Fun Items to Decorate for Fall Birthday Parties

The thought of planning a party can bring joy or anxiety. Some people love being able to have their creative juices flowing to create a well-organized event. Others would rather have someone else do the planning. Then there are those who fall in-between: they just like to plan the fun stuff, like the games and activities. No matter what camp you fall into, you will become a super star if you add one of these fun decorating activities to the next party you throw.

While these ideas may seem like they are geared for children's parties, adults love being creative and having fun decorating too. Just provide each participant one of the main items, some markers, glitter glue, and stickers, and everyone will have a blast.

I live in an area that has quite a few farms and farmer markets. So it is easy to find one place that can provide enough small pumpkins or gourds for a party.

Cautions:

• Make sure the pumpkins or gourds are as similar in size as possible. If you are a parent you know why. This will avoid a meltdown of kids complaining that so-and-so's is bigger or better than theirs.
• Try not to buy them too far in advance. I bought pumpkins for decorating at my son's birthday party. Two days later one of the pumpkins was rotted. While I bought one extra, it turned out that one more kid came. Luckily one kid ended up not being able to make it, so I had just enough, which leads to the next point:
• Buy extra...for obvious reasons.
• Keep clothing in mind. One kid at the party loved the dark colors, but was wearing clothes that were supposed to last for a trip elsewhere later in the day. Needless to say, some of the pretty white letters on his shirt were adorned with dark streaks. You may want to provide aprons of some sort in case a parent request protection for their child's outfit.
• Have plenty of wipes or a wash station handy.

Can you think of any other plentiful items that are free? Well, maybe you can, but leaves are convenient during the fall season, especially if you have a lot of trees around. If it's not fall or you do not feel like hunting for leaves, you can buy plastic leaves from a craft store or even cut out paper leaves.

Bonus:
Up the fun by sending the kids on a scavenger hunt for their own leaf. If you do this, make sure you have some pre-found leaves on hand in case a kid does not find one to his or her liking.

Cautions:

• Make sure you pick hearty leaves so they do not disintegrate during decorating or storage before the party.
• Like the pumpkins and gourds, try to ensure the leaves are relatively equal in size. However, some kids may like having a variety to choose from.
• If you choose the scavenger hunt, make sure you plan a backup in case of inclement weather.

There are several options for providing a witch's hat to each guest. You can purchase some from a craft store, cut out paper hats, or find some made out of wood.

Bonus:
You can stretch this activity by having everyone make their own hat from something like newspaper. Then if you are entertaining kids, you can sing a song like "My Hat it Has Three Corners." A little corny and gimmicky, yes, but it just might make it the best party ever.

Caution:

• If you choose a product like paper for the hat, avoid giving water colors or other decorations that would make the project too soggy.

The options are limitless. You can opt to keep the animals based on a theme like Halloween (cats, owls) or provide myriad animal options based on popular choices like horses, dogs, fish, et cetera.

Bonus:
You can make the activity of decorating animals more interesting by having kids first try to determine their spirit animal. This will then be the animal shape they decorate.

Caution:

• Be sure to have plenty of each type of animal. of course you could always keep it simple and provide only one option.

• The best part about these decorating activities is that they serve two purposes. One, they are a great party activity. Two, they can serve as a parting gift. This is a better option than sending kids home with a bag of candy or noise toys that will drive the parents crazy.
• No matter what option you choose, make sure that after each guest picks his or her item that you write his or her name in permanent marker on the back or bottom.

Stephanie Bradberry is a freelance writer and editor. She is an educator, herbalist, and naturopath who runs her own home-based business, Naturally Fit & Well, LLC. She is also the creator of many arts and crafts and her Bradberry^® line of handmade, all natural, herbal products.