Birthdays are a big deal in our house! Wesley turns 6 this week! I know, right! I cannot believe how big he is. I'm enjoying every minute of it though. He's at such an inquisitive and fun age. With Easter being this coming weekend, we had his art party this past weekend.

Wesley is an amazing child. He is so incredibly smart, kind, dedicated, and determined. I'm so blessed! On top of that, he's pretty stinking cool. Last year he chose a dinosaur-themed party. Check it out here: It's a Dinosaur Party! It was a lot of fun! This year he chose an art theme. Check out how it went!

TIPS:

• If indoors, buy plastic for the floors!

• Use cheap, table cloths. You won't be able to reuse these bad boys!

• Save cans from canned goods you use. I used these for clean water to rinse paint brushes.

• Embrace the mess

• Accept change. I had a plan for what I wanted the kids to paint and how. But they have ideas of their own and it turned out GREAT!

Related posts:

• A Super Fun Kickball Birthday Party

• A Super Simple Nerf Wars Birthday Party

• A PERFECT Alligator Birthday Party

• It's A Dinosaur Party!

Art Party Fun and Activities

Our first activity was a creative take on a classic carnival game... balloon popping! I used plywood as the backing. For extra fun, I put white pillow cases on the plywood before adding the paint filled balloons.

(BONUS TIP: When adding paint to the balloons and you think you've added plenty, add MORE.)

I used push pins to attach the pillow cases and the balloons.

Why pillowcases? I'm so glad you asked! So, all the kiddos get to take home a fun souvenir they helped create! For the paint filled balloons, I used fabric paint. Don't wash for 72 hours! I did this activity first, so the pillowcases would be dry enough to travel to their new homes.

Next, we painted canvases. (Here's a pack of 30 for a great price!) I had planned on using duct tape to tape off a picture of the kid's choice on their canvas.

My idea was for them to paint over the tape, then when the canvas was dry, pull the tape off and have a pretty picture left in white. We've done this craft at home, and it turns out great! You can read more on that craft HERE!

For the babies, I had hot wheels cars for them to paint with. Find out more about painting with cars: Painting With Cars.

We had a creative group, though. We never made it to the duct tape or hot wheels. They ran with their imaginations, and created some fun art pieces!

(BONUS TIP: It doesn't hurt to have extra canvases. Some kids finish early or decide they wish they would have done something different.)

While painting canvases, we also let the kids switch out having their faces painted. We had Rachel from Cloud 9 Face Painting at our party. She did Wesley's birthday party last year, and we KNEW we had to have her back... especially with an art-themed party. She's amazing. 5+ stars. She is awesome with the kids, welcomes the adults to have their faces painted, is super creative, and is just overall great at what she does. She will always be my go-to for all face painting fun!

I also set up a make-shift photo booth with fun props for everyone to play around with!

What next? CAAAAAKE!

Our boys are young, so they've never heard of trick candles. We got Wesley good. He blew 100 times, but he was a good sport. We did let him blow out some regular candles afterwards, because he was afraid his wish wouldn't come true!

Overall the party was a success, and I think the parents had a good time. I know the kiddos did! Plus, they had their own artwork to take home as party favors.

Finally, we had all the party guests leave their handprints on a canvas. I plan on writing "Wesley's 6th Birthday" or something to that effect. Now, we will always remember this art party!

I purchased most everything from Amazon, which seemed to have the items I needed in bulk for a better price than other places. I did find some last-minute decorations at Hobby Lobby! (Who doesn't love Hobby Lobby?!) If you have any other questions at all, I'll be happy to answer them.

Here are some of the items I purchased to make this art themed birthday party a hit:

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Until July (William's 5th birthday), that's a wrap on birthday parties for a bit. I better get to planning!