Summertime Watermelon Party -9yr- Bubblegum Contest

My daughter's birthday is in May, so I decided to do a summertime" theme for her 9th birthday: Watermelon. She was in third grade so we invited her whole 3rd grade class which was about 20 kids. So this party can work for both small or big parties.

For the invitations I found watermelon scrapbook paper at the craft store to print the information on.

The decorations were all watermelon themed. I found watermelon tablecloths plates cups and napkins at the local party store plus red green and white balloons and streamers. We held the party outside in the backyard (but it could take place inside with a few modifications).

Activities included:
1. Bubblegum blowing contest to see who could make the biggest bubble using watermelon flavored bubblegum. The person with the biggest bubble got a prize.

2. Guess how many seeds in the packet of watermelon seeds (from the local gardening store). Person who guessed the closest got a prize.

3. Eat a slice of watermelon with your hands behind your back (you want to get a watermelon with seeds for the next activity). 5. Seed spitting contest! Have the children do a seed spitting contest with the left over seeds on their plate from the watermelon eating contest. We did this up against the backyard fence so that the kids could see the seeds bounce off (very popular activity).

4. Similar to pin the tail on the donkey I used craft paper to make a watermelon with a slice missing on a board. I blindfolded the kids and had them try to pin the slice back onto the watermelon. I placed numbers on each slice so that child that got closest to filling the missing spot with his/her slice got a prize.

5. A watermelon shaped pinata (you can buy one pre-made or make one yourself!)filled with candy and trinkets.

I didn't specify costumes but I did make my daughter a cute hand painted watermelon shirt. She felt special because she stood out!

We had snack foods out when the kids got hungry. They were just typical snacks: pretzels goldfish fruit (including left over watermelon of course) and veggies. Nothing too elaborate since the party took place in-between lunch and dinner. After the activities we opened presents and cake!

The cake was a homemade ice cream cake that looked like a watermelon. I used a big sturdy bowl for the mold. First I filled the outer layer with green sherbet ice cream. Next I put in a thin layer of vanilla ice cream followed by filling the rest of the bowl with raspberry sherbet mixed with chocolate chips (for the seeds). It looked just like a watermelon that had been cut in half and since it was all ice cream the kids loved it! I sent the kids home with goody bags filled with watermelon candy gum and things that were red green and white.

Overall the kids had a great time! The party lasted about 3 hours which was perfect!  "