Home And Family USA

Since my sister and her husband are renovating their home my nephew has become obsessed with building. He is so consumed with the subject that they are throwing a construction birthday party for him this year. This is a perfect theme for a four year old boy’s celebration.

We began shopping around for different items to use for the construction birthday party and we found tons of things for the event. The colors of choice are yellow and green. The colors represent items like John Deere and Caterpillar construction equipment.

Using color is a great way to save on decorating costs. You can create a construction birthday party by using colors commonly associated with building. You can also find inexpensive details as well. We used basic tablecloths and paper plates and plastic utensils in the yellow and green theme.

What made the colors work was the little details that we added here and there. We made caution signs and men at work signs to decorate the walls. The construction birthday party decorations also included caution tape to section off different areas of the rooms as well. The kids loved the decorations and they cost next to nothing.

Since we didn’t spend a lot on decorations for the construction birthday party we could invest money in things like favors for the kids. Instead of party hats we gave out yellow construction hats filled with goodies that children love.

Fortunately, Bob the Builder is a popular television character for kids. We chose a Bob the Builder cake for the center attraction at the construction birthday party. The invitations had the same character featured on it as well. It was easy to find this character in stores with little effort.

One thing that my sister did that I thought was brilliant was to communicate to everyone joining the celebration that it is a construction birthday party. Most of the guest brought construction toys or related items as gifts to stick with the theme.

Ironically, my nephew was originally scared to death of the renovations going on at his home. The noisy power tools and the disruptive, dangerous elements all around were causing him a lot of stress. Using the construction birthday party as a means of getting him comfortable with the things going on around him is a great way to help him cope. Now we have a little builder running around the house and my sister couldn’t be happier. The construction birthday party was a hit with everyone involved.

Harry Potter is to today’s youth what Star Wars is to my generation. This series of movies for kids has gained overwhelming popularity for this new generation. Some of us older kids love the movies as well. Harry Potter action figures have taken the toy industry by storm and I just can’t help but make the connection to the Stars Wars action figures of the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Nothing was more fun than playing with the Star Wars toys when I was a kid. Watching my nieces and nephews play with Harry Potter action figures today brings back great memories for me and my sister. We love to watch and listen to the kids play and talk about our own childhood play.

We remembered the many hours playing with our collection and we had all of the bells and whistles too. The Millennium Falcon was a particular favorite. My sister and I spent more hours playing Star Wars than we did playing with our Barbie dolls. It looks as if my nieces are more interested in playing with Harry Potter action figures than with their Barbie dolls.

On of the appealing aspects of the Harry Potter action figures, as with any toy of it’s sort is their size. These toys are perfect for travel and they organize well into carriers designed for just such items. I remember toting Star Wars figures everywhere I went when I was a kid. I have to laugh when I see my nieces and nephews doing the same with their Harry Potter action figures.

It’s funny because the two tales are so very different. My sister and I were imagining space and the future while our kids are imagining the past in a way. The Harry Potter action figures are so closely linked to the Star Wars toys in my mind that I wouldn’t be surprised to see them playing with both sets of toys at once.

Who knows? This may be the next installment of the Harry Potter stories. He could have an adventure in the galaxy. It probably will never make it to print or to the theatre. This concept may just stay with the kids’ imaginations. The whole Harry Potter action figure adventure has me inspired to dig up some of my old Star Wars toys to share. Maybe the kids would like to share an adventure with their aunts.