My son’s obsession with cars made it inevitable that he would want a car-themed birthday party. This was a really fun party to plan and execute.
On his actual birthday, I went ahead and made him a car cake. He couldn’t decide between a cake or cupcakes, so I suggested we do a cake for the actual birthday and cupcakes for the party.
I made the cake using two bread pans and some Oreos for the wheels.
By stacking one cake on the other and trimming the top one to make the curves of your car, you have an easy peasy cake base.
If you want a neater finish, you can definitely use fondant. I just love the taste of buttercream so I use it. My kids don’t care about perfection; they care about taste. Add the icing, the wheels, and use some candies for the head and taillights (I used Canadian Smarties, but you can use whatever you have on hand).
Now for the Car-Themed Birthday Party!
There were a few musts for this party: a monster truck piñata (yikes!), car cupcakes, and fun games. We did run into some rough weather, but we were able to adjust our schedule so we could get outside between rain showers. The games were better suited for outside, since I knew I’d have a bunch of energetic boys and girls.
Games
Pin the License Plate on the Car
First, draw the back of a car on a piece of bristol board. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Where the license plate goes, draw a rectangle and leave it blank.
Then, you can make little license plates for each of the kids. I put their names on the plates, trying to be creative with the combinations of letters and numbers. For example, Kelvin became K3LV1N.
The game itself is just another version of “Pin the Tail On the Donkey”. Grab something to blindfold the kids, spin one around and let him/her find that car.
Find the Race Car Race
This is surprisingly simple, but effective. Keep in mind, this party was intended for 4/5 year olds (although I had my older kids and their friend joining in the fun). First, print out different coloured race cars and hang them around the yard. The places can be fairly obvious. Then, have the kids pretend to get in a race car. Their objective is to “race” around the yard and find one of the race cars, then bring it to the finish line. I am always surprised at how excited kids get to have a paper souvenir, so they may be excited to keep their cars after.
Pit Stop
This is another great game to get out some energy. The only supplies you need are some types of rings. I found cheap inflatables at the Dollar Store. You could use hula hoops, make rope circles, etc. One adult gets to be the caller. When she calls out “go!” the kids run around the yard. When she calls “pit stop!” the kids have to run to one of the circles as fast as they can.
You can definitely add levels of difficulty to this. For the kids we had at the party, they were completely happy running and sharing their circles. You could easily do elimination rounds and say only one person per pit stop and then remove pit stops after each round. It can be a musical chairs type of game. Again, these kids just got a kick out of scrambling to find a hoop. They didn’t need any kind of competition.
The Piñata
I think this has been the most challenging piñata I have ever made, but it was so fun! Indeed, my son requested a monster truck.
If you have never done papier-mâché before, then feel to check out my post about it here. I wish I had taken more pictures along the way as I made this; however, I had no idea I would decide to start a blog about this 3 years later. I promise with posts made about things happening now and in the future, I will add more step-by-step pictures for clarity!
Step One: Make the frame of the monster truck (minus the wheels) out of cardboard. Cereal boxes work perfectly. Ensure that with the frame there is a piece hanging along the bottom in the middle so that a dowel rod can go through it for attaching the wheels. Don’t forget to leave a hole somewhere discreetly in the frame so you can put candy/prizes inside.
Step Two: Stuff the cardboard frame with plastic bags. This helps to keep the shape of the frame when you add the wet glue. If you don’t stuff it, you can expect warping of the cardboard, which doesn’t look great.
Step Three: Cut out 4 Wheels from sturdy cardboard. Consider using a thick box for this. You don’t want them to be flimsy.
Step Four: Papier-mâché the outside of your truck. I like to do 2-3 coats. Fortunately, the cardboard is a pretty hefty layer in and of itself, so it will take a little more effort to break the piñata. While the glue is still wet, poke 2 holes in the underbelly where your dowel rods will got through to hold the wheels. Let everything dry completely.
Step Five: Paint. It is always difficult for me to remind myself not to spend too much time on this. Yes, I want it to look nice, but I also need to remember that it is going to be smashed into pieces within minutes. So DON’T SPEND HOURS PAINTING!!! Also, don’t forget to paint those wheels.
Step Six: Feed your dowel rods through the pre-made holes. You don’t want them jutting out too far, so trim as necessary. Attach the wheels to the ends of the rods. I used duct tape for that.
Step Seven: Fill your monster truck with the goods.
Step Eight: This:
Car Cupcakes
The body of the car consists of one regular-sized cupcake turned upside down and a half of a mini cupcake on its side.
Ice the cupcakes with some buttercream icing, then add your windows.
For the head and taillights, I used pieces of Starbursts that I snagged from my piñata treats. I put them in the microwave for 7 seconds and they become pliable. You can mold them in many different ways.
The wheels were out of desperation. My original plan was either mini Oreos or mini Vanilla Wafer cookies. I couldn’t find mini Vanilla cookies so I grabbed the regular sized from the store, but when I tried them on the cars they were way too big. Since I didn’t have time for another store run, I checked my kitchen and came up with halved grapes. You do what you have to do, folks! And hey, I can say I served something healthy:)
There you have a car-themed birthday party!
We had a lot of fun. The kids got out a lot of energy and seemed to have a great time. What else do you need?