BOY vs. WILD

BOY vs. WILD party by PipPipHOORAY

Each of my three boys has a birthday...every...single...year. Sound familiar?
I’m always excited to create a special birthday celebration for them, but I also believe that celebrating creatively should be easy! That’s why I’ve created PipPipHOORAY Party Plans from my favorite kids’ parties so that anyone can easily host an original party. Each Party Plan includes COMPLETE instructions, pictures, shopping and to do lists to cover every detail of the party from start to finish.   There are a variety of simple ideas for you to choose from.  Feel like doing 3 or 4 of the options?  Great!  Inspired to tackle them all?  Go for it!  Either way, awesome really can be easy.  

Today I’m sharing the BOY vs. WILD party I recently hosted for my 8 year old son and his friends. This party is perfect for hosting outdoors for those boys who think they might have what it takes to defeat the daunting wilderness!

I like to use the invitation as a way to get the party started and give a taste for what’s still to come. For this party, I created a fun, printable invitation that unfolds to become the landing pad for the plastic paratrooper and reads: You’ve landed in the middle of nowhere. Your only resource is your wits. How will you survive? (complete instructions and printable for the invitation in the BOY vs. WILD party plan @ pip-pip-hooray.com)

The decor for this party was very minimal since nature provided most of the backdrop. I created a Base Camp to use during the party with a small table for serving the party food (more to come about that), and some big branches arranged on the ground for seating. I created the food table by using sawhorses and a leftover board I found in my basement (but any table will work), and then covering it with burlap, various branches and sticks, Spanish moss, and then draping the front with some paracord. I also made a simple BOY vs. WILD sign (complete instructions for the food table in the BOY vs. WILD party plan @ pip-pip-hooray.com).

Boys get hungry, even during parties, so I made mini MRE meals - SRE (Snack Ready to Eat) PACKS - which were great to make ahead and contained all finger foods. Using ordinary kraft paper lunch bags, I created the SRE PACK and filled it with a protein bar, fruit jerky (roll up), crackers, emergency water (caprisun), a small napkin, and of course - toilet paper! The boys intentionally found these during a scouting challenge, so that they could take a short break and refuel before moving on to other challenges. I also served TRAIL GRUB made with deer droppings (chocolate covered raisins), twigs (pretzel sticks), ants (raisins), and rocks (rock candy), CHOCOLATE STICKS, and a DIRT CAKE at the end of the party (complete instructions and printables for all food items in the BOY vs. WILD party plan @ pip-pip-hooray.com).

The party activities were all wilderness challenges created to test the boys’ survival skills. Team challenges included TEAM TUG OF WAR, FIRST AID TREK (treating an injured team member and then helping them continue their trek), TRAIL THE HARE (practice for tracking animals and their trails in order to secure food), SHELTER BUILDING CHALLENGE (building a shelter using items found in the wilderness), and a FORAGED FOOD CHALLENGE (trying unusual foods found in the wild that could be eaten if necessary for survival). The boys had a blast and really got into these challenges - I was especially impressed by the shelters they built from sticks and grass! (complete instructions for all challenges in the BOY vs. WILD party plan @ pip-pip-hooray.com)

Each boy went home with a SURVIVAL KIT containing everyday objects that become essentials in the wilderness, as well as a KNOT TYING THANK YOU CARD with instructions and pieces of paracord to learn how to tie some basic knots. I also included an Animal Track Identification card printed from my state’s Department of Fish & Wildlife website. The winners of the most difficult challenges were awarded a mylar emergency blanket wrapped in paracord (complete instructions and printable for all prizes in the BOY vs. WILD party plan @ pip-pip-hooray.com).

I can honestly say that the boys DEFINITELY BEAT THE WILDERNESS this time!

(All of the party details stared today are included in the BOY vs. WILD Party Plan available @ www.pip-pip-hooray.com as a digital download for $14.99)

• What People Ate

  SRE Packs and Wilderness Food (Trail Grub, Chocolate Sticks, Dirt Cake)

• What People Drank

  H2O

• Desserts

  Dirt Cake

• Party Favors

  Survival Kit, Knot Tying Thank You, Animal Track ID Card

• Activities / Games

  Team Tug of War, First Aid Trek Challenge, Trail the Hare Challenge, Shelter Building Challenge, Foraged Food Challenge