Snow Foam Party -8yr- Melting Snowman Game

Snow Foam Party 

It's months away, but for my daughter's 8th birthday in September, we are going to have a Snow party.  I am planning it so far in advance, because now is the time to get great deals on fake snow machines, which are actually Foam machines on Ebay.  I got a GREAT deal on a very large foam machine along with enough foam fluid that will generate 1500 gallons of foam, so it looks like we will be having foam to play in for many birthdays to come. I have already also bought almost everything else we need for the party from Oriental Trading, because now is the time to get good deals on Christmas merchandise. 

For the invitations, I bought a pack of 50 sheets of computer paper with a snowman/snowflake boarder, on which I am going to print:  Is the hot weather getting you down?  Do you wish for something cool and refreshing to do?  Would you like to have some good  CLEAN fun?  Well guess what!  It's going to SNOW in Sunny California!!!!!!!  In honor of Makayla's 8th birthday, we are  going to make it Snow in our backyard.  Well, it is going to be California snow..   We are having a foam machine that is going to make millions upon millions of tiny foam  bubbles, so whoever wants to run in and play in foamy bubbles can young and old alike!  PLEASE Make sure you wear clothing that you don't mind getting wet and soapy or bring your bathing suit. You can also bring your beach towels or you can use one of our towels. It is also a good  idea to bring a change of clothing as well.  Lunch will be served along with cake and ice cream!  So please come help us celebrate Makayla's 8th  birthday and join in on all the fun!  

I purchased several snowflake and snowman decorations from Oriental Trading along with many snowflake and snowman party gifts.  We will have tissue snowflakes hanging all over the patio along with many paper snowflakes that I am going to cut out between now and then.  We are going to turn our patio into an actual winter wonderland in the heat of September. The tablecloths I have purchased have a snowflake design all over them and I bought snowman paper plates, napkins and cups as well. I even got a 7 foot inflatable snowman for under $35, so after the party, I can always use it for in front of my house at Christmas.  I also bought some really cute metal snowflake ornaments that I am going to hang on my tree outside and these too I can use after the party on my Christmas tree.  

The cake is going to be a snowman. I am just going to make a regular sheet cake and I am going to trim the edges of the cake into the shape of a snowman. I will then ice the cake white and top it with coconut. The snowman's eyes and his buttons will be Hershey Kisses. His scarf  and smile will be made out of Airhead candies and his nose will be the end of a sugar cone that I will frost orange. And not to forget his arms, those will be made out of bread sticks.   

We will start the party off with a craft that I bought from Oriental Trading.  It is a snowflake lip gloss necklace.  The kids can put a snowflake sticker on the front of the lip gloss container and then a blue cord and blue and white beads that they can thread on as well. I also bought another craft from the same place. It is a paper 3-D snowflake ornament that can be colored and decorated.  I am going to sit out markers, crayons, glue, glitter, and sequins and let the kids decorate their own snowflake. 

For games, Game 1) We are going to play ring toss snowman. I am going to make a snowman out of  Styrofoam balls.  I will drill a hole down the middle of the balls and then I will place them on my paper towel holder.  I will glue on wiggle eyes and a felt scarf. I will glue on real buttons for his buttons and I will insert a real baby carrot for his nose. His arms will actually be twigs off of my tree.  The prize for this game will be snowflake and snowman stickers.  

Game 2) Snowball toss (actually water balloon toss) I will fill white balloons with water.  I will have lots of extra snowballs so the kids can also have a snowball fight.  The prize for this game will be a snowflake notepad  

Game 3) Pin the nose of the Snowman.  I am going to draw a large Snowman on white paper and then I am going to cut out carrots out of orange construction paper.  The prize for this game will be a snowflake pencil. 

Game 4) Floating snowball toss, this game is actually a carnival game that I bought from Oriental Trading. It is the game with the floating glass bowls where you try and toss ping pong balls into the bowls. The prize for this game will be a snowflake necklace. 

Game 5) Pass the melting snowman. This is a version of hot potato, but instead the passing item is a zip lock baggie with three ice cubes inside it.   The prize for this game is a stuffed snowflake ornament with a little snowman pin inside the ornament. 

Game 6) This doesn't go with the theme, but I bought an inflatable pin the tail on the donkey game (the donkey is about 4 feet tall) last year from Oriental Trading and he is really cute and the kids loved playing it.  The tails are attached with Velcro.  I am going to put a winter hat and scarf around him to make him fit more into the theme.  The prize for this game will be a balloon snowman racer. 

We will also have a piñata that I am going to fill with candy and that plastic fake snow, so when the piñata burst open, it will look like it is snowing.  The piñata is an Incredible Hulk piñata that I bought several of at my local dollar store a few years back.  Every year I just take whatever theme the party is and cover the Incredible Hulk with wrapping paper that matches the theme.  Luckily I found some really cute snowman paper at Walmart on discount before we decided on this theme, so this is what the piñata will be covered with this year. 

As for the main event at the party the snow, I am going to buy four PVC pipes and some of that orange construction site netting at Home Depot and I will make a pit area in the middle of the backyard about 20 x 20 and the foam will be about 3 feet high.  This size of an area will fill up with foam in less than 10 minutes and as the kids play in it and it dissipates, we can turn the machine back on every 15 minutes or so. This is where the kids can run and play in the snow.  I will also setup a kiddy pool and sprinkler so they can rinse the foam off them when they are finished playing. 

As for the goodie bags, I bought some large snowflake gift bags that I am going to have the kids names already written on and these I will pass out at the beginning of the party and the kids.  As they finish their crafts and win prizes they can put their goodies into the bag.  Then they will also use these gift bags for collecting all the piñata goodies as well.  It seems every year some kid always misplaces one of their prizes or they don't know who's prize is who's -  this way they can keep everything together in one big bag with their name on it and this way they won't leave anything behind when it's time to go home that's IF they keep it in their bag! 

As for the Thank You cards.  I am going to take a picture of each child covered in foam and I am going to have my daughter write her thank you notes on the same paper that we sent the invitations on. Then the notes and the picture will be sent to each person.