Spongebob 6yr - Bikini Bottom Limbo

Sponge Bobs Bikini Bottom Birthday Party  Age:  6  My son has an end of summer birthday and he loves to swim.  We had an under the sea theme for his swimming party the year before and while he wanted to have another swimming party, we didn’t want to just repeat the same thing.  He loved watching Sponge Bob so we took the theme from there.    I downloaded a picture of Sponge Bob with all of his friends from the internet and created our own invitations.  On the cover, it said,  Do you know whats more fun than JELLY FISHING?! . . ..  Inside:  Its Zacks Birthday Party and youre invited! Along with the party details, we promised the following events that they wouldn’t want to miss:   ·The Bikini Bottom Limbo Contest ·Mr. Crabs Don’t waste a drop water relay ·The Bikini Bottom Driving Schools Tire Changing Challenge ·And of course. . . JELLY FISHING! 

All Sponge Bob fans were sure to be intrigued. . .  We sprang for a few Sponge Bob paper products:  table cloths and napkins.  I bought plain yellow cups  and plates which matched perfectly and saved a lot.  And we just decorated everything with blue and green streamers to look like it was under the sea.  We used many of the same color helium balloons to continue the effect but we sprinkled in some yellow and pink balloons for Sponge Bob and Patrick.     

The cake was decorated by my sons  teacher.  It was a standard sheet cake with light blue icing.  Circles and dots of white icing were used for a bubble effect and wide, wavy green lines of icing around the edges for Seaweed.  Around the Happy Birthday on the cake, some small plastic Sponge Bob characters were scattered.  These came from a  bathtub playset (Walmart).  We actually purchased two of these sets to use for both the cake and the relays yet to come.   

Bikini Bottom Limbo:  An old wooden mop handle spray painted blue.  Due to the kids age, we opted to have parents hold it so we could cheat a little for the younger ones to get under it.  We used Limbo music from a Kids Music CD that my son already had.  As you might guess, all of the participants won!  We gave them their choice of temporary tattoos with Sponge Bob Characters (Target) and we put them on the kids immediately so they could wear them for the rest of the party.   

Mr. Crabs Don’t waste a drop& water relay:  The Sponge Bob bathtub sets (Walmart) came with a small yellow bucket and two sponges the shape of Sponge Bob and Patrick.  We divided the kids into two teams and had them form two single file lines.  Several feet away from the start of the line, we placed two chairs and the two empty small yellow buckets.  Then, we  put the sponges in large bowls full of water near the front of the line.  One by one, each kid had to soak his sponges in water, place them on his chest/stomach and do the crab walk to the empty bucket. Then, squeeze out as much water as possible and run back.  The object was to get as much water as possible in your teams bucket.  However, the kids cant help racing and sponges and water were flying everywhere  buckets spilled, etc..  In the end, we announced the winning team but gave all of the participants Spongebob suckers that we purchased at the dollar store.  (note:  younger participants had trouble with the crab walk so they were instructed to carry the sponges on their heads  no hands - and walk quickly to the buckets.) 

The Bikini Bottom Driving Schools Tire Changing Challenge:  We had two swim rings that looked like tires (actual tire tubes would be even better).  Two teams lined up again.  This time they had to roll their tire to the chairs (which had been moved further away) and as they went around the chair, step INTO the tire to wear it around their waist for the run back.  Volunteer parents sat on the sidelines squirting participants with water guns just to add to the challenge.  It was easy to see which team won, but once again, we gave prizes to all participants.  This time it was gold fish crackers to go with their crabby patties aka hamburgers and hotdogs that were being served for lunch.   

Jelly Fishing:  We bought a package of small rubber bouncing balls (at least one for each guest) and scattered them in the shallow end of the pool.  The kids lined up once again in two teams.  This time the object was to jump in and use a small fishing net with a handle (Walmart- or a butterfly net would also suffice) to scoop up one jelly fish for your team.  No one could scoop more than one at a time and once you had your jelly fish, you passed the net on to the next person in line.  The nets allowed even those who didn’t want to go under water to still participate.  The prize this time was keeping your jellyfish (bouncing ball).   

A last minute addition to the party was provided by my sister she gave my son a Spongebob piñata (Walmart) filled with candy.  The kids used the limbo stick to take turns whacking the piñata until it finally fell open.  We gave each kid a small plastic bag for candy and for the other prizes they were collecting along the way.    The party lasted well past the time originally planned to end since we hadnt really allowed much time for just plain swimming.  So, this party idea would work with or without the pool.  Actually wading pools might work even better for a younger crowd.