Birthday Party for a Nine Year Old

It’s birthday party time again for our soon to be 9 year old son. Since he and his friends are getting older and more rambunctious I thought it would be best to have the party somewhere other than our house. We decided on a local Nature Center that rehabilitates injured animals for return to the wild and houses some severely injured animals in a lovely little zoo. These animals look perfectly fine, but they would be unable to survive in the wild for various reasons.

The birthday package includes use of the Nature Center classroom for a three hour block of time as well as an hour long guided feeding tour. The tour guide will talk about the personalities, injuries and other interesting things about the animals and feed them as well.

Our son wants a Pirates of the Caribbean theme party, so I bought some plates, napkins and a table cloth from Party City (what a great store!) with Captain Jack Sparrow and the gang emblazoned on them. I also picked up several votive candle holders in the shape of a skull from The Dollar Tree (available because Halloween is nigh). I’ll fill them with Werther’s Originals, Rolo’s and miniature Hershey’s with toffee and almonds, all of which have gold wrappers and will signify pirate treasure. This will make for attractive table decorations and the kid’s party favors at the end of the party.

For a centerpiece, I’ll set a few votive skulls together and put in tea candles for a spooky pirate cave feel. I originally played with the idea of putting tea candles in all the skulls, but my husband (ever the voice of reason) thought that giving a candle as a party favor to eight year olds wasn’t one of my brightest ideas. I can definitely see his point, and I’m sure the local fire department really appreciates his input.