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My son turned five last week. My sweet boy, my true love turned FIVE! Of course, I wanted him to have an amazing party he will never forget for this major childhood milestone. For the big number five we had an awesome superhero party! We live in the suburbs where a Pinterest worthy birthday party is the standard, and you will come to expect a beautiful party in a beautifully kept home. Over the last five years I have had some pretty amazing parties for my kids, but this year I wanted the party to be both amazing and EASY!
Location
A big part of having an easy party is reducing the amount of time you have to spend preparing for the party. One of the biggest parts of preparing has always been getting the house ready. Of the, now, six birthday parties I have planned between my two kids, this years was definitely one of the easiest. Hands down, this party was way easier than other parties, because we had it outside our home! Yay for that!!! There was no set up at home and NO CLEAN UP at home! That alone makes this one of the best parties ever! We had his party at our neighborhood pool, but there are a lot of places outside your home that would be great for your next party.
- Your Child’s Favorite Restaurant
- Parks and Playgrounds (this is on my list for future parties)
- The Beach
- Trampoline Parks
- Grandparent’s House
Food
For this party I really wanted to keep the food simple, so we ordered pizza. The best part was that it was delivered directly to the pool! I have no idea why I didn’t think of this before, but when my friend suggested it, I thought she was brilliant! It was so easy! Along with pizza, we had cheeseballs, popcorn, fresh fruit shaped like a Captain America shield (inspired by this post from Catch My Party), superhero fruit snacks, and cupcakes. I LOVE a beautiful cake! Normally, I find an elaborate cake on Pinterest and have a awesome local baker recreate it, but for this party I went with delicious grocery store cupcakes. They were perfect! If pizza isn’t on the menu for your party try some of these ideas:
- Deli Sub Platter
- Chick-fil-a Chicken Mini’s Platter
- Uncrustables- so easy and delicious
- Snacks Only- pour them straight out of the bag
- Party early with donuts and other breakfast foods
Party Supplies and Favors
I kept it super simple this year and ordered a themed party box from Samjoco Celebrations. It came with pretty much everything you need to have an awesome party. The box contained a great variety of handcrafted and handpicked superhero themed party supplies like streamers, a personalized banner, handcrafted superhero cups, cutlery wrapped in cute napkins, plates, table clothes, photo booth supplies, and other awesome party items. I supplemented my party box with some really fun supplies I got at Target. You can also get party favors from Samjoco Celebrations, but I went with super easy capes and masks I found on Amazon. The kids went crazy for the capes and masks! For days, I was getting texts from my friends with pictures of their kids in their new superhero gear! The kids literally did not want to take them off!
You can see my unboxing video on my facebook page, and you can get $10 off your own Samjoco Celebrations Party Box by using the promo code: twolittlerippers!
Activities
Since our party was at the pool we didn’t really do any special activities! The kids were in and out of the pool all day and loving it! That’s one of the great parts of the never ending summer in Florida. We would do anything for fall weather right now, but we were thrilled for the summer weather on the day of the party! However, in the party planning phase I pinned a ton of amazing activities for a superhero party.
- Make your own party masks (you can get these from Samjoco Celebrations)
- Pin the star on the Captain America mask (see this pin from Events to Celebrate– Amy Rasmussen)
- Superhero Skills Test- Have the kids participate in track and field type activities to demonstrate their superhero strength
Visit my Superhero Party board on Pinterest for additional ideas!
Back Up Plan and Be Flexible
This is probably the biggest recommendation I can give for any party! I arrived at our community amenity center at 10:00 AM an hour before the party started. My husband helped me unload all the party supplies and then left to go get balloons and ice. I was just beginning to set up in the kitchen area when another mom showed up and said she had booked the amenity center for the same time and same day. After sorting through it with the HOA, it turns out I booked the amenity center for the next day! OMG THE NEXT DAY! People were going to be showing up in less than 30 minutes and the party was still in boxes. Luckily, there is a second area that can be reserved at our amenity center, but it lacks the large shade that the kitchen area provides. (the cupcakes were a casualty of both the hot sun and my 18 month old dumping an entire box on the ground.) With the help from the other mom (love when moms unite) and the HOA president I was able to get all the supplies and and enough tables over to the other area just in time for guests to start arriving. After a little rushing and a tiny bit of profanity I put my party face on and rolled with it. Once my son got there and I saw how excited he was for his party, I realized it really didn’t matter where the party happened. He was super excited all his friends came over to celebrate with him, and everything ended up working out great!
We had so much fun at my son’s superhero birthday party! Honestly, it was so easy that it’s going to be hard to have another party at our house! I’d love to hear your party planning tips! What have you done to make party day less stressful so you can focus on enjoying the moment with your kids?
Stephanie says
This is great!! You just solved my party planning for my sons bday next month..thanks!
TwoLittleRippers says
Yay! It really was super easy! The pizza was brilliant, and the capes were a huge hit!
Sam says
Amy, the party was so beautiful. I loved your ideas about having the event outside the home – it really is much less stressful when you don’t have to worry about having a beautiful and clean home AND set up the party. Love this! Now I’m thinking when AJ is a bit older we’ll do something at a trampoline park – I love those places myself hehe. <3 You did a great job, mama. I'm sure your little one loved every minute of it!
TwoLittleRippers says
I seriously don’t know if I will ever have another party at my house! LIKE EVER!