Throwing a fire truck or firefighter themed birthday party can be easy and festive. A few simple touches can make for a fun fire truck party that all the guests will enjoy.
Begin with your invitations, and see if you have any good photos of your birthday boy (or girl) in a firefighter hat or sitting on a fire truck at a local fair or festival. Plan ahead and snap a shot like this if you know in advance you are having a fire truck themed event. If you don’t have such a photo, you can probably get a fire fighter hat at the dollar store or party store and snap a photo in that. Use these photos to make a photo invite at a site such as winkflash.com or kodakgallery.com. Your wording doesn’t need to be anything fancy. You could say something along the lines of “Calling all Firefighters” and invite them to Johnny’s 2nd birthday at Engine #2 (Johnny’s house). They can even R.S.V.P. to the chief (mom or dad). A simple red background will make for an appropriate fire themed invite!
For decorations, you can post similar photos to the ones you used in your invite. As our son is a big fan of fire trucks, we have many pictures of him sitting on or standing in front of fire trucks. You also can gather up any toy fire trucks or books and put them on display during the party. We have several Matchbox-style fire trucks and various other types of trucks and books. You could place items like these on tables, mantels, or other surfaces to add to the décor. The best part is, they are kid-friendly so you don’t have to worry about anything happening to them, and you already own them, so it’s technically free! Yellow and red streamers can also mimic the idea of flames or fire when hung from doorways or ceilings. Many party stores sell fire truck paper products such as fire truck cups, fire truck plates, and matching forks and napkins. You could mix and match some of these decorations and plain yellow or red paper goods. Red or yellow tablecloths are also a nice touch, or you could get a coordinating cloth in the fire truck theme.
Many fire companies will drive a truck to your home, for a small tax-deductible donation to the department. Our fire department does this and, as long as there is no fire emergency, they will let the kids climb on the truck, and they even bring coloring books and hats. (Other fire companies may allow you to have the party at the fire station, call your local fire fighters and find out what they are willing to do!) This is really all you’ll need in terms of a party activity, and it will be long remembered. You can, however, buy or make a pin the tail type of game, as an additional activity.
I like to try to combine favors and activities when possible, and orientaltrading.com sells fire fighter sticker scenes that children can work on at the party or take home to play with. That same site also sells Junior Firefighter badges that you can either make ahead of time for each child or use as a craft activity. The kids can make or wear them at the party. I also like to make coloring pages from free printable color page websites. They can be birthday themed, or fire truck themed. In addition, you can purchase fire hats for the guests to wear during the party, and keep as a favor. I usually get coordinating gift bags to use as favor bags, since they are sturdy and hold items such as those listed above.
Many bakeries will make a sheet cake with a fire station or fire truck theme, but Wilton sells a fire truck shaped cake that is actually quite doable. I had never really decorated a cake like that before and found it to be manageable. You can purchase this in craft stores such as Michaels, or order it online.
For fire truck themed party food you could make some firehouse chili, or various spicy foods for the adults. Children may enjoy milder chili, or you could just serve kid-friendly food like pizza or chicken.
Your child will probably have a blast climbing on a fire truck and devouring fire truck cake. These ideas are approachable and affordable for any fun fire truck themed party!
