Fall Birthday Ideas for Kids

Use the fall colors as party inspiration.fall colors image by Horticulture from Fotolia.com

When the hot summer days come to an end, they are replaced by the cool, crisp days of fall. If your child's birthday falls during these fall months, you can use the colors and themes of fall to plan a fun birthday party.

Invitations

The fall season can be used to design your own invitations. Choose cardstock or blank note cards in the fall colors of reds, oranges, yellows and browns. Then decorate the cards with fall-themed designs, such as turkeys, leaves and pumpkins. You can use markers, stickers or stamps to add your designs. Another idea is to purchase silk leaves in fall colors from your local craft store, and use a marker to write your invitation information on the silk leaves.

Using the fall harvest as food inspiration is another way to keep the party fun. One option is to make sugar cookies shaped with fall-themed cookie cutters, such as leaves, pumpkins and apples. You can also roast pumpkin seeds, and provide those for your guests in lieu of chips and pretzels. Apples can be used to make apple pies, fresh applesauce or dipped into caramel and made into caramel apples. Apple cider can be served either hot or cold.

Since pumpkins are readily available in the fall seasons, you can provide each guest with a pumpkin to decorate. You can decorate the pumpkins with paints and stickers, or, if the guests are older, they can carve their pumpkins. Leaves from your yard also can be used for crafts. Dip different leaves into paint, and then press the leaves on to paper like stamps to create a fall picture. If the party is for younger children (around toddler age), you can place some hay into a wagon and pull them around the yard to have a hay ride. Another outdoor option is to rake the leaves into a pile, and then hide prizes in the leaves. Let the kids play in the leaves and dig through until they find the prizes.

Instead of the traditional sheet cake, consider a cake that is shaped following the fall theme. Cooking supply stores and craft stores sell shaped cake pans that create three-dimensional cakes. Look for a pan shaped like a leaf, and frost it in fall colors. Another idea is to use a bundt pan to bake your cake, frosting the cake in orange to make a pumpkin. You can add a green stem to the top by using a green-colored ice cream cone. Or, you can make a standard layer cake and use silk leaves to decorate it.