A low-fuss yet fully satisfying Lego birthday party.

Several days before Johnny's sixth birthday party, we decided that a Lego theme would be fun. There are dozens of ideas on the internet for Lego-themed decorations, party food, games, and favors, but I needed something that would be quick and easy to prepare. I decided to skip the decorations and fancy food and games.

Instead, we created a magical Lego country.

We covered our long dining room table with large pieces of white paper, taped together. We put out crayons, markers and other art supplies (but no paint). Kids who were more interested in art than in building drew the layout for our Lego land, with roads, rivers, trees, and other landscape elements. The paper was taped together on the underneath surface so that the tape wouldn't get in the way of the art.

Meanwhile, the entire living room floor was devoted to building structures that would go in our Lego country: houses, castles, cars. One boy specialized in spaceships. We do have a few official sets, but most of our Legos are miscellaneous pieces, which we keep in big tubs. The kids built whatever they wanted. The results of their labors may not have looked as impressive as the officially formulated buildings from Lego sets, but they were products of a free-form creative process.

Whenever a new structure was finished, the builder carried it to the dining room table and decided where it should go.

Since the dining room table had been transformed into a Lego land, I had to keep the food very simple. Finger food (string cheese, carrots, apple slices, etc.) was available on a kitchen counter. When we were ready for the "cake" we went out to our backyard picnic table and ate cupcakes that were bought at the supermarket and made by . . . Tastycake. The frosting on Tastycake cupcakes is not gooey, the way home-made frosting is, so there was very little mess. I didn't even provide plates or forks.

Party favors were used books — books that were weeded out from our bookshelves and some that were bought at a library book sale. Each guest got to choose one.

So the party turned out to be "Lego themed" in only the most basic sense: There were no Lego-shaped decorations or Lego-shaped food, or Lego party favors. But nobody seemed to mind, and I was pleased at the end of the day. A simple, yet satisfying party.

Buried treasure birthday party, with map.

The treasure box.

Complicated birthday parties are not my forte, but when it occurred to me that my five-year-old would love a treasure map leading to actual buried treasure, I couldn't resist. So we had a buried treasure birthday party last year.

I kept my preparation time reasonable by avoiding things liked decorating a cake, mailing invitations (I just emailed people), or anything fancy besides the treasure hunt itself.

I told all the invitees to bring shovels.

My mother gave us an old hinged wooden box. (Key point: It got really dirty, so it wasn't something she was attached to.) I filled it with foil-covered chocolate and a few cheap plastic beads.

I bought the chocolate coins in the bulk candy aisle at Wegman's. They have the advantage of being real chocolate, unlike some other candy money, and they're less expensive per pound than the little individual bags of chocolate-y coins for sale elsewhere.

I kept the treasure box hidden from the birthday honoree, but I let my two-year-old sample the treasure the day before. He was truly delighted.

 

In advance, I made a treasure map that roughly represented our backyard. I decided to locate the treasure near the badminton net, so that it would be easier to find. There are all kinds of neat ways to age paper, but I didn't have time to do more than singe the edges with a match and sort of rumple it.

We were perhaps a bit too ambitious and decided to bury the treasure box (wrapped in a scrap piece of cloth to protect the wood) about a foot deep. We wanted to make the kids work for their treasure!

The treasure map. Naturally, X marks the spot.

 

I wrote a few clues and hid them around the house. They were simple clues like, "Look in the coldest place in the house," or "Look under the couch cushions." Each clue led to the next one, with the final clue leading to the treasure map. 

Once the treasure hunt started, the kids were excited as they raced around the house looking for clues. Since some of the children could read, they didn't need much adult help. They found the map under the fruit bowl. 

That was a good moment.

Finding the map.

Then they ran outside with their shovels! Fortunately, the kids were able to figure out how to interpret the map, more or less. There may have been some adult guidance here, when we realized how unfortunate it would be to have a bunch of extra holes in the backyard that didn't yield any treasure.

Following the map.

Starting to dig.

There was a lot of digging.

As I mentioned it before, we probably dug the hole a little too deep. At some point, my husband started scooping out big shovelfuls of dirt, because the digging process was taking so long. In the end, the difficulty they had digging down to the treasure probably added to their excitement when the box was finally unearthed.

That was a very good moment.

At last!

At just five years old, Johnny may have already peaked as far as birthday party fun goes. I can't see myself doing something equally cool in the future.