Birthday Cakes for Kids

Kid's birthdays are so much fun! As a mom to 7 kids under 15, I try to make a very special cake for each child. Sometimes we have a theme party, sometimes we just have a family party, but we always have a special cake! There are so many easy ways to make a really fun and special cake. All you need is a bit of time and a little imagination. This weekend we just celebrated my daughter's 4th birthday. She is all about princesses right now, and so of course, we needed a princess cake! See some of other great ones we have used and find links and products to make your own!

Pictured above

For the princess I used a Barbie Princess Ballerina Doll. Wrap the doll's legs in Saran Wrap. Bake this in a batter bowl. Because this particular Barbie was tall and she was on her tiptoes, I actually used 2 cakes--both baked in a 2 quart batter bowl. I cut the rounded part off one and placed the other entire cake on top. Dig a hole in the middle of the cake and insert the Barbie doll. Then ice the "skirt" to match. Of course you can use a doll pick instead of a whole Barbie, but my daughter wanted the doll too.

This one was made with boxed mix. Bake a cake in a 2 quart batter bowl, then flip it upside down. I used ice cream cones for the bottom of the spaceship and a plastic cup to make the spaceman's module. Then top the plastic cup with another ice cream cone and use icing to decorate the whole ship. Simple and easy and my 3 year old LOVED it!

Of course my boys love the military too, so the last birthday my middle son had, he wanted an army party. I made an army tank cake. This looks hard, but it really was very easy. I got the directions off of a cake website. The bottom of the tank is a 9x13 cake and the top is a cake baked in a loaf pan. Then use candy bars and oreos to decorate the tracks. I used chocolate icing and white icing tinted with green food coloring. They had many variations of the tank. You can follow the directions found at this link (click on the one you like best for directions):

Army Tank

We always give the baby his or her own cake. That way, he can dig into it at his heart's delight, and the rest of us still have another one to eat. For my 3rd son's 1st birthday, we made a Curious George Monkey head. This cake was also baked in a 2 quart batter bowl. The ears were cupcakes. Trim the bottom to size and attach the cupcakes (on their sides) with icing. Then cover the whole thing in chocolate icing with some yellow and black accents for George's face. Easy and fun. He was delighted!

My oldest daughter had a tea party when she turned five. I adapted a directions for individual cupcake teapots into a large cake. Instead of using 2 cupcakes to make the teapot, I baked 2 cakes in my batter bowl. I used a mini tart shaper for the spout and a piece of Twizzlers licorice for the handle. Then I iced the cake in pink and purple to match her tea set. You can find the directions to make the teapot here:

Teapot

We had a pool party for my son's 8th birthday. This was perfect for the occasion. These directions were found on the Family Fun website. It uses a 9x13 cake (boxed mix). Simple to follow directions can be found at this link:

Under the Sea Cake

My son just celebrated his 6th birthday with a Pirate Party. All his friends (and their moms) were quite impressed with his cake this year! I found great, step-by-step directions to make this awesome pirate ship cake here:

How to Make a Pirate Ship Cake

My 3 sons love LEGOs! So of course, I had to do a Lego Party for somebody's birthday. This is a very simple cake. Bake a 9x13 cake and 6 cupcakes. Place the cupcakes on top of the rectangle and ice the whole thing in one color. I used decorator icing (in a squeeze tube) to write the word LEGO on top of each cupcake.

perfect for a movie party

Are you having a Movie Themed Birthday Party?This one is simple to make. Start with a 9x13 cake and trim the bottom of the sides on an angle. Then ice the whole thing in white and add red stripes. Use real popcorn at the top to "fill" the popcorn box. You can find complete directions and step-by-step pictures on how to make this one at

How to Make a Popcorn Birthday Cake.

This one is super easy!

This one is simply a 9x13 cake covered in blue icing. (I just tinted mine blue with food coloring.) Then use rows of colored jelly beans to make a rainbow and place mini marshmallows at the end of the rainbow to make clouds. I used different color candles to continue the rainbow theme.

This one is perfect if you are having a Mario Birthday Party. It looks so impressive and yet it is very easy. I made this one with a box mix. I used 2 9 inch round pans and 3 cupcakes (all from one box of cake mix. Step by step details complete with pictures can be found here:

How to Make a Mario Birthday Cake

I used this when I had a Splash Party. This would also work well for a pool party. This one is simply a box mix baked in 2 9-inch round cake pans. I used a can of store-bought icing and colored it with blue food coloring. Then I added details--I used chocolate wafers around the cake and teddy grahams as the swimmers. The pool float is cut from a fruit roll-up, the pool noodles are licorice strips, and the floatie rings are peach gummy rings. Simple! If you want to have a water party, but don't have a pool, you can get all kinds of great ideas here:

How to Have a Great Splash Birthday Party.

Do you bake your own personalized birthday cakes? Or just a simple homemade cake? Or do you just run out to the grocery store and pick one up already done?

Make your own pinata for under $5

My kids love parties. In addition to the special cake, they always like to have a pinata. With seven kids, that's a lot of pinatas in a year. So I had to come up with an idea to make my own pinata for a lot less than I would have to pay for a store-bought one. Now I have a go to homemade pinata that I can adapt to any theme. I can make a pinata in 20 minutes or less and for under $5. You can too. Find out how here:

Make Your Own Pinata for Less!

Thanks for visiting. I'd love to hear what you think of my these yummy designs.