Hellobee

This year, when Lion turned 3, we decided to host his first birthday party. We hadn’t thrown one in the past, and to be honest, I was pretty on the fence this year. All of his closest friends did have birthday parties, though, and he continuously asked for a party so in the end we decided to go for it. It ended up being a great party and Lion had a wonderful time at the party, hosted at one of our local fire stations! Lion is at the age where he is fascinated by emergency responders and wants to be a fire fighter when he grows up, so it was the perfect venue for him.

Lion loved having his birthday party at the fire station!

Choosing the Venue

We live in a condo that has no common space to rent, so we didn’t feel that we could host in our home. We tossed around different ideas, but unlike where I grew up in California, the summer weather can be pretty unpredictable in DC. I didn’t want to host the party at a park if it would rain out since we didn’t have a good back up plan. I started researching different options, including My Gym (where many of his friends have hosted parties), nature centers, children’s theaters, museums and a few other places. Most options were more than we wanted to spend for a three-year-old’s birthday or were for kids that are older.

The kids loved exploring the gear and an ambulance.

In searching for a spot, I stumbled across a blog post about how some fire stations allow you to have a party for a donation. I found a half a dozen volunteer fire departments in our area that provide this opportunity, with a range of pricing/donation options. All of the fire departments included the possibility of a tour (if they were called away on an emergency, of course, we might not be able to go on the tour) and fire hats for the kids. Some included extras like goody bags and party coordinators. The pricing options varied, with some charging a flat fee for the use of the room, others charging per child, and others purely donation based. I liked that the donation or fee was going to a good cause: the purchase of new turnout gear, which expires every ten years, for the firefighters. In the end, we went with one of the two closest fire departments to us and the one that was purely a donation.

Guest List

We set a limit in our minds about how many guests we thought would be manageable. We knew immediately that we would not invite his whole class (twelve children) because we didn’t want a huge invite list. Also, since Lion started at his new daycare in May, he had friends from both his old daycare and new daycare that he wanted to invite. We ended up inviting ten families, fifteen children since some have siblings, evenly split between his old and new daycares. Three families were out of town and the other seven RSVPed yes, though one had to unexpectedly cancel. In total, there were nine children, plus Lion and Panda, giving us a total of eleven for the party. I thought it was the perfect size party. While a couple more would have been fine, I think this size was very manageable and allowed Lion to really play with everyone who was there.

Set Up and Decorations

The fire station we used allows for a one-hour set up and one-hour clean up time. We ended up getting there later than I would have liked and only had about 35-40 minutes to set up everything. One of the families got there early (and brought ice for us!) and graciously helped set up. We had a lot of things to set up! If I had to do it all over again, I would have insisted that we get out of the house early enough to have the entire hour to set up, but it all worked out.

For decorations, I used a Michael’s coupon to purchase a couple of tablecloths and paper fire hydrant. I cut triangles out of red and yellow cardstock and used this free printable to make a “Happy Birthday” banner.

I purchased a small helium tank for a couple of balloons to tie to the pole outside the community room. I have to admit that every time I purchase balloons from the store, I feel like it’s a pain transporting them in the car, especially since I knew the car would be full with all of the stuff we were bringing. I am so glad I made this decision and it was well worth the $18. We blew about 15 or so balloons and the kids actually enjoyed playing with them as an activity, too.

Fire Station Tour

We did not make a promise of a tour to Lion because if the firefighters were out on a call, we wouldn’t get the opportunity. We didn’t want to get the kids’ hopes up. In fact, when we were bringing all our supplies into the community room, we heard the alarms go off multiple times and figured that they were being called away on an emergency. I found out that everyone had just left, but some were expected to be back in about an hour.

Luckily, several of the EMTs returned and two of the firefighters and they were able to take us on a tour. The fire engine was still out on the call and they were very apologetic, but for a group of preschoolers, I don’t think anyone was disappointed.

Watching the firefighter get dressed.

We first went into the control room and Lion got to push the buttons to sound the alarms, one for the ambulance and one for the fire truck. Then we went to the garage and learned about the gear a fire fighter wears while we watched one of them get dressed in his turnout gear. We got a great picture with (almost) all the kids and the fire fighter (but to respect the privacy of our guests, we won’t post). Then the kids got to climb in the ambulance with one of the EMTs and learn about the equipment they bring on calls. They also got to walk around the station and look at the different gear. After the party, we asked Lion what his favorite part of his party was. I honestly wasn’t sure what he was going to say and thought he might declare that his favorite part was the balloons or the cupcakes, but he said climbing into the ambulance was the best part.

Even Panda enjoyed checking out all the gear.

Activities

Because we didn’t know whether we would be able to have a tour and how long it would last, I wanted to plan plenty of activities for a 2 hour party. I always worry too much about not having enough food and not having enough to do, so I go a little overboard. The kids had more than enough options and, honestly, they probably would have been happy with half the effort. That said, I actually really enjoyed the effort and little details.

The two weeks before the party, I started crafting things for the party in the evenings after the kids went to bed. We used large cardboard boxes (diaper boxes, shipping boxes, etc.) to make fire engines for the kids to wear and race around in. This was, by far, the biggest hit of the party. I only made 4, which was fine, but if I had made more, I don’t doubt they would have been put to good use. I’ll do a separate post on a cost breakdown with some DIYs, with instructions on how I made these.

Panda playing by the cardboard fire trucks and play house while Mr. Dolphin and I set up for the party.

On Amazon Prime Day, I purchased a cardboard play house that the kids could color and play inside. In order to keep with our fire theme, I cut out flames from red, orange and yellow cardstock and glued them on. I figured the kids could race in their fire trucks to put out the “fire.” While the kids didn’t end up coloring the house, they did enjoy playing in it! This was definitely another hit and an item we brought home after the party so that Lion and Panda can continue to enjoy it.

Using a bunch of smaller cardboard boxes, I glued black-and-white building facades on, to make a small cityscape. I also used one cardboard box to glue more flames as a fire. I cut garage doors out of another box to create a fire station. We had three diecast fire trucks that I found months ago at a kids’ consignment store, but hadn’t given to the kids yet, and brought those along. This project was also a surprising hit and any time I looked, at least one child was playing with the diecast trucks.

Lion was super excited about the new fire trucks.

I wanted to have a craft project for the kids and I discovered various wooden fire trucks on eBay and Etsy. We ended up purchasing from VM Wood, asking for him to post a lot for the number we needed on eBay. These trucks were super cute and I bought foam stickers (since they stick better than regular stickers) and dot markers/paint for the kids to use. Because we set up a general craft table that also included crayons, glue, scissors and other stickers, the kids ended up using a lot of different materials for the trucks. The dot markers, purchased from Amazon Warehouse Deals, worked great on the unfinished wood, as did the foam stickers. Because we only purchased the trucks in the number we knew we needed, I wrote each child’s name on a tag and tied it to the truck so everyone could be assured that they would have one.

The craft table that was completely ignored for most of the party, but every child played at for the last 15 minutes.

I also printed off free firefighter and fire truck related coloring pages, but I don’t know that anyone used it. I found a free printable of a page of fire-related items like a hydrant, helmet, jacket, extinguisher, etc and some of the kids did enjoy cutting them out and gluing them to cardstock.

We were actually toward the end of the party and no one had touched the craft table until Mr. Dolphin made an announcement while everyone was enjoying the cupcakes. I don’t think he was trying to get people to do the crafts, necessarily, just making sure everyone knew that they could take home a fire truck (and decorate if they wanted) as well as a favor bag. Well, as soon as the cupcakes were finished, pretty much all the kids (except Panda and the other two 18-21 month olds) headed to the craft table.

I also made a “photo booth” that was supposed to look like a fire engine. I forgot to put the siren lights on the top because it just got lost in the shuffle. I made some photo props, like mustaches and lips, but we actually found that the people there before us had left a bunch of much better (and fire-themed) photo props. This was the one item that I really didn’t need to do as the kids had barely any interest in it.

My attempt at a fire engine photo booth. Minus the siren/lights.

Food

In order to keep costs down, I made virtually all the food for the party. The one item we did buy was cheese ball puffs (aka “fire balls”) because one of Lion’s friends had it at his party and Lion talked about it nonstop.

We had a make your own taco bar because Lion likes tacos and I figured it was a great option for picky toddlers who could choose whatever items they wanted. It also provides meat and vegetarian options, without having to cook separate meals. We had hard and soft taco shells, chili-lime shredded chicken (non-spicy, kept warm with a pressure/slow cooker), refried beans, whole pinto beans, roasted squash and eggplant, guacamole, pico de gallo, salsa (purchased to save time), cheese, and greek yogurt. We also had fruit in fire-related colors: watermelon, cantaloupe and pineapple. I always make enough food to feed an army and we had tons of leftover taco fixings for the rest of the week, but the fruit (perhaps unsurprisingly) was devoured.

I made cupcakes for the party, but when I ran out of time to set up and guests started arriving, one of the dads very kindly frosted and decorated them for me. I made “dalmatian” cupcakes (chocolate cupcakes, cream cheese frosting and chocolate chips) and “fire” cupcakes (honey vanilla cupcakes, buttercream frosting and red sprinkles). The kids actually helped me bake them and make the frosting the day before.

I may have forgotten to take a picture of the cupcakes until after the party…

Favor Bags

I didn’t want to go overboard with favors, in part because the wooden fire trucks we had the kids decorate was intended to be one favor. I found lots of cute fire-related items, like fire fighter duckies and fire hydrant cups, but we went much simpler. We included a small bag of Pirate’s Booty (Lion’s choice), a box of raisins, three fire-related temporary tattoos, bubbles and small fire-related notepad. We put them into a yellow bag and closed them with a fire-related sticker.

Please No Gifts

We did put on our invitations, “Please no gifts. We will have a donation box for the Kensington Volunteer Fire Department, if you so desire. Such donations are completely optional and are in no way expected.” We felt that Lion had plenty of toys already and knew that his grandparents would send gifts. While we made our own donation to the fire department for the use of the space, we wanted to leave guests the options of donating as well, if they so desired. To be honest, I worried a lot about whether it was appropriate and how to word the invitation (probably more than I should have). Two guests did bring books and two brought a toy. One parent, whom also requested no gifts at her child’s party (we did bring a book for her child, but asked permission in advance), and I traded emails because she completely understood our feelings about no gifts but also made the point that she thought it was important for her daughter to learn about gift-giving. We also did find that some people put cash donations in our donation box and we wrote a check to the fire department for the amount collected plus a little extra from us.

All in all, we had a great time and both kids loved the party. I’m glad we hosted the party and the fire station was a really unique, fun location for the kids. Lion is even more obsessed with firefighters and fire trucks now. I still don’t know if we’ll host one for Lion next year; a big part of me would rather put the money of throwing a party toward travel instead. That said, I do like giving gifts of experience over toys and I know that Lion really enjoyed the day.

Pure joy.