Mini Golf Birthday Party

About a year ago Big Brother discovered the fun of mini-golfing and he loved going several times over the summer months. He was pretty excited to discover that because there was less snow and frost this winter, our local mini golf place was already open for his birthday.

He quickly asked to have a handful of kindergarten friends join him for a birthday party at the mini-golf center.  I was excited, as it meant an easy location with not a lot of set up or clean up, although it did take thinking through logistics a little.

I should add before I begin that I wasn't able to get as many pictures as I'd hoped because having more than a half dozen kindergartners mini golfing (even with their parents there) took a lot of hands on focus. But really, the fun was worth it.

Location & Time: We chose our local mini golf center and a Saturday afternoon time slot. We called ahead of time to find out what their party packages were (they had several) and to reserve a time frame. We wound up going just with the option that allowed kids to play mini golf, as we just didn't need the other options with kindergarten aged kids.

Invitations: We put together a fun invitation on the computer using golf clip art. We couldn't resist the phrase "Mini Golf Par-Tee."

Travel Logistics: Because the golf center is a few towns over from where we all live we offered parents the option of meeting us there or having their kiddos ride down with us. We had parents who did both. We allotted about an hour and a half at the golf center, which seemed to be good for the group and age we had.

Drinks & Snacks: I knew that kids would get thirsty and hungry, so we brought along a cooler with small water bottles, a veggie platter, a fruit platter, and a box of snack mix. We kept everything cool and waiting in the cooler while people played.

Decorations: Clearly we didn't need much, but I did buy a plastic green table cloth, green napkins with white polka dots, green plates, and green/white polka dot straws. Everything came from the party section at Wal-Mart. It was just enough decorations to make the picnic area we were using feel festive.

Cupcakes: Big Brother really wanted Vanilla and Chocolate cupcakes, so used this yummy recipe for Marble Cupcakes from Sally's Baking Addiction. I added a simple vanilla buttercream frosting dyed a light green and green sanding sugar. For the golf balls we used white gumballs we found in the loose candy section of Party City. The small flags also came from Party City and I labeled each one with a different hole number using permanent marker.

Favors: It was hard to find kid friendly favors with a golf theme, so we went with all time kid favorite things in a bright green bag (also from Party City.) We included bubbles, sports themed pencil, sports themed foam stickers, a small notebook, sports themed chocolates, dum dums, and finger lights. To seal the bag we folded the top over once, hole punched though all the layers twice, and added light grey ribbon.

Party Sequence: The picnic location at the mini golf center gave us a place to gather and play a game in the beginning, a place to return for snacks and drinks, and also where we both sang/ate cupcakes and opened presents. A playground off to the side gave us a place to wrap up the party with a little free play. 

Weather Permitting: The one other piece of the party which was a gamble was the weather. Of course, we can't control that, but we definitely lucked out with one of the nicest days in quite a while! We would have come to our house for a back up location if needed. 

Having a mini golf party worked for us, and I would definitely recommend it for kids 6 and up! 

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