line without being tagged by
the crane.
If the crane tags someone, that person becomes and extension
of the crane for the next go round.
The extension and the Crane must hold hands and run
together on the next crossing.
The player that crosses last without being tagged, wins.
Boulder Relay
Before the party, depending on the number of guests you
are having paint two to four large styrofoam balls (available
at any craft store) grey and let dry, to be used as boulders.
At the party, divide the guest into teams of approximately
four players per team. Space each of the guests out in a line
approximately 6 feet apart. In addition, place a box or bucket,
slightly larger than the boulder, 6 feet away from the last
player on the team.
Place a boulder on the ground in front of the first person for
each team.
Explain to the players that they must roll the boulder to the
next player, moving only on their knees, and they are not
allowed to pick the boulder up with their hands at any time.
For example, they may crawl and push the ball with their
head, or walk on their knees using thier hands to push the
ball ahead of them like a bulldozer.
The last player in the line must successfully roll the boulder
into the box or bucket.
The first team to complete the task wins.
4

I Built a House...
Have children sit in a circle. The first player starts by
saying, “I built a house and I used a
________________,” filling in the blank with an item
that starts with the letter A.
The second player says the same sentence and adds an item
that begins with B. For example, “I built a house and I used
an alligator and a board.”
Each person who follows recites the whole list of items and
adds one that starts with the next letter in the alphabet. The
winner is the last person to repeat the whole list of items, in
order.
Steam Roller
Divide the children into two equal teams. Pick a captain for
each team.
The teams line up holding hands facing
the opposite team. The teams
should be a minimum of 8 feet
apart.
The captain of the first team
picks a person on the other
team and calls out, “Steam
Roller, Steam Roller, send
(guest from the opposite
team’s name) right over.”
The player who was called runs over to the line and tries to
break through the line of arms and linked hands. If he/she is
successful, that player gets to pick a member of that team
back to the other side. If the player is unsuccessful, he/she
must become a member of the opposite team.
This continues alternating turns between the two teams until
after a designated time when the the player with the most
players wins.
Brick Busters
Stack children’s carboard blocks or shoe boxes with the lids
taped on into a pyramid shape. One by one give children a
tennis ball or smaller ball to use as a “wrecking ball.” Give
each child two or three turns with the wrecking ball to see
how much of the pyramid they can knock down.
song and dance
rainy day and quick activities
If party day turns out to be rainy, or maybe you just need a
couple more short activities to fill the time, the following can
be quickly set up to keep the fun going!
Rain Art - Let children make rain art with paper plates and
food coloring. Put drops of food coloring on a paper plate,
then hold plates out in the rain and watch the patterns that are
made. You could even cut out fish shapes to paint.
Scavenger Hunt - Divide children into teams and hand each
team a stack of magazines, scissors, and a list. Items to
search for could be things such as a picture of a car, a movie
star, a sofa, a sports figure, a sweet dessert, a bike, a baby,
etc.
Dress Up Relay - Give each team a set of oversized clothing
(the funnier, the better --such as adult boxers, T-shirts,
funny hats, rubber gloves, snow boots). Set the items on
chairs at the end of the room opposite each line of players.
Each team’s players take turns running to the chairs, putting
on the clothing, taking it back off and running back to tag the
next player in line.
Balloon Races - have players run to the other end of the room
while holding a balloon between their knees.
Taste Test - set out cups of different drinks such as apple
juice, orange juice, milk, different sodas, etc or use different
flavored jelly beans or other candies. Blindfold children and
have them taste each one. The child with the most correct
wins.
Musical Chairs - You can play using standard rules or adapt
it by having children crawl through a large box, call it the
“Sea Witch’s Den” or “The Doghouse.” When the music
stops, the child who is caught in the house, is out. For
younger children, you can give the child who is caught a
sticker or other small prize. The last child caught would get
a larger prize.
No Mess Paint
Squirt at least 1 1/2 tablespoons
each of red, blue and yellow fingerpaint
in a ziplock bag. Remove
as much air as possible and seal the bag.
Ensure it stays closed by sealing opening with
tape. Give each child a bag of sealed paint. Children mix
the colors through the plastic bags mixing the colors and
making designs with their fingers.
5

Attending
Guests’ Names Y/N Thank you for ...
1. _________________ _____ ___________________
2. _________________ _____ ___________________
3._________________ _____ ___________________
4._________________ _____ ___________________
5. _________________ _____ ___________________
6._________________ _____ ___________________
7. _________________ _____ ___________________
8. _________________ _____ ___________________
9. _________________ _____ ___________________
10. _________________ _____ ___________________
11. _________________ _____ ___________________
12. _________________ _____ ___________________
13. _________________ _____ ___________________
14. _________________ _____ ___________________
15. _________________ _____ ___________________
16. _________________ _____ ___________________
17. _________________ _____ ___________________
18. _________________ _____ ___________________
rsvps and thank-you notes
Cut out this frame, including the inner white part, and tape your
favorite party picture to the back...a keepsake photo frame!
Copyright 2003 Birthday in a Box
8541 Atlas Drive
Gaithersburg, MD 20877
www.BirthdayinaBox.com
1-800-989-5506
6