We did a construction birthday party theme for Hayes’ fourth birthday and it was a lot of fun to come up with ideas for. There were some things that I would absolutely do again, some things I wouldn’t, and a few things I wish I had done, but didn’t get around to.
If you have a kid that loves construction (or cars in general), there are loads of (very easy) DIY party ideas to check out…
Construction Birthday Party for Kids
My son loves construction AND cars, so I kind of combined the two for his fourth birthday party. You’ll see some things that are more construction focused and others that are more car based. Wanted to mention in case you’re looking through and thinking, well that’s not exactly construction themed.
Generally, I like to keep kids birthday parties somewhere between ‘I have pizza, cake, and balloons – lets get this done’ and ‘I spent months and an insane amount of money on a child’s birthday party’.
Not that there is anything wrong with either one of those options. You do you! But I’m (at least right now), somewhere in the middle – a happy medium kind of a thing.
There are definitely more extravagant parties you could look to for inspo. But if you fall somewhere in between like me, this one is for you!
That said, here’s everything we did for the party and things I wished we would have done too…
Car + Construction Party Activity Ideas
I should probably preface this by saying that we did rent a bounce house for our party (Hayes really wanted one). But I wanted to also incorporate more creative activities to keep everyone entertained.
I also just like to have a lot of activity options for kids at birthday parties because everyone is different / likes to do different things. Some kids like to stay with their parents and just kind of watch and hang back. Other kids want to run around and do all the things.
Anyway! Here are some construction / car themed ideas I came up with…
Car Wash with Cardboard Cars
This was one of my favorite parts of the party, personally. I made 4 or 5 cardboard cars out of boxes from our recycling bins. They took longer to make than I expected, just like it always does. But were cute in the end.
The kids used them to run through the ‘car wash’ which was just a small photo booth backdrop stand with some fringe streamers attached to it, to give it that car wash vibe. Hayes loved it.
If you want to make it more construction themed, these excavator costumes would be a cute and easy way of incorporating construction machinery to the car wash.
Overall, very easy to setup and can easily be one of the main activities for the party. If you only did one thing for a car related / construction bday party, I think I would pick this. OR the next activity idea…
Wrecking Ball Station
The wrecking ball station was one of the things I heard the most about from parents and kids, as a fun activity.
But the best part is that it was really so easy to put together! If you are throwing a construction themed birthday party, definitely try a wrecking ball station.
I bought the cardboard blocks online and set them all up under a tree. Then I tied one of those big bouncing balls that have a handle on it to a tree branch with some rope / string and that was it.
The kids stacked all the blocks up and knocked the wrecking ball through the stack over and over again.
Tattoo Parlor / Nail Salon Station
One thing that I didn’t do with this party, but did do with another party I put together, was creating a little tattoo and nail design station.
I set up a little table and a small chair on each side of the table. One person could sit to get the temporary tattoo or stick-on nail designs and the person on the other side (usually a parent) could put it on for them. If you do temporary tattoos, just make sure to bring a small bowl of water and a washcloth.
There are some really cool themed temporary tattoos out there AND nail designs too. Daydream Society is probably my favorite source when it comes to both of these things. So many options for all kinds of different themes and ALL of them are cute.
Coloring Table Runner Station
Thought doing a themed table runner that could also be colored and drawn on would be something that could keep everyone busy at some point or another.
I laid it out (this is the one I bought), threw some crayons on the table in small containers, and that was it. It cut down on the amount of other things I needed to add to the table too, centerpiece-wise, which was a nice bonus.
Toy Building
We already had plenty of wooden toy tools at home, so I brought those to the party as decor. Always trying to reuse things we already have.
You could easily make something like this an additional activity station if you had some other items to include.
Like the toy toolboxes that have screws and wrenches and screwdrivers that you can use to assemble everything. Examples here: wooden kids toll set // pretend play tool box // Montessori tool kit for kids
Construction Party Details
Here’s a handful of things, outside of the activity stations, that helped bring the theme together…
Construction Hats instead of Party Hats
No construction birthday party is complete without construction hats. I found a set of 20 on Amazon for under $15.
I used them as another part of the decoration on the main table. Admittedly, this one was hit or miss. Some kids wore them around the party and some didn’t. But still a fun touch and a little souvenir to take home at the end of the day.
If you wanna take the theme to the next level, there is another party set that I thought about getting. Which has a construction hat AND a construction vest. Would make for cute pictures too, of all the kids running around wearing the same thing.
‘Build a House’ Party Favor Idea
These were a big hit with our guests and also went kind of viral on Pinterest: birdhouse painting ideas. So! If you’re feeling stuck on what to do for party favors, I’d recommend doing something like this.
A lot of times, party favors feel so wasteful, with stuff that just gets thrown away. So I tried to come up with something that was..
- an activity that could continue to keep entertained when they got home from the party
- made everything that was included as useful and reusable as possible, including the container everything was in (which comes as a set of five, so each one is a little over $2)
- something on the creative side that was cute AND would (hopefully) appeal to both the boys and the girls at the party
Another option for cute party favors, would be to make a big batch of DIY wooden car toys. You could leave them unpainted and swap out the birdhouses for the cars, to allow kids to paint them when they get home.
When you have a lot of party favors to put together though, this one might be challenging. The wooden cars do take some time to make. So, if you’re short on time, I really love this make your own car kit from Candylab. They can be built and painted and come in sets of three.
Cardboard Bulldozer
Found a cardboard bulldozer online and threw it into the mix as decor. I don’t think we really ended up needing it for anything necessarily. I liked the cardboard cars / car wash thing better.
But we used it as a weight for a few balloons to mark where the party was. I think it would have been cuter if I had had time to paint it a color ahead of time.
Parking Cone Vases
This was a happy accident. I just happen to find a vase shaped very similarly to a parking cone and I liked it anyway. So I bought it for the party, knowing I would reuse it as decor at home after the party was over.
You could just use regular (small) parking cones for vases, since most of them have a hole in the top. Just put a glass of water underneath the cone and thread the flowers through the top.
Orange Striped Tablecloths
I found this orange striped duvet cover shopping one day and bought it specifically to use as a tablecloth. It was on mega sale at the DWR outlet and I see that its on sale online now too.
The colors went well with everything else I had planned and still felt kind of construction-esque and car related somehow.
Construction Cupcakes
I don’t remember why, but I didn’t end up doing cupcakes that were a part of the construction theme. It would have been so easy, even just putting a cute parking cone topper on them. So I don’t know why I didn’t go that route.
Anyway, for the cupcakes that you see in the party photos, I just used a few different icing tips to get all the different shapes / designs.
I made the cupcakes but bought white buttercream icing from a bakery and then mixed batches of the icing in different colors with food coloring to get the look I was going for.
Next time, I think I would just save the time and buy premade cupcakes or a larger cake. And then add crushed oreos or graham crackers with a toy bulldozer or excavator on top and call it a day.
Construction Theme Party Supplies
I found some really cute construction theme party supplies when I was preparing for this bday party.
Here’s a list of my favorites…
Car Theme Party Supplies
Might as well separate out the car theme as well, in case your party is headed in that direction.
Here are my picks for a car birthday party…
That’s a wrap on the construction birthday party meets car themed birthday.
Hope you found some solid takeaways for any upcoming kids parties you might be throwing. And if you have any suggestions for additional construction and car party ideas, leave me a comment and let me know.