Mets Baseball -3yr- Pin Ball on the Field

My twin sons just turned 3 and they love baseball. We had a baseball party in our backyard.

For the invitations, I took a photo of them wearing Yankeed jerseys and holding balls and bats. I made the invitation look like a baseball ticket, printed on card stock. The top had the date of the party,  WEDNESDAY June 28, 2006 Opening Pitch at 2 PM  HARRIS STADIUM Our address Subject to the terms and conditions on an RSVP by June 12 Our phone number  Email address The SECTION ROW and SEAT was our kids birth month, date, and year Then their names and picture GAME 3 (Their AGE) If a rain delay is called, game will be played inside. THEY'RE ROUNDING SECOND AND SLIDING INTO THIRD. On the back: Team Uniform Day: Please wear your team hat and/or jersey for a team photo.  Concession Stand: Baseball fare will be served for adults and kids: Hot soft pretzles, chips, juice, milk, ice cream, and cupcakes.  Directions: To our house Children will be called onto the field: Bring chidren's bathing suits and towels. A pool and sprinklers will be set up.

Upon arrival, I had baseball pictures of Mr. Met (the mascot) printed from the Mets website and crayons so kids could color while waiting for other guests.  I had parents sign 2 soft baseballs for our kids. I wrote on them Jacob's 3 and Ethan's 3 and had the paretns sign their chidrens' names so our kids could have a keepsake. I took a team photo once everyone arrived. I had set up a kiddie pool and slip and slide, and we have a swingset and sandbox, so that kept them occupied for awhile. I had baeball tablecloths, cups, plates, napkins, hats,  blowers, and centerpieces.  I had 3 storebought signs, one that said happy birthday with baseballs, one that said baseball party, and one that looked like a scoreboard and said Happy birthday and you filled in the kids' names. I had printed out a starting lineup with all the kids names and numbers and hung that up. I had one kid get sick and not come, so I wrote DL on the starting lineup (for disabled list).

On the table, I had put a sign that said Home Plate for each of my kids with their names. I had set up a tub with ice and juice boxes, milk boxes, water, snapples, lemonades, and a pitcher of water with lemons and oranges cut up. I had out baseball bowls with potato chips, pretzles, nachos, and cracker jacks for the older kids. I also had out big, hot soft pretzles (Hey, it's a baseball theme) and veges and dips for the adults. I made the kids mini hot dogs (bagel dogs that came frozen from BJs) and min burgers (frozen from White Castle). I made regular hot dogs and burgers for the adults, along with pasta salad and fruit salad, and all the fixings: ketchup, pickles, mustard, relish, sauerkraut, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and buns.

After the water activities and eating, we did the planned activities: I had bought foam pennants from AC Moore and foam letters, balls, and stars. The letters, balls, and stars were stick on, so there was no glue involved. I had put the letters for each guest's name, as well as balls and stars, in a ziploc, so each kid sat down with their own names, pennants, balls, and stars to do.

We played pin the ball on the ball field. I had used a bulletin board and stapled felt to it to make it look like a ball field, complete with baselines, all the bases, and a pitchers mound. I bought felt stick on baseballs at AC Moore and wrote each kid's initials on them. Then we blinfolded them, spun them, and saw who could get it closest to home plate.

We had a baseball pinata and I had a baseball loot bag with each kid's name so they could put all their pinata goodies in there. I found mini batter's helmet dishes at Ground Round. I had a ziploc prepared with stickers of each guest's letters of their name, as well as assorted baseball stickers so they could decorate their own helmet.

We then did decorate your own sundaes for adults and kids with chocolate and vaniall ice cream, whipped cream, hot fudge, caramel, choolate sprinkles, rainbow sprinkles, non pareils, chocolate shavings, deisgn sprinkles, and mini M&Ms. We then did cupcakes for the kids and cake for the adults, which were chocolate or vanilaa, with white frosting that I had piped on red stitching so each cupcake and cake looked like a baseball.  We had baseball candles too. We then set up our bounce house, which happens to be a sports one (Walmart.com).

At the end, we gave out favors.  I had bought popcorn BOXES and wrote each child's name on it. Inside, I put a sports tattoo, a baseball pencil, a baseball whistle, an individual bag of cotton candy, a blow up beachball, which was actually a baseball, a soft baseball that said, "Thanks, we had a ball. Jacob and Ethan", and an individual bag of homemade chocolate I had made. There was a red ball cap, a white basball with red stitching, and a brown baseball mitt. It was tied with a sports tie that I bought at AC Moore.

For thank yous, I printed the team picture and wrote on it Team Picture, JAcob and Ethan's Birthday June 28, 2006. And listed the kids' first initials and last names by what row they were sitting in. I also printed out a big baseball mitt on card stock and wrote "Thanks, your gift was a hit with us." I filled out the back with a personal note. A great time was had by all.