Deer Birthday

[mjsjtjcj]

Deer/Wildlife/Hunting Birthday Party

My son will be 6 in August and he is already talking about his next birthday. He has recently taken up an interest in hunting (thanks to dad, which is great), and so has chosen that he wants a deer party. He saw a deer cake at Wal-Mart, but I have no clues about decorations. He also wants a deer pinata, but I really doubt we will be able to find that.

I figure this may be a tough one, so I might as well start looking for things now.

Any ideas are greately appreciated!

[charlen]

I had to give this some thought, but how about this. Face decorating with camoflage paint? Whoever blends in the best gets a prize? How about a target competition with bows and kid safety arrows? Find the hidden duck? Maybe use a clay decoy?
You could have someone teach a gun safety class on a kid level. That's all I could think of right now!:p

[sjnkcmom]

Not sure how things are in Iowa but here we are able to have pinatas made. Check around to see if there is anyone up there making them.

If not, here is a site that will help you make your own. http://www.suncitysoap.com/pinatas.html

Just remember that they need not be big. I had a very small pinata for my son's birthday last week and it took 2 huge bags of candy to fill. Each child definitely had enough candy to keep them happy until Easter.

[wildleggs]

Here's a few I came up with...

For Decoration ...camoflage leaves that cover walls and hang from ceiling! Maybe place animal game pictures around (Ducks, Quail, Deer, moose, elk, Hog, BEAR ect).

For Activities...How about a tracking game? Hide gifts/lootbags somewhere inside or out. Then track down prey. Make (press animal paws in yard or broken branches, Ect) or place tracks (made from construction paper) around to lead the little hunters to they're prey (gifts)! My sis did this for her son's birthday and they had a ball. Only difference was they had string to follow. Each guest had a string to follow at the end was a lootbag. The birthday boy found his gifts at the end!! I wouldn't make the tracks to hard to find at this age though.

Also...They could make camoflage hunting veests from Large paper grocery bags!

As for someone to entertain...Maybe you could get a forest ranger or a professioonal hunting guide to come and talk to the kids about tracking different animals. They may even throw in a special hunting trip for the birthday boy at a different time.

For Safety...please make sure your husband's guns are locked up & unloaded at all times...

Have a great party! Wild

[mjsjtjcj]

Thank you for the wonderful ideas!

[kasparcat]

There's tons of deer stuff out there, you just have to Think Christmas and look for reindeer ideas and skip the red nose!

Here's a do-it-yourself (EASY) reindeer cake with pictures and instructions:
http://www.eezplanit.com/Cakes/Holidays/reindeer.htm

Rani

[MKS]

The safety class is a great idea. Some of this important information is received better from a person who is not a parent. Since deer season is just ending, you may be able to find some things (camoflauge) on clearance. Even boys love to play "dress up." As long as it's camo (or bright orange.)

[preacherswife]

My kids always wanted theme parties that were a little off the beaten path, too. You could probably sponge paint a paper table cover in camo.
For games, we always got a refrigerator box and decorated it. We had to call appliance and furniture stores in advance to get them. For a hunting party, you could make a "pin the antlers on the buck" game on one side, maybe some sort of target game on another side (bean bag toss or darts with a hunting theme?). On one side we always had a character with a face cutout for taking pictures to send with the thank you note after the party, and the fourth side had a door to enter the picture taking side. Maybe you could take their pictures as a decked out outdoorsman.
The boxes were played with for weeks after the party, unless a friend asked to borrow it for their own party.That happened several times.
If you don't draw, as I don't, maybe you could copy the pictures you want onto a tranparency, then take the box to your church or school and use the overhead projector to enlarge it onto the side of the box, then trace it.
You could decorate with your husband's hunting gear, especially if he has camo netting for his blind. They have camo duct tape, too, maybe for napkin rings?
How about a clue "hunt" for one of the games.

[lonyar]

I asked my cousin what she thought because she is forever coming up with great party ideas and here is what she said:
If my son wanted a deer hunting party here is what I would do. I would get either some camo table cloths or use camo fabric which is pretty cheap for the tablecloth. I would use camo printed plates and cups if can't find camo print I would use dark green or maybe like bright orange, And I think I would try to find bright orange party hats. Cause you know hunters need to wear their orange for safety.

I would call around to party places and then search the net for a deer shaped
piñata. I have seen some before. I really don't think it will be so hard to find. And if you plan this far ahead it gives you plenty of time.


6 year olds like to play hide and seek games. So I would get so plastic animals (Try to find deer.) and hide them around the house or yard. Tell the kids they are going "Deer hunting" and have the find the animals.

I also think I would put on the invitations for everyone to please come in there hunting closes.

As for party favors. I think I would go into the hunting section for local discount stores (Walmart, etc...) and see what I could find. I have seen so cheap like $2 orange plastic adult hunting vests. Kids like to act grown up and play with grown up things. So it will be OK that the vests are to big the kids will like them better because it's like "Dads." I bet there are some other cheap fun stuff for kids it the hunting dept. Be sure to think about safety. So use your imagination.

I think I would avoid the whole GUN thing to hunting some parents really don't like their children around guns or even playing with toy guns.

[mjsjtjcj]

Thanks again to those of you who have posted the great ideas for my sons party. It's too bad though that someone has to bash us for our great ideas! Thanks!