Nemo Maritime Party 2yr - Bubble Machine

For my sons second birthday we decided on the theme Finding Nemo.  I started with the invitations.  I took blue tag board and cut it to fit inside a snack sized Ziploc bag. I than wrote on the front of the tag board Dive into Josh's Birthday.  On the back I wrote Nemo has been found, come and sea and together we'll celebrate turning 2 with me.  Underneath was my child’s name, Port (address), Castoff (Date), Dive time (time of party), Resurface (end of party), S.O.S (Phone number to RSVP).  I then placed the tag board inside the bag and placed a small amount of sand, Nemo confetti, and small shells on top. Next I sealed the bags and placed them inside blue envelopes and put a Nemo sticker on the back to help seal it. 

For the decorations I bought Nemo plates, Nemo tablecloth, Nemo cups, Nemo birthday banner, Nemo napkins and orange silverware from Party City. I made Nemo, Dory, Bruce, etc. out of cardboard and hung them from the celling using fishing line. I hung blue crepe paper all over the house to look like water and blue balloons for bubbles. I also hung a blue table cloth on my front door that had Nemo and ocean themed stickers on it. I also had a bubble machine placed by my front door.  Next I covered my furniture with blue blankets to look like water.

For the kids table I decorated it with a Nemo tablecloth, Nemo Plates, Nemo napkins, plastic Nemo cups, (the kids got to take home) and orange silver.  I placed my son’s fish tank in the middle for the center piece with shells next to it. (The kids loved watching the fish.  I also had a Nemo banner hanging behind the table on the wall and Nemo balloons tied to each of the kid’s chairs. For the food table I put a blue tablecloth down and then covered it with a fishing net that had plastic seaweed hanging from it. I also had my son’s Nemo character stuffed animals placed around the party area for decoration.  

For the activities the kids made fish plates. I had crayons, glue, stickers, etc. for the kids to decorate their plates with (paper plate with a triangle shape cut from the front for the mouth, triangle fins and goggly eyes). I also made a fish tank for the kids to play in (big cardboard box painted to look like the fish tank Nemo was stuck in). The kids loved playing in this.

After everyone arrived we ate lunch. We had boats (make your own sub), Fish sticks, fish tanks (Blue jello in clear cups with gummy fish inside), seaweed (French style green beans).  I also had a glass fish bowl filled with Nemo fruit snacks. To drink I made Shark punch (Blue Kool-Aid with ice cubes that have shark gummies frozen inside).

After we ate the kids played several games. Find Nemo (I made different fish out of construction paper, but only one Nemo. I hid the fish around the house and the kids had to find them. Whoever found the most fish received a prize and the child that found Nemo got to pick two. Pin the tail on Nemo (played just like pin the tail on the donkey) and Whale Talk (I said a phrase in whale talk and the kid that got it right won a prize). The prizes were Nemo bubble guns, Dory squirt toys, Nemo jump ropes, and Bruce flashlights (Wal-Mart). 

After games we had cake and ice cream.  I made the cake from a fish shaped pane I bought from the store and decorated it to look like Nemo. After cake my son opened his presents.  Before the kids left they each got a gift bucket. Each child had to make it past the jelly fish before they could have it. (4 Hula Hoops placed on the floor that the kids had to jump through)  If they touched a hoop they got stung and had to start over again. For the younger kids I placed them close together so they could just walk through them.  The favors were sand buckets from the dollar store filled with Nemo stickers, Nemo bubbles, Nemo fish tank (Disney Store), Nemo blow out, and a small Nemo stuffed animal (eBay). The kids had a lot of fun trying to get though the jellyfish.