A How to Train Your Dragon birthday party

My oldest turned 10 this month. We began having parties with friends when he turned 5. The first few parties were thrown at party locations. But last year, we did a Lego Movie party at the house. It was an awesome party complete with an obstacle course, target shooting and a water balloon fight. We obviously set the bar high with that party.

This year, Jase wanted a How to Train Your Dragon party. (The invitation I created for him has been very popular on my Etsy store.) Jase had a pretty good idea of what he wanted done. It was up to my husband and I to make it happen. Soon our biggest concern was not the party but the weather. It poured during the week but on party day, we lucked out with no rain.

Here’s a rundown of his party…

Shield Decorating

What Viking doesn’t need a shield? My husband cut out these round shields from thin sheets of wood and painted them grey. He attached leather straps on the back and made some dragon stencils. The kids (six boys and two girls) had fun decorating them.

Treasure Hunt

Next we sent the kids on a treasure hunt. We divided them into three teams and gave each one a dragon egg (actually, it was an Easter egg painted either gold, black or grey). Inside was the clue to their next egg. The next clue led to another egg but also had the first number to the combination securing their treasure. They gathered three eggs – each with a number to their lock.

I had written the clues and created a map that would help them figure out where in the yard I might be talking about. I had worried about my clues would be too hard (or even too easy), but they turned out just fine. The kids had a blast working together. Their treasure boxes held candy and leather wrist bands that my husband had created.

Obstacle Course

At last year’s party we created an awesome obstacle course. This year’s course was a little shorter, but the kids had a blast. First, they balanced on the zig-zag beam (while the other kids threw balls at them – hey, they needed to use those shields for something). After that they weaved through a series of “trees” and hopped on stones over the “lava.” Then they dodged two fire balls before jumping over the sheep hurdles. Discarding their shields, they had to toss two fish toward a dragon’s mouth (laundry basket) before lofting a battle hammer. They then struck two different targets before crossing the finish line. Most kids ran this in less than 30 seconds.

Pizza and Cake

Next came pizza and root beer. We had planned for them to eat outside, but it was so humid, and the kids were hot from running so we opted to have them eat inside at the table where they had decorated shields. After that was the cupcakes that I had made and topped with How to Train Your Dragon rings. I made the butter-cream frosting from scratch and that will be my recipe of the month in June.

Sheep Toss

My son wanted to have a game with sheep – perhaps chasing them. My husband had the idea of shooting stuffed sheep out of his air cannon. What we ended up with was me creating 30 sheep (29 white sheep and one special black sheep) out of poly fill and panty hose. (This idea came from my snowballs from their holiday party.) I attached paper legs and faces with googly eyes. (Template for the faces from this website was reduced by 65% to fit my sheep.)  They were super cute. We threw them in the air for the kids to catch. The kid with the most sheep won, but the black sheep counted as five. The first time we did it, the black sheep was hidden in the yard but on the following rounds, it was tossed into the air with the rest of them.

Sword Play

At the end of the party, we just released the kids with some foam swords and their shields to have some free play. Some of the swords didn’t survive, but they just came from the dollar store, so I wasn’t expecting them to last.

Each kid went home with their goody bag, shield, wrist band, the red basket from the sheep toss and a sheep (or two) and a dragon egg if they wanted them. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and the birthday boy was happy. This party was a lot of work. Next year, I think we will go even smaller and just have Jase celebrate with his two best buddies.