Plan a Construction Party with me!

My son is turning 4 soon and we are planning his party! It is very exciting because this is the first year he picked his own theme. He is very into construction vehicles and picked construction (well really he picked bulldozers, but I expanded a little) as a theme. So now it is time to plan, so come a plan a construction party with me!

I have a lot to do, but with any party I plan, I am breaking down the planning into categories to help me organize.

Here is my list of categories for any party:

1. Theme

2. Venue

3. Invitations

4. Food and Desert

5. Decorations

6. Goodie Bags

7. Entertainment 

8. Optional – Outfit

This year, my son picked construction as the theme of his party! Time to start planning.

First, the theme. Of course you do not need a theme but if you picking a theme, I find it helps guide the decorations, invitations and activities for the party. As I mentioned, this year we are going with a construction theme. In previous years, I have picked the themes, which were: dinosaurs, Sesame Street and Mickey Mouse. I am excited for this years theme because my son picked it himself!

Venue. A party venue, a park, your home- picking a venue can be hard to do and there are a lot of factors. I have hosted parties at restaurants and parks when the kids were younger but this the first party at a kids party venue. I booked a kids gym for the party.

Invitations. I have always sent out personalized paper invitations but today people do evites, emails, or store bought invitations. it is up to you and your budget. I am old fashioned, I like personalized invitations, especially if they have a cute picture of the birthday kid. I normally check out Walmart or Costco for personalized cards. This time I ordered from Vistaprint because they had a construction theme card. I try to pick out the card early so I have time to look for a coupon code. Vistaprint had a good sale going when I ordered.

Food and Deserts. This is clearly going to depend on the venue and if the venue provides food. I need to figure out the food for the kids and parents. I know I will have to purchase snack foods and drinks that are kid friendly, because that is likely all my kids will eat at the party.

Deserts will be cupcakes. I love a good birthday cake but cupcakes do not need to be cut, so will make deserts easier to serve. I am trying to find a local bakery to order something special, but if I can’t, I will order cupcakes from a grocery store and put themed toppers on the cupcakes. Cupcakes from a grocery store is a very cost effective option- and I need to remind myself that the kids will be spend about 5 seconds eating the cupcakes.

Decorations. This is my favorite part. The venue I booked provides table clothes, plastic plates and napkins, so the basic items are taken care of. However, I can decorate the room that the kids will eat lunch in. I need to work on the decorations- I have a ton of ideas.

Goodie Bags. I am stuck on what to put in the goodie bags. I have some strong opinions about goodie bags. Too many times when we leave a party, I have to go through the goodie bag quickly to remove items my child can’t have because it is not safe for him or is something he should not be eating.

I dislike giving food because in my experience, my child will want to eat everything in the goodie bag immediately. Most “toys” in goodie bags will break in in a day and are just wasteful.


Last year at my son’s Mickey Mouse themed birthday party I gave out Mickey Mouse coloring books that I bought from Dollar Tree. I was able to purchase a box of twenty coloring books from the Dollar Tree. Kids love coloring books and this was an item that I thought wouldn’t go to waste.

I am hoping to find some small toy construction vehicles to put in the goodie bags.

Entertainment. The venue this year takes care of entertainment. I generally like to have some back up activity on hand, just in case a child gets bored or needs distraction. In prior parties, I would bring extra coloring books/crayons and some balls, which is all young kids need to be entertained.

Optional- Outfits. I never had this one on my list until recently, but it might be fun to dress the birthday boy up in a construction themed outfit. I have a Cricut and have been waiting for an opportunity to make a shirt for him. This is completely optional!

Is there anything I am forgetting to consider for this party? Stay tuned for more posts on decorations and goodie bag preparations as I plan a construction party!