Nerf Parties are the ultimate trend right now – Every little boy I know is obsessed, am I righttttt?
My son would watch Nerf war videos on you tube for hours if he was allowed.
Nerf is Life….. Simple.
Now as a mama whose not a Nerf pro – party planning on a completely unknown origin can be tricky. I thought I would spill all my secrets on how we made a seamless amazing party come together in less than a week, under $200, and no injuries or arguments for a five-hour party. LIKE THIS IS FOR THE WIN YA ALL!
Let’s not waste any time because we know you don’t have time to waste – Its probally crunch hour and you need tips and tricks STAT.
Dessert Tables are Everythanggggg. A grand entrance statement to make your guest say Wowza is the trick. I use my kitchen table, push it up against the wall and go to town. For this party I grabbed a Happy Birthday balloon pack at Michael’s for $5 and some cute wood letters to spell my son’s name that were also on clearance. If you shop right they always have 40% off coupons as well you can whip up on your phone before checking out. For the Nerf tags and printable’s I used some scratch paper lying around and created a word document to type up some cute little sayings to get the boys ramped up.
Tip: When laying out your appetizer/dessert table make sure everything has color pops that match, and that each side is equally textured or laid out for design. It makes it prettier on the eye. Remember USE WHAT YOU HAVE and Get Creative. You’ll be amazed what turns up that you can use when you look at it with a fresh set of eyes.
Make the cake EXTRA – Theres just something magical and special about the cake aspect of a party. It’s the first thing the littles flock too and admire. If the cakes a hit, your party is off to a bang. We went with a 25 person slice cake *tip* We actually made it over 40 slices with the heighth and how we sliced it. You want to cut the cake side ways like bread, not like a piece of pie. After the sideways piece falls you then cut that section into 2-4 pieces depending on portion sizes you want to hand out. A little went a long way! If you’re local we used The Cakesmith – She was completely awesome sauce.
Create a DIY Obstacle Course Haven – My hubby may have had a little more fun creating this then he will admit. We used card board boxes, pie tins, spray paint, wood stakes, and some fort supplies my son had lying around in the garage with some tarps. How he put it all together?
My husband happened to have his tree stands and some other fun supplies handy so he set up in the back yard for the kids to climb trees and really get into the idea of “obstacle.” We figured the obstacle course was a much safer route than war zone or a capture the flag type plan.
He then made Target shooting zones out of pie tins and a little spray paint, he made “bases” at each station out of card board boxes.
He then made an army crawl station with some tarps, stakes, and string.
The idea is to get creative and make about 10 stations to keep kids busy moving forward and not all waiting in lines, excited, with nerf guns and inpatient. We wanted lots of constant movement!
Here are some extra ideas to spark the inspiration.
Download Free Printables – If you have a Cricut or a friend that does, download free silhouettes and make little die cuts for extra decor and add ons.
Keep as much outside as possible – Lets be reallllllll Mamas are exhausted after big parties and the clean up is far more minimal if the party is out doors! For Nerf Clean up I gave my littles each a bag the day after the party and made it a game of who could scavenger hunt the most nerfs in their bag. (Crafty clean ups are so much more fun.)
For some added relaxation and excitement to clean on my end I used my new PUMPKIN SPICE CLEANERRRRRR from Grove – (I know, who would of thought cleaning supplies in pumkin flavor could bring so much joy.) Get yours here with a free gift because mama’s need love too!
Food made simple – I was fully intending on going Pinterest mom crazy in this aspect, but then the party snuck up closer and reality sunk in that I am nine months pregnant and not in a Betty Crocker mood as of late. I grabbed a few take in bakes, hot dogs, buns, chips, salsa, and fruit to make a fun fruit tray. The kids went crazy. All honestly here – FIRST PARTY I have ever hosted where there were absolutely NO LEFT OVERS. None, Zip, Nada. It was fabulous. Throwing a ton of stuff away always makes my stomach turn after parties so this had me hip hip hooraying.
So there it is.
Nerf Parties Made Simple, Affordable, and Special.
Happy Party Planning Mama Bears. – Always feel free to comment below any questions or tips needed and I am more than happy to hop on the planning train with you.