Nutty’s 7th birthday was last week. I don’t know why, but she insisted on having a camping themed birthday and having a sleepover. So…because I’m such a great mom, we had a campover birthday. Twelve girls total (including Nutty and Tottie) with six of them camping overnight in a tent in our back yard. What was I thinking?!
I searched all over Pinterest for ideas for her party but I’m not one to go way overboard with decor and things. I just wanted ideas…
It started with Nutty’s invitations.
She really liked this invitation. Though the site somewhat told you how to make them, the author of the post admits she had a hard time coming up with an appropriate pattern. I did some more searching and couldn’t come up with one either. After over an hour of cutting, measuring, re-cutting, folding, etc, I finally came up with my own pattern.
To save our lovely readers some time, I thought I’d actually share my pattern with you so you can easily make your own tent invitations! CLICK HERE FOR A FREE TENT INVITATION PRINTABLE! *Please note the actual download button is a small grey button under the photo (next to the share buttons).
Next came cake ideas.
She just had to choose this idea (not that I blame her. It’s awesome!). The cake took me two days to make, was somewhat difficult, and wasn’t very practical. But it looked good, and her friends (and their parents) liked it so I guess that’s all that matters. Her giant smore’s cake, however, deserves a post of it’s own. Stay tuned next week…
On to the party itself…I didn’t do any decorating. Personally, I think it’s a waste of time and money. 7-9 year olds really don’t care about all the cute printables. They just want to have fun. And fun we had!…
The girls checked into Camp Nutty at 6:00pm.
Parents were required to check them in with emergency numbers, allergies, and anything else we may need to know for those staying over night.
Shortly after check-in we had a pool noodle obstacle course.
I adopted my ideas from this post. Because the course wasn’t exactly difficult for 7-9 year olds, I timed them to see who could do it the fastest. Wow did the girls get competitive! They had fun with the competition and I had to tell them that they couldn’t do it a third and 4th time!
Next we cooked hot dogs with pokers over the campfire.
Unfortunately we only had 4 pokers so some girls had to wait a bit to eat. A few of the “campers” had never cooked over a fire so it was quite the experience!
Once the “campers” were full, it was time to Play From Scratch.
This too gets a post of it’s own as it’s one of our review products. I won’t spoil the whole thing in this post but I will tell you the “campers” had a blast making castles, clowns, umbrellas, and something we’re not quite sure what to call out of cardboard boxes, tubes, and tape. I litteraly had to pull them away for the next activity…
Hot Springs!
Yes, Camp Nutty was located in the perfect place for “hot springs” (i.e. our hot tub). The perfect treat as most of the “campers” aren’t usually allowed in hot tubs.
*Few photos from here to the end of the post because I don’t think it’s appropriate to post photos of Nutty and all her friends in their swimsuits without specific permission from the girls’ parents.
Smore’s, Presents, and Cake…
After the “hot springs” it was time to keep warm by the campfire and cook Smore’s. Again, a ton of fun for those not used to cooking around a fire. Opening presents followed and then it was cake time. In my cake post you’ll see what happens when you try to cut into that awesome Smore’s cake!
At 9:00 pm is when most “campers” left. Four decided to brave an overnight in the tent in our back yard…
The Campover…
The girls fell asleep at around 11:30pm which I didn’t think was that bad for a sleep over outside. Unfortuntely, however, it began to rain pretty heavily around 4:00am. The sound of the rain on the tent woke everyone up and they couldn’t fall back to sleep. So…at 5:00am we made a mad dash inside to the basement and I put in a movie hoping everyone would fall asleep. No such luck. So…at 6:30am it was time for doughnuts for breakfast. After the movie finished, the “campers” played nicely until their parents picked them up at 9:00am.
Yup, 4.5 hours of sleep. Was it worth it? YES! Everyone had fun and it is something they will remember for years. What do you think? Would you attempt camping in your back yard with a bunch of 7-9 year old girls?
I lOV YOUR SEIMPLE BUT VERY FUN PARTY… But have sort of off topic question, I was just wondering what the brand / name of your tent is.. Love the desin and happen to be doing a search on new one for our summer fun and just thought of asking if you new the name of the one in the pictures..
Thanks
Rebecca
We LOVE our tent!! It’s a Cabelas brand Alaskan Guide Series. It’s expensive but worth every penny! I can’t tell you how many times we’ve gone camping and ended up with extra friends in our tent because our tent is the only one that has survived rainy/windy weather! I DEFINITELY recommend it!
Thank you so much. Jamie
Rebecca