Scooby Doo Party

[KarlaB]

Ds is turning 4 and has decided on a Scooby Doo party. Does anyone have any fun ideas? I found a Scooby cake pan! :) My step-mom also said at one time she saw a Scooby pinata which I think would be a lot of fun. I can't find it though :( - has anyone ever seen one?? TIA!

[Mickey]

Amy and I were posting about this a while back...

Amy said she was thinking about planning a mystery for the kids to figure out and for them to bring a white t-shirt so they could put a Scooby iron-on on them.

I suggested serving Scooby Snacks (baking little cookies and having the kids decorate them?) And making really tall sandwiches--maybe let the kids assemble them (cut the lunchmeat and cheese into small pieces and get a small loaf of bread so they won't be enormous!)?

Did a quick search and here are some invitations you can print out:
http://www.members.home.net/morecrafts/mscoobybirthday.html

Here are some printable coloring pages:
http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Villa/5056/scooby.html

Here are a couple of pinatas (they don't look like the tissue paper ones, though):

Scroll down at these sites for the pinatas:
http://www.kidspartyworld.com/pages/PartyThemes/ScoobyDoo.html

http://www.mypartypal.com/catalog/Scooby%20Doo.shtml

Let us know what you decide to do!

[KarlaB]

Thanks! The party is a week from Sat, so I need to get on this. It's just been chaotic here lately and it's sneaking up on me! Thanks for the ideas and links!! :)

[Diane]

I found these on other sites... it might give you a few idea's...
(sorry... I have to continue this onto another post... it came back saying that my text was too long... ugh!!!! )


Scooby Doo Mystery Birthday Party - My daughter will be 5 in October, so I have been planning her party early. She is really into Scooby Doo, so I took her to Party City and let her pick out her theme plates, cups, etc. (celebratecentral.com & party411.com offer on-line buying - I found it cheaper at Party City) It's Scooby Doo, of course, with the flower power motif and Shaggy on the plates, cups, napkins, tablecloth, etc. Since her birthday is on Halloween (and it kind of ruins it because of the holiday) I thought I'd be creative this year. We are getting the kinds to wear retro-70's clothes (which seem to be popular again) and we are having a "Solve-the-Mystery" party. I have the latest kids dance music on tape for after-party festivities and a Scooby-Doo movie and some of the episodes on DVD, too. For the main Mystery game, I am writing clues on dog bones which are hidden throughout the yard. The kids find all of the bones and bring them to the picnic table and try to put the clues together to find out where the "GHOST" is hiding. I bought a gazebo tent for a luau so we are decorating it on the inside as a maze with paper-mache ghosts, goblins and the like hanging from the top. Sheets are used to cordon off "walls". At the other end of the tent we are going to scare the kids with the "GHOST" and make them chase the "GHOST". First child to take off the mask wins a prize. Games will include an old-fashioned apple bobbing, dipping caramel apples then decorating with sprinkles, and goodies to eat such as The Blob (Jell-O), Dead Dogs (hot dogs and mini-corn dogs), Crispy-fried brains (French fries), and Vampire Blood (fruit juice). I bought a Scooby Doo cake pan (Wilton cake pan @ Chocolate Wonderland - they have everything Wilton)and will be baking a chocolate-raspberry flavored cake and decorating in Scooby-Doo colors. We also have some other games like Pin-the-Bone-on-Scooby (the kids get a posterboard bone to color as they come in inside their "trick-or-treat" bag) and a scary music version of Musical Chairs. My neighbors have agreed to be trick-or-treat hosts after the party so the kids can trick-or-treat safely. For the adults at the party, we have chicken wings (baked with Jamaican Jerk sauce & some plain), crab dip w/ crackers, veggie & cheese tray, REAL punch to drink, and a few other snacks. I figured 12 kids, 30 adults and about $100. McDonald's and Chucky Cheese, eat your heart out. Better food, not as expensive (Chucky Cheese wanted $8 per child for one slice of pizza & drink & McDonald's $6.50 for 2 hours) and lots o'fun.
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[Diane]

CONTINUED:

The Invitations

I made use of different comic books and toy boxes and made my own invitations. A clip here, a cut there and some personalized effects and I was on my way to Kinkos. It was about the same price as buying them at the card store but they were all personalized and unique. I also added some Scooby Snacks (vanilla wafers) in each of the cards.

The Cake

This was a tough call; Scooby Doo, the whole gang or The Mystery Machine? I decided to go all out and make four sheet cakes; two vanilla, one chocolate and one marble. I cut two of the sheet cakes in half and stacked them on top of each other, I added two plastic columns inside the middle of the cake after baking and cutting to keep it from sliding around while I frosted it as well. I iced the entire thing and started creating The Mystery Machine. It is much simpler than it sounds. I used chocolate covered donuts for wheels, pieces from the Star Wars Lego sets for windows, a toy license plate for the back bumper, more Lego’s for the antenna, door handles and door outlines. When I gathered up all the extras I made sure they were the right size before I started air brushing the design on the cake. It took about two hours but when I was done it looked fantastic.

I used the other two cakes to create a scene around The Mystery Machine. I thought The Mystery Machine might have been too heavy to put on top of the other cakes so I used a small cake pan turned upside down to support it. I put the two sheet cakes next to The Mystery Machine and covered them in green frosting. I made a fence from some of the fencing from a Playskool farm set and air brushed in some dark sports around The Mystery Machine. I used plastic Scooby Doo figures for the characters; most were from Catch Scooby Doo or Scooby Doo – Where Are You?

Looking back on it, I am so happy I decided to do this myself. Sure it may have cost me a few more dollars and more than a few hours but the end result was awesome! Even the parents were amazed. If you want to try this PLEASE make sure you sterilize any toys or extras you want to put on the cake, make a list of what is edible and what isn’t and make sure you go through that checklist before the cake gets cut.

Games

Besides having every Scooby Doo movie running in the game room I cooked up a few games that I had hopes the kids would enjoy.

Scooby Twister
Take a normal Twister floor mat and instead of colors use the characters. You can cut out little character faces and tape them on the Twister spinner. This was fun for about 5 minutes. Hey, I tired.

Pin the Tail on Scrappy
I am sorry; Scrappy Doo was the down fall of that cartoon. Hence, the game. The kids did have some fun with this but the image of these kids blindfolded – walking around with Velcro tails was a sight to see.

Scooby Scrabble Bingo
I took the tiles from the Scrabble game and used them to create Scooby Scrabble Bingo. Some sheets of poster board and colored markers are all you need to create this – and it’s educational as well. I drew oversized blocks on the poster board and wrote each childs name on the board. Each child drew letters and tried to create Scooby words, like dog, van, cookie, bet, monster and of course the word Scooby. Who ever spelled the most words got a prize. We had to play this with four kids at a time due to the limited number of some letters in the Scrabble game.

In addition to those games we also had a water balloon toss, wash off Scooby tattoos and a Scooby piñata filled with little Scooby Doo toys that I got at Party Warehouse and Party Zone. It only cost about $15.00 for about 60 toys and the kids had a great time. Some kids didn’t want to hit the piñata because it was Scooby Doo.

Scooby Doo Came To My Birthday Party

If you really want to get a reputation of being an out of control parent you can call any costume rental store and ask if they have adult costumes. I called Party Works and rented the adult Scooby Doo outfit for 48 hours. Total cost including tax $67.04. Does that sound a bit extreme? I sure hope not. The look on the kids faces made it well worth the fee. Every kid sat – in silence – with dropped jaws – and gawked at Scooby. It was a different scene inside that costume though. It was hot and actually smelled a bit like dog. (ick) Nonetheless, every kid sat on my lap and had a picture taken. The hardest past was doing the voice; I know, it’s only “Scooby Speak” but you try it for an hour.

The Mystery Machine

My greatest creation yet! I really really wanted to make a Mystery Machine but was clueless as to where to start. I made a trip to Sears and asked for refrigerator boxes and finally found one that was big enough to use. What kind of refrigerator came in this box is beyond me but it was HUGE! I put the box on it’s side and reinforced the “walls” with some plywood pieces from the garage. I broke out the power sprayer and laid on a few coats of base white. From there it was simple. I drew the basic outline of the doors, windows, logo and wheels. When it dried I air brushed the colors on and waited patiently for it to dry. It needed about three coats total for the colors to really stand out. If I hadn’t put the base coats it the colors would have never taken. I used an industrial box cutter to cut the doors out as well as the windows. For the windows I used saran wrap and taped it tightly to the inside of the “van”. I sprayed one coat of the base white inside so that the kids would have some place to draw.

The hardest thing was keeping it dry, we get a lot of dampness in the evening so I had to drag it in the garage when I was done working on it for the day. Needles to say, my neighbors really thought I went over the edge.

The Mystery Machine was a huge hit. All the kids got their picture taken inside of it. I had boxes of crayons and markers inside for them to draw on the walls with. I invested about 5 hours into making it and it was worth every minute.


Odds and Ends

I had some prizes for the winners of games; 7 – 11 has booklets of Slurpee coupons for $2.00 as well as Albertson’s (grocery store) Donuts Booklets for Halloween. The winners got a Blockbuster Gift Card, a few Disney Dollars and some of the 7 – 11 coupons. Under each chair was a number, who ever had the winning number received a gift certificate for four to a local haunted house.

I took boxes of vanilla wafers and covered them with Scooby Doo book covers that I got on clearance at Target in the school supply section. I had a box on each table and they added a cute touch to the party.

All in all it was a fantastic party. Everyone, parents included, found something to do. We did find a few of the fathers in the game room watching episodes of Scooby Doo I taped from Cartoon Network. We couldn’t help but laugh when we saw three grown men arguing over who the better host was, The Harlem Globetrotters or Phyllis Diller.

Planning a huge party is rewarding and fun. If you start to look at it as a chore then it will become one. Have fun with it and get your kids involved. It’s their party after all.

If you would like to make The Mystery Machine cake and would like to know how I did it please drop me a line!

Thanks for the read and have a Scooby Dooby Doo Day!

[KarlaB]

Thanks Diane! :) I am sure I can pull some ideas out of there!!!! I can't wait to get going with it - I usually try to make their birthdays a big deal and have as much fun with it as I can. Ds will love it!

[RCT]

we did the scooby birthday last year for ds 5th....I didn't have a cake pan but did the mystery machine on top with all the scooby characters......we found them at Walmart, I also found great party favors there...cheap....we did have the pinata that I also found at Walmart, gee I sound like a commercial....LOL.. :lol: the tall sandwiches sound like a great idea, and I like the scooby snacks too. Have fun, scooby doo is so cool....

[Amy2]

Diane!!! You are scaring me!! I think you are the mom I would hate because you would put me to shame! :)

Thanks for the ideas. As Mickey said, we are doing the mystery too, and having Scooby Snacks. For lunch we're doing pizza, because I think Shaggy eats a lot of pizza. Or he does now, anyway!

I like the idea for a mystery machine. Better call Sears. Amy

[KarlaB]

I think we're gonna do pizzas because it will be easy! :) And, my mom will make the cake. I couldn't find the pinata at WalMart when I checked earlier this week, but there is one from a link that Mickey gave me that I think I will order. As far as the rest of it I need to get planning. I actually look forward to it - I think I am worse than a kid when it comes to these things! :) Thanks for the great ideas everyone!!! :)

[Diane]

LOL... I think I always had more fun at my children's birthday parties than they did. LOL Heck, they only come once a year... right??? Have a fun birthday party... I'm sure they'll have a GREAT time! :)

Diane... :wave:

[KarlaB]

Originally posted by Diane P.
LOL... I think I always had more fun at my children's birthday parties than they did. LOL Heck, they only come once a year... right??? Have a fun birthday party... I'm sure they'll have a GREAT time! :)

Diane... :wave:

Thanks Diane! I love doing parties. This year we were lucky to get it down to one theme. Ds also wanted about three others and when I said we had to pick just one he decided he's got his next three birthday parties picked out! LOL!