My son is 14 now, and he still talks about his 7th birthday party as his best ever. I have to say it was pretty good–and super easy. First, I went to an appliance store and got 3 empty refrigerator boxes. Then I bought a Nerf gun (the kind that shoots foam darts) for each of the boys attending. If you don’t think Nerf guns are appropriate toys, you’d better stop reading right here!

Our thanks to letscountblessings.blogspot.com for the great photo of a similar party.

When the party guests arrived, I divided them into 3 teams and gave each team a refrigerator box. Their task was to come up with a team name, and use markers and washable paint to decorate their refrigerator box to match their name. I had cut out doors in each box (with fabric hung across the opening so no one could see in) and windows with flaps so they could open and close them. Each team also got matching bandanas to tie around their heads to identify which team they were on.

I think the party could have ended right there, they had so much fun just playing with the boxes. But then I gave them each Nerf guns and a supply of foam darts. The only rule was they couldn’t enter another team’s fort–if you were in your fort you were safe. From there, I stayed out of it. Boys know how to do this stuff. As I sipped my lemonade, I congratulated myself on my genius idea. Aside from the cake and Kool-aide breaks, this party pretty much ran itself. The Nerf guns made perfect party favors, and the refrigerator boxes lasted for weeks of fun in our yard.

This is the second in a series of summer birthday party ideas for my son, who has an August birthday (the best time of year for a birthday, if you ask me). You’ll find other ideas under kids birthday parties ideas.