[Alexismandyjr]

Seems almost impossible but J.R. will be turning three in July! We are planning a big party at our house. Other than ponies, bounce house with slide, hot dogs and cotton candy, what great ideas do you have??? I
'm not the most creative person, so I could sure us some cool ideas. ***I still haven't decided on a theme***

[keithandkristy]

We just went to a 3 year old boy "Pirate" party not too long ago and the big hit was the scavenger hunt. The mom had used brown plastic spray paint and had painted old baby wipe containers (this became their treasure chest) for each kid. Then, they had a scavenger hunt where they found treasures to put in their treasure chest. The kids loved it!! (this was also their "goody bag" to take home.) They also read a book, used old paper towel rolls/decorated them with stickers- this became their spyglasses, watched a clip of Peter Pan, and just ate and had fun.

Just an idea...

[Oceanmom23]

I know time sure does fly by...Hey, I just noticed that J.R. is one day older than Gage.
We are at a loss too. We are planning on a Backyardigans theme though...Gage absolutely loves The Backyardigans, but we're not sure what else to do other than the pool & moon bounce.

[AnaM-H]

You can go for a carnival theme and rent a cotton candy machine, popcorn machine, etc. Rent a frozen lemonade cart! Make hotdogs and hamburgers. Get a face painter. Also look into renting kiddie sized slides.

[Archive]

I second the pirate party. When (J) turned 4 we threw a big pirate bash. A blanket on the ground in the backyard became our pirate ship. Everyone jumped aboard and we rowed to "Treasure Isand" Anyone falling off had to swim for their lives to escaped the shark infested waters!! Treasure island was the cherry tree in the back yard. We tossed chocolate coins all around and the children jumped off the blanket (pirate ship) and ran to gather as many treasures as possible. While they were hunting we played fun pirate music on the CD player and the children could sing along.

(J) was the captain of course. Pirate hats (donated by Long John Silvers), and eye patches were great for dress up for the kids. After gathering gold coins and heading back we took the little pirates to the tattoo parlor. ( Me sitting in a lawn chair and drawing sharks, skulls and cross bones and snakes on their arm or cheek)

We followed that up with a treasure hunt where the children followed to a treasure chest filled with their goodie bags.

For the cake I made it look like a treasure chest and stuck gold coins and plastic necklaces on to look like they were hanging out of the chest.

The invitations were homemade treasure maps.

It was a fun party and everyone had a great time.

Other ideas: Water park---We filled several different shaped pools, turned on the sprinkler, filled water balloons and supplied the children with squirt bottles. Gift bags had sunglasses, beach balls and other water toys.

Sports themes, circus theme, cowboy theme, teddy bear picnic. Have fun with it. I bet you can come up with some really creative ideas!!

[IloveDJ]

My favorite party themes for my daughter -- also a July baby -- have been "Christmas in July" and "State Fair." Both come with pretty easy decorations, menus and games. Otherwise, anything that reflects one of your son's interests can be fun. I find I have more fun with planning if I steer away from really common themes.

Enjoy!
Sara

[Archive]

A race car theme for this age would be a blast too!! There could be lots of fun activities with that theme.

[LadyTink]

Gabriella will be 3 in July, too. I am having such a hard time coming up with ideas this year. Glad you asked this question because the responses have helped me as well.

[jemmawag]

We are having a gymnastics bus come to the house in 2 weeks for Marcos's 3rd bday. In our area it is called Tumblebus. They have all sorts of fun inside including a climbing wall and zip line. Best of all I don't have to worry about the weather. They set up a moon bounce for kids waiting their turn. Sounds great! My dd will be 5 in Aug. she will have a pirate party for girls!

[GuatMommy2Be]

Madeline's birthday is in August, but she is only turning 2. I'm thinking of having it at Chocolate World in Hershey. I'm also considering a play-gym area. If we had it at our house I would be entertaining for 12 hours!

[Archive]

Ladytink--Our favorite girl party was a princess tea party. All of the girls came dressed in their favorite dress up clothes and they had a tea party with real tea cups and tea cakes. It was so much fun and the photos were too cute!! There are a ton of fun girly themes to choose from!!

[kacmom1]

For Luca's 4th birthday, we hired a great storyteller. She came to the party and told lots of fun, interactive stories for the kids. They all participated, they laughed, they really enjoyed themselves.
Just an idea...

Good luck with whatever you chose!