Tips For A Simple Fire Truck Party (That Won’t Leave Mom Feeling Like She’s Crashed & Burned)

Risden’s 4th birthday was awesome! My little boy is quite obsessed with all service vehicles, but none compare to his love for fire trucks. So of course, we had to throw a firetruck birthday party.

[ReviewDisclaimer]

We scored it big being able to have his birthday party at the local volunteer fire department. You don’t get much better than that. We live in the country so things may be different if you live in the city, but I definitely encourage you to ask because it was the perfect location for a birthday party. They even pulled out a fire truck for us and let the kids take turns in the driver’s seat and check out all the gadgets on the truck.

Since the venue was so on point, there was very little I had to do with decorations. However, the ceiling was pretty high so I wanted something on the tables that gave some height to fill in the space.

We usually have a lot of people so that means a lot of tables, which can get expensive. I chose balloons in red, orange, and yellow. You can get solid color balloon packs at Target, then have them blown up at a local florist or grocer.  I also bought some balloon weights and covered them with tissue paper, (also easy and inexpensive!) These centerpieces make for a fast clean up too. You can give the balloons to your party guests and toss the tissue paper (or save it for gift bags.)

My food table was the only thing that took a bit more work. For the burning building backdrop, I purchased three gray foam boards hot glued them together and used a thick sharpie to make “windows.” The flames I free handed and cut them out of cardstock. I purchased a book of scrapbook paper with all primary colors a few years ago and I am still finding ways to use it!

I added two large fire truck balloons to my burning building. You can get those here. No birthday party is complete without a “happy birthday” banner. I was thrilled when I found this one! It was a perfect fit!

For the food, I tried to stick with things that Risden likes and colors that went well with the theme. Barbecue chips, a veggie tray with cherry tomatoes, baby carrots and yellow bell peppers and a fruit tray with strawberries, cantaloupe and pineapple. The party was in the afternoon so it wasn’t necessary to have a ton of food. I stuck with simple red plates and polka dot napkins for some fun.

One of my side hustles is baking cakes so I usually create my kids’ a semi-elaborate birthday cake. However, anyone can do these cupcakes! All you need is red and orange food coloring, a piping bag, and a Wilton 1M tip. Find a great recipe for vanilla cupcakes and frosting and you are all set. Check out this tutorial to learn the piping technique. This [amazon_textlink asin=’B011ARKU3S’ text=’clear cupcake stand‘ template=’ProductLink’ store=’poms2moms-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’b0cb8b9f-8b64-11e8-876a-9f228172647a’] is so versatile and a must because you can use it for any occasion.

For my party favors, I ordered some plastic firefighter hats, tiny waters for fire extinguishers, and twizzlers for the fire hose. The fire department was nice enough to give us some badges too. All these little fire heroes were ready to go!

Of Risden’s four years, this party was by far the easiest to throw and definitely the most fun!

What was your favorite kids party to plan?  I’d love some fresh ideas (Rachel’s birthday is next!)