I love designing new and fun parties for children. I design a lot of girl parties so it is so much fun to have a party design for a boy turn out amazing and COOL! For my nephew’s 8th birthday, he originally wanted a laser tag party but he is a little too young so I came up with the idea of a water gun party. Since he was not sold on the idea, I knew that I had to pull off one amazing party and I have to say, the kids had more fun than I ever expected!
I wanted to update the party table and give it a “tent like” feel. I experimented for hours and came up with the canopy pictured below. I used real Army mosquito netting and created a draped affect over the table to create a fun “Command Post” for the kids to hang out under during the party. The table featured Army wool blankets that I used as table cloths and two metal camping lanterns. I personalized black milk crates that were used as seating under the Command Post.
As each guest arrived, they were greeted at a New Recruit Check-In table where they were issued a DIY Army shirt, personalized dog tags and of course, their water gun. The boys were fast to change into their shirts and don their id tags. I went over the rules and they were off. They entertained themselves for hours with not only water guns but tons of water balloons and popping “bombs”. These boys and girls were in heaven!
The boys took a break and headed to the Command Post where metal lunch boxes were packed with an MRE, a bag of Fritos, a Smore bar, utensils and a camo napkin. They prepared a Sloppy Joe MRE, like an actual soldier, which they used to top their Fritos. After the cake and ice cream, the kids headed off to finish their water battle.
The best part of this party was two fold. First, the kids really did entertain themselves which allowed the adults to relax and catch up but the best part was when my nephew told me that he thought it was the birthday of the year! Now that is special.
My Party Trunk 