Hang out octopus toys as favors.
Sea creatures are popular with kids of all ages. Going with the octopus theme offers a different approach to the very common "under the sea" birthday party theme. The eight-tentacled sea creature offers lots of inspiration for all of the birthday party details. Starting with an octopus invitation and staying with the theme through all of the other party elements create an inviting party atmosphere for the guests.
Postcard Invitations
An octopus postcard works well as a simple party invitation. Look for octopus postcards in the gift shop of a zoo or aquarium. Another option is to make your own octopus postcards by printing a picture of the animal onto card stock. Cut the card stock into 4-inch-by-6-inch rectangles to create the postcards. Write all of the party details on the back of the postcards before mailing them. The added bonus is that postcards are cheaper to send than regular invitations.
Decorations
Create an underwater environment with the party decorations. Drape blue streamers along the ceiling to create the ocean. Blue balloons filled with helium and floating along the ceiling also create an underwater feeling in the room. Suspend fish and octopus cardboard cutouts from the ceiling to continue with the theme. You can also make simple three-dimensional octopus decorations by attaching streamers to an inflated balloon.
Food
Choose party foods that resemble items from the sea. Seashell pasta works well in macaroni and cheese or a cold pasta salad. You can also serve it with spaghetti sauce. Turn a hot dog into an octopus. Cut the hot dog in half leaving about an inch at the top uncut. Continue cutting each half into four sections to create the tentacles.
An octopus cake rounds out the party menu. Use a dome-shaped cake to create the main body of the octopus. Either bake the cake in a specialty cake pan or use an oven-safe bowl. Ice the cake with tinted icing. Make tentacles by forming fondant into long pieces that come to a point at the end. Add any other features to the octopus to finish it off. If you need more cake servings, place the octopus cake on top of a sheet cake decorated with blue icing to resemble the ocean.
Octopus Tag
Octopus tag is a simple game ideal for this theme party. One person starts as the octopus tagger in the middle of the playing field. The rest of the kids are fish. The fish run from one end of the playing field to the other. Anyone who the octopus tags becomes seaweed. The seaweed players can't move their feet but can reach out and tag the fish as they run by. Continue playing until the octopus has tagged everyone.
Favors
Choose party favors that stick with the octopus and underwater theme. A plastic octopus toy is a good place to start. Look for octopus or underwater stickers, coloring books and temporary tattoos to add to the party favors. If you have difficulty finding octopus items, expand to fish and ocean items.
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