Homemade Children's Birthday Decorations

Toy blocks are one feature you can use to create a block-themed party.

Skip the store-bought party decorations and save a few bucks on your child's next birthday party. Get your child's input for ideas and possible themes and involve him in making the decorations. With just a few homemade items, you can create a delightful party atmosphere for your child's birthday.

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Paints
• Cardboard
• Coloring book
• Pictures

Instructions

1. Make a birthday banner. Tape together several pieces of construction or printer paper and use stencils or draw bubble letters for the words "Happy Birthday." If it's a themed party, print out pictures from Internet, such as pictures of dinosaurs, then glue and color them to the two end papers. You can also create and print banners using a desktop publishing program

2. Color pages that you've cut out of a coloring book or blank coloring pages that you've printed from the Internet. Choose designs that match the theme of the party or your child's interests, such as horses, cars or a specific cartoon character. Hang the colored pictures throughout the party area as decorations. Take a shortcut by printing pictures that are already colored, if you have a color printer, or by using illustrated pages from inexpensive kids' picture books.

3. Construct centerpieces for the party tables. Put a piece of floral foam in a vase and stick lollipops into the foam. For a boy's birthday party, make a robot with small cardboard boxes, paint and tape, or create a dinosaur skeleton using clean, sterilized chicken bones. For a girl's party, cut out two similar butterfly shapes from cardboard and paint them. Bend the butterflies in half and glue or tape the two butterflies together so they can stand on the table independently.

4. Create a poster or timeline of the birthday child's life on sheets of paper. Start with a baby picture and pictures of momentous occasions, such as first step, first lost tooth and first day of school. Use scrap-booking supplies to add stickers, die cuts and borders to jazz up the poster or timeline. Encourage guests to add special notes if you want to keep this decoration as a memento.

5. Place toys that match the party theme around the party space. For example, for a train party, place toy trains on side tables or near the cake.

References

• January Magazine: Make Your Own Dinosaur