Construction party

What makes this an experience?

Your guests will be transformed into construction workers; building, moving, demolishing. Their goal is to complete a checklist of tasks for which they will receive prizes. Kids will love these construction birthday party ideas, and so will you, because almost everything you need is already in your home.

Construction birthday party preparations

It pays to plan ahead. Your guest list and party theme are intertwined. We recommend drawing up your guest list only after you have picked a theme and thought about what the party will involve and the space you have available.

Planning your party space

We prefer to use two rooms for this party – a meet and greet room, and the 'construction zone'. The meet and greet room could be a family room or TV room, while the construction zone should be the biggest room you have available, or even an outdoor space if you are lucky enough to be able to count on good weather.

The guest list

Though stereotypically viewed as a boys party, we have have found, as is often the case, this stereotype is off the mark. Both girls and boys loved this party, as we stocked it full of activities to suit all tastes. In deciding how many guests to invite, keep in mind how much space you will have once you have put all of the construction activities in the game room. The rule we used with some success was to plan on no more than two kids per activity in the game room. So if you set up 10 activities, you can plan on as many as 20 guests. Stick to that rule and you will ensure no restlessness.

Invitations

Construction birthday invitations are an easy do-it-yourself project if you have a computer and color printer. We have put together an idea to get your creative juices flowing. We also show our favorite online option.

Do it yourself:
Project - Construction party invitation: The attached PowerPoint file contains a simple but fun construction-themed invitation. Just click on the link to open the file, and enter in your details. Print it out on decent card stock for a more professional look and feel. [click to download]

Have someone else do it:
Want something more fancy, or just do not have the time or inspiration to do it yourself? There are thousands of options online, from budget to divine. We've hand-picked our favorite option which you see here. This comes from the huge collection of unique birthday invitations at FineStationery.com. Do a search for 'Construction' for other cards!

Ready to decorate?

A truly unique birthday experience starts with the decorations. Some effort here will help  bring your guests into the world that you are creating. We generally prefer not to spend a lot of money on elaborate decorations, rather our focus is on projects we can do ourselves and inexpensive store bought items that have a big bang for the buck. 

What will you need

Consider the items below as our wish list of decorations. Pick and choose what works best for your space and budget. The placement of each item will be described in more detail in the sections that follow.

To make:

- Construction signs

- Game signs

To buy:

- Balloons (orange and black or yellow and black)

- Construction zone tape

- Streamers (orange and black or yellow and black)

- That's it! The beauty of this party is that much of what you need you already have

Room-by-room guide

Outside: You can have some real fun decorating for a construction party, and the scene can begin outside. Turn the approach to your front door into a construction site, placing common yard tools such as shovels, rakes and wheel barrels around. Cordon them off with construction zone warning tape. Make a big orange construction sign saying, “Warning Construction Party Ahead”. If you do not have a usable outside area, then consider moving the same scene into the entryway.

The meet and greet room: Guide your guests from the entry to the meet and greet room with more construction signs and construction tape as well as some cones if you have them (these do not need to be full size construction cones – the little ones your kids use to mark off their soccer field will do). Continue this theme into the meet and greet room, and top it off with yellow and black or orange and black streamers.

Project - construction signs: For our construction signs, we used orange poster board with a very large black permanent marker (we used a Sanford Magnum 44). Cut the poster board into a square, round the corners and draw on your favorite sayings. Below are some of our favorites:

- Blasting Zone Ahead (with the word ‘Music’ hand written above blasting)

- High Wind Zone (with a picture of a cake and candle)

- Fun Zone Next 50 ft

- Some typical construction symbols (arrows, workman with flag, etc.)

The construction zone: The games themselves will provide much of the decoration and atmosphere in this room, so there is no need to go overboard. At each game area we recommend making a mini orange construction sign with the name of the game on it. Additional construction signs can be added on blank wall space. Yellow and black or orange and black streamers can be used on the ceiling, or to create a ‘wall’ between games.

Act 1, Scene 1

We like to think of your party as a production.  If your party is successful, your guests will be transported into your theme (and you may even get some applause at the end if parents stick around). So, if the party is a production, this is the script.

Scene 1: Your party will begin in the meet and greet room, with guests informed that they will become construction workers for the day (for now, keep them out of the ‘construction zone’). Each crew member will get a construction hat and a tool belt (we recommend putting their names on them in advance). To keep your little builders busy while others arrive put out markers and stickers for decorating the hat and tool belt. Alternatively, a construction-themed sticker project could be fun. At a second station set up a tattoo parlor, for temporary tattoos. If your meet and greet room has a TV, have an episode of Bob the Builder or Handy Manny running in the background to keep the early arrivers from straying to the construction zone.

Summary of activities:

Decorate hat and tool belt: hats can be decorated with stickers, and tool belts with markers

Sticker project: a construction-themed sticker project will help keep the crew tame will others are arriving

Tattoo parlor: give your crew the look of a rugged construction worker with temporary tattoos

Show: Bob the Builder or Handy Manny can keep their attention while others arrive

Scene 2: With everyone arrived, inform the crew that it is time to get to work. Each child will be given a checklist of construction activities to perform, with each corresponding to a game in the construction zone. If they complete all tasks then they will receive a prize. You now lead them to the construction area and let the fun begin. The games played should be largely dependent on the toys you already have, and the number of children invited. Again, we would suggest about one game station for every two guests. Here are some suggestions:

- Build a house with Lincoln Logs

- Build something with Legos

- Build something with K’NEX

- See how high you can stack a set of blocks before it topples

- Beanbag toss into some toy pickup trucks

- Trucks: Fill a contained area with packing foam peanuts, and have the crew move, dump and transport the material with toy trucks.

- Design a house: Let kids be the architect of their own design (see below)

Project - design a house: : Using a large box, tape it into the shape of a house. Put spots of Velcro on it. Print out pictures of all different shapes of windows, doors, bushes, and plants. From another box, cut out pieces of cardboard to paste the printed pictures on. Put Velcro on the cut outs and let the crew mix and match pieces as they decorate their create their own unique design. You can take this project a step further by painting or covering the house in self-adhesive wallpaper before applying the velcro.

Scene 3: Take a break for food and cake. Afterwards, the crew can go back down for some free play until pick up time, or perhaps a piñata (always a kid favorite). Before guests leave, they can trade in their checklists for a prize (the favor bag).

As an alternative, you can hand out prizes as tasks are done (and these prizes will make up the party favors). You may need a lot of help on hand though for this, depending on the size of the crew.

Food for thought

For children’s parties, food is not a big part of the presentation, and so it is best to keep it simple. Pizza or chicken fingers, a selection of fresh cut fruit and vegetables, and juice boxes will generally keep the kids and parents happy. The cake, however, is your opportunity to get creative.

We had a lot of fun with the construction party cake because it was easy, but looked phenomenal. On a rectangular cake we created a roadside construction scene. You almost can’t go wrong with this cake, because after all… it is a construction scene! We had a digger appearing to take a chunk out of the side of the cake, and used the extra pieces to create a mound of ‘dirt’.

                 

Birthday-in-a-Box has a selection of construction themed candles to top off your cake. The orange cones would be perfect for your construction cake.

Favor ideas

We recommend kids get the favors throughout the party as detailed below, but you could also opt for a traditional gift bag to be handed out on departure.

Construction hat: handed out on arrival for decorating, and as required safety equipment for entering the construction zone

Tool belt: handed out on arrival for decorating

Inflatable hammers: We handed these out at the ‘design a house’ game

Tape measures: We handed these out where kids were seeing how high they could stack the blocks

Birthday-in-a-box offers several all-inclusive favor options to make your party extra special and low stress. Your guests will go home with a smile after receiving one of these unique favor packs.

Final tips and pointers

This party really can be done with many objects and games that you already have at your house. Use your imagination and see how resourceful you can be to make this a truly unique (and low cost) party.

The key to this party is crowd control. In the construction area there are a lot of games happening simultaneously. Keep the kids moving amongst the games, and do your best to keep the kids evenly distributed.

Shopping list summary

Invitations:

www.FineStationery.com. If you've opted not to make the invitations yourself, you can't go wrong with the selection available online. Here is our favorite, but search for 'Construction' at www.FineStationery.com for more options.

Decorations: (featuring a selection from Birthday-in-a-Box)

	Solid Latex Balloons Combine yellow or orange with black balloons to perfectly accent your construction décor		Solid Crepe Streamers Combine yellow or orange with black streamers to perfectly accent your construction décor
	Mylar Truck Balloon An extra special balloon for your extra special child		Mylar Construction Balloon An extra special balloon for your extra special child
	Wall Decorations Decorate your party room the easy way with these		Banner Welcome your guests in style
	Centerpiece A fun accent to any party table		Construction Cones Turn your house into a real construction zone with these
	Placement Make mealtime fun with personalized placemats

Activities: (featuring a selection from Birthday-in-a-Box)

	Truck Pinata What party would be complete without a pinata?		Face Paint No need to hire a professional. Get a decent kit and do simple designs yourself.
	Hard Hat Give kids these hats before beginning your activities		Inflatable Hammer Hand these out at the 'design a house' activity

Favors: (featuring a selection from Birthday-in-a-Box)

	Ultimate Favor Set Everything you need to send off your construction crew		Construction Truck The perfect parting gift after a tough day of play
	Construction Favor Bag Construct the perfect ending to the party in here		Tool Gummy Certain to be a favorite of the party goers
	Bag Tag Personalized, laminated Construction bag tag		Button Round Construction button can be printed with names or a brief message
	Magnet Round Construction magnet can be printed with names or a brief message		Stickers Each sheet includes 12 round Construction Personalized Sticker