When bouncy houses won’t do, use what you have in your backyard.
We hadn’t had a party at our house for Connor since his first birthday. He is a March baby and March weather in North Carolina can be either amazing or awful. We had years 2 through 4 of amazing outside
parties at Pullen Park in Raleigh. Year 5, same place, was in the upper 30s and raining.
It was miserable (the kids had a blast, though). We opted for inside parties for years 6 and 7. Our former house didn’t really have the yard space (or fence), so we held the parties gymnastics facilities. For year 8, Connor asked for an at-home party. We had a fence and a tree fort and threw a backyard soccer bash.
Backyard parties can be dicey, too, because the weather can be uncooperative. I suggest offering a rain date. I created free invitations on Evite and I set up a private Facebook group.
At-the-house parties (cleaning aside) are so much easier. We boarded the dogs. I made the cake. And everything was done in the backyard (we picked up dog poo, too). We didn’t have to lug stuff (food, cake, drinks) to a venue or pull coolers through the park.
The game offerings ranged from Nerf wars and tree fort claims to soccer matches and goalie shoot-outs. The food included the cake, veggies and dip, cheese and crackers, and juice boxes (coffee and water for the parents who stuck around). The goodie bags offered soccer-themed fare: temporary tattoos, rubber bouncy soccer balls, candy and soccer stickers.
The cake was a Manchester United-themed chocolate (for dirt) box mix that the kids said tasted like a fancy chocolate doughnut. I found and ordered an edible cake topper with Man U’s logo and put that and plastic soccer figures on top. The frosting was turf green.
Cake supplies:
- Cake mix
- Frosting mix (I used the 10x sugar and made vanilla buttercream with green food coloring)
- Food coloring
- Cake toppers (including candles)
- Heavy poster board or box
- Gift wrap in team color
Make the cake as 9 by 11 sheet cake (follow mix instructions)
Let cake cool on cooling rack (after you have followed the mix instructions and removed it from the pan). While the cake cools, make your field by wrapping the poster board or box in the gift wrap. Then mix the frosting (I used 10x sugar and the recipe on the bag), add green food coloring to make “grass.”
Assembly required:
- Place cake on the box or board
- Frost cake
- Add cake toppers
- Light candles
- Sing
- Eat!
I had about half a cake leftover (15 kids and a few parents). All of the kids had green tongues from the frosting.