My son wanted a Box Party for his 12th birthday. What is a Box Party, you ask? I didn’t know either– but we had one! It was one of the simplest parties we’ve ever had and also one of the most fun. It was especially great because we had a large group of children ages 5-74 and they all liked it (kindergartners and grandpas included). We had planned to have this party in our backyard, but it rained so we moved our boxes to our church gymnasium. This would never have worked inside our house.
Preparation
We started collecting boxes a month before the party. We asked a few neighbors and aunts to call us if they were throwing out any boxes. I stopped at a local furniture store and asked for large boxes. We also asked the guests to each bring two shoe boxes. Most of them did. After the party, we took them all to a recycling center.
Invitation
We pasted the invitations on pieces of torn-up cereal boxes. Classy, eh?
Boxtacular Activities
Steal the Box
As the guests arrived, we assigned them a team and number to play “Steal the Box”, which was just Steal the Bacon with a small box.
Teams
After the first game, we divided the group into two teams- the mustaches vs. the goatees. We drew facial hair on all the kids with a washable marker. Since our son was turning twelve (becoming a man in some cultures), we thought it fitting to throw in a little facial hair.
Box Relays
Our two teams competed in several box-themed relays.
Pass the Box
The teams sat in a line. Then they were challenged to pass a box using only their feet from one end of their line to the other and back again.
Box Push
The guests were required to push (or hit with their hands) a box across the gym and back. No kicking allowed!
Coffin Race
Each team used a large box as a coffin and carried three of their teammates (one at a time) halfway across the gym and back. This was a bit dangerous- as the boxes started falling apart, but luckily no one was injured.
Kleenex Pull
I bought two of the smallest boxes of Kleenexes I could find (60 tissues). The teams stood behind a line about 20 feet from a table with the Kleenex boxes. They had to take turns running to the boxes, pulling out one tissue, then running back to tag the next person. I should have taken out half of the tissues because this took a long time. If they pulled out more than one tissue, they had to spin around five times for each extra tissue before they could run back to their team. I think 12-15 tissues in the box would be about right.
Box Skits
I put a bunch of random costumes and props in four boxes. Each box was different. We split each team in two so we would have four groups. They were given fifteen minutes to make up a skit. Then they performed them for the group. This might be a hard activity for smaller kids, but it was perfect for my pre-teen group.
Box Battle
This was my favorite part of the party. Each team built a fortress of boxes, then we had a battle with Nerf guns and small playground balls. The kids were so creative. They had all kinds of hiding places in their forts and made lots of cool shields to protect themselves. Here’s a photo of one such shield:
Box Soccer
We actually played this game in the middle of the party– but it should have been our last event. The kids destroyed a lot of the boxes during this game. We required every player to wear one box as a shoe while they played a game of soccer. The soccer ball was a softer playground ball, but the boxes had to be duct taped to the kids’ feet to stay on. This was really fun but required a lot of duct tape. Here’s a photo of the box shoes:
Birthday Treats
We served ice cream sundaes for our party treat. How easy is that? If you want to be more creative, I’m sure you could find some boxed desserts.
