Sam Has a Party

This year, Sam has gotten really into Pokemon. It started with the cartoon. Then somehow he ended up desiring his first pack of Pokemon cards. Included in that pack was a card with a code to use on the Pokemon website. Thus, he discovered the online game of Pokemon, from which he learned how to play the actual card game of Pokemon. So he needed more cards to create decks with which to play. And an obsession was born.
Sam has now collected hundreds of cards- many, many decks. He and Dad have Pokemon battles. Sam knows the names, evolve forms, heights and weights of probably most of the Pokemon. So it was only natural that he would want a Pokemon birthday party.
There aren't many Pokemon items available to purchase, so I had to search online for things I could copy. I was able to just print most of the things I used. I found plenty of Pokemon printables, like coloring sheets, that I used for the boys to make their treat bags. I found printable Pokemon bookmarks that I laminated and used as prizes for the party games. I also ordered a large pack of cards for prizes.

Party guests: Reagan, Tyler, and Logan- friends from church. Luke- neighbor boy. Grayson- school friend. 

Party games and activities included:
-Guess how many Caterpie. Winner got to take home jar full of gummy worms. Logan won.
-Pokemon bingo. We used Skittles for markers and they got to take the skittles home in their treat bag.
-Find Pichu Balloon Pop. Every balloon had an image of a Pokemon inside, but there was only 1 Pichu.
-Find the Pokeballs. I found plastic golf balls and colored them with Sharpies to look like Pokeballs, hid them in the backyard, and Tyler found the most.
-Pass the Pokeball (like hot potato). I used my phone to play music from youtube for the game. Reagan wasn't really into the party games, so I played Let It Go for his (and Nathanael's) enjoyment during this game.
-Pokemon card trading with all the cards they had won in the games.

Lunch was nothing exciting, just pizza and watermelon. I was going to make the pizza look like a Pokeball with black olives/pepperoni/cheese, but kids don't really care and they don't like black olives. Dad went out of town for work the day before Sam's party, but before he left he did make the cake topper. When I tried to transfer it onto the cake the night before the party, it didn't go as well as the last cake we did, but Sam did not notice any imperfections. Sam was thrilled with the cake, as were his friends.

 Though I'm never quite certain what the kids are going to think about the activities I plan for their parties, apparently this one was a success. Sam loved everything and raved over his party for quite some time afterward.