Karen & Rhea's Dolphin Birthday Party

My two girls Karen (8) and Rhea (6) have a joint birthday every year. This year they have really been into the movie "A Dolphin Tale" and "A Dolphin Tale 2".

Decorations: We found dolphin theme plates, napkins, cups, and table cloth at Dollar Tree. We cut waves in 2 blue table cloths and hung them on the window (double sided tape) for an underwater feel. Then we put up blue, white, and grey balloons.

• What People Ate

  Dolphins (bananas) with balls (grapes) in their mouths, Water (blue jello), and Dolphin food (fish crackers).

• What People Drank

  Blue Kool-Aid pouches

• Desserts

  Cake: My Mom made a dolphin cake for the girls with marshmallow fondant icing

• Party Favors

  Each goodie bag contained a swimming dive toy (found on the sale rack at Superstore), 2 crayola markers that smelled like desserts (found in the discount area at Walmart), and sweedish fish gummy candies (halloween treats are available this time of year). They also got a plastic dolphin that my husband had printed on a 3D printer.

• Activities / Games

  Activities: The kids played with the Playmobil swimming pool set and used the Playmobil as dolphin trainers, we had the Wii available with Go Vacation game's beach resort, and there were dolphin coloring pages available with markers. Games: -"Catch the Fish": gave each child a cup of fishy crackers and had them try to catch them in their mouths. Most kids gave up on that and threw them at each other and tried to catch them in their cups. -"Dolphin Training": We placed a pile of pillows and couch cushions on the floor. Then I held up a hoola hoop and the kids took turns jumping/diving/rolling through. We changed it up a few times (2 hoola hoops, higher up, lower down, moving). -"Dolphin Toss": Then the kids took turns tossing 2 dolphins into the hoops (that I held up). Craft: The kids picked some shells (my Dad brought back piles of them from his trip to Dominican Republic) and painted them. I had many colors available but they loved the gold, silver, and sparkle paints. I hot glued magnets onto their shells after they had a chance to dry a few minutes.