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Army Party Supplies
Army parties are popular with small kids and adults alike! The army party is a great way of mixing role-playing and birthday celebrations, and this party adapts to costume, days out, or simple fun in the living room. Most young boys will have their own army costume (perhaps camouflage) and weapons such as guns – the host can encourage his new recruits to bring their own equipment, as it will provide a talking point for the kids as they arrive at the party.
Planning an army party will involve deciding what kind of party the parent plans to throw – will it be a Special Forces party, an army party, or simply a ‘combat’ party with all the major armed forces involved? It is important to decide early on which of these army themes will be used, as army party supplies and organisation will have to be altered accordingly.
Invitations should be on everyone’s army party supplies list – how will the army form unless they get their draft notices? These invitations can be bought in packs, but they also offer a great opportunity for the parent to demonstrate his or her creative flair. Invitations might be presented as ‘call up’ or ‘draft’ notices, addressed to the child and summoning them for basic training. At this point it is up to the parent hosting whether they would like to require costume be worn (please turn up in uniform), or whether that should be left for the children to decide. Invitations might include things such as dog tags for the children to wear when they turn up at the party – adding a little taste of authenticity. Planning for an army party should be done a few weeks in advance, to allow other parents to organise costumes and other army gear, and so that any army party supplies have plenty of time to arrive.
The room where the party will be held should be decorated with army symbols and festive army gear. Balloons can be bought in black, tan or green, and bunched together to resemble camouflage costume, or silver balloons with the army symbol on them can be used – perhaps to decorate the front of the house. Parents might want to consider buying some ‘patriotic’ decorations such as American flags, or a series of ‘national monuments’ cards which can be attached to the wall with blue tack. Other party items might include top hats in the flag colours, or American flag ‘noise makers’. The room can also include sheets flung over the furniture to make them appear like tents – green or mottled blankets are best for this; other tricks include making part of the room appear like a jungle, with streamers hanging from the ceiling to represent vines, and perhaps the light bulbs in that area switched to green for the evening. Raiding army supplies shops for old netting, army trunks, and other equipment will also add to the evening. Parents wishing to go all-out for the party might want to invest in a Cardboard Tank decoration; this really sets the mood for the party, but can also be great for taking pictures of the kids in their costumes.
Tableware for the party can continue this army theme; plenty of places will provide the parent with army party supplies tableware, including camouflage plates and cups, napkins and other necessities, just be sure to buy a table cover in a different camouflage shade to the plates and cups! Tableware with pictures of army scenes can also be bought; or parents can take the theme to another level, and provide their guests with plastic canteen bottles and Tupperware bottles for a more authentic fighting army feel.
Food might be either traditional finger party food, or the parent might wish to give them army rations – beans, mashed potatoes, and sausages; other army fare can be made by making everything green with food dye, and using green soda for the drink – this can also go in water guns and be used outside for war games.
There are plenty of games which can be played with an army theme – parents might want to encourage children to bring squirt guns and play outside; a couple of cheap fences make excellent dugouts, and the children can happily fire at each other while the adults get on with preparing the food and laying the table. Other entertainment might be brought in the form of face-painting (giving the child camouflage stripes, or just the traditional GI Joe blackened stripes), a scavenger hunt, or maybe even a tug-o-war (this is probably best played outside. Children will probably be happy just playing with guns and their imaginations, particularly if the parent has decorated the party room with army party supplies such as balloons and wall hangings.
Parents wishing to save money on the essentials should consider investing in basic army party kits. These provide tableware, invitations, balloons and other items which can be used to decorate the room; these cheaper items can help to save the budget for more elaborate army party supplies, although parents should be aware that these kits only cater for a set number of children, so if the little host of the party has invited his whole class, parents may need to buy individual tableware, or more than one kit.
Another feature of any party is the children will probably expect to be taking home some gifts; the tradition of the home-time loot bag can be given an army theme here by making the children line up and receive their bags, gifts, toys and a piece of cake as their army kit. Small army based toys are easily bought, although parents might wish to invest in army party supplies gift bags, which will provide everything a loot bag needs – again these are limited in the number of sets provided, so check that there are enough bags for children attending.
Organising a birthday party can be exhausting but fun. The most important aspect of any party is to ensure that the children have fun, and go home talking about the great time they had at their friend’s house – so long as the children are happy, everything has gone well.
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