If your child is wild about airplanes and fighter jets, then it’s time for an airplane birthday party! Get ready for some just “plane” fun with these great airplane party decorating, food, game, and activity ideas.

• Fold a paper airplane from colored paper. Unfold it, and write the party information in the open spaces without a fold line. Then refold the paper airplane and mail in a large envelope. Use our paper airplane instructions, or create your own plane design.
• Add creative wording to your invitation, and guests will be excited before the big day arrives! Some ideas we like are:
  Take Off With [your child’s name] on His Birthday!
  You’re Invited for Some High-Flying Fun!
  Fly into [your last name] Airport!


• Create invitations that resemble an airline boarding pass. Use fun descriptions for the party info, such as:
  [Your child’s name] Airlines, the official Birthday Party Airline!
  Flight time: [party time]
  Destination: [party location]
  Seat #: A1 First Class Friend Seat
  Confirm Your Flight: To confirm your flight, or if you are unable to make your flight, please call a [your child’s name] Airlines ticket agent at [your phone number].


• Seal the invitation envelopes with airplane stickers.
• For a special touch, let us print personalized invitations for you! We’ll include your child’s name and all the party details with a background design that complements your airplane party theme. You can also take a look at the blank invitations we offer. These are quick to fill in and mail, which is perfect when you want to send your invitations quickly.

• Use any toy airplanes your child already owns to decorate! Group them together in the middle of the table as if they are ready to take off.
• Make extra-large paper airplanes from large sheets of construction paper and hang them from the ceiling.
• Create “clouds” by tying together eight white balloons, and hanging them from the ceiling among the paper airplanes.
• Make a sign saying "Check Your Bags Here" for the coat closet or gift table.
• As guests arrive, provide each with a Flight Crew Badge using our personalized bag tags, and attach it to their shirt with a clip.
• Make fun signs saying "Welcome Aboard", "Pilots and Passengers Only", "Boarding Area", "Just Plane Fun", and "Up, Up and Away". Hang them on your front door and on the walls around the party space.
• Balloons always say “party” to children! Tie groups of helium balloons together and anchor them in place with balloon weights. For greater impact, combine fighter jet balloons with light blue, silver, and white latex balloons. Tie a balloon to the back of each chair, and tie a group of five balloons to the birthday child’s chair!
• Consider a pull-string piñata if you would rather not have small children swinging a bat. We offer a selection of traditional and pull-string pinatas, but any traditional pinata can be converted to a pull-string using our easy instructions.
• Make a banner that says “Welcome to [your child’s name]’s Pilot Training School” and hang it near the party entrance. See our personalized jet banner and let us do the work for you!

• Cut airplane shapes from construction paper to use as place cards or placemats for the table.
• Fill trays with miniature bags of food that might be served on a flight, such as pretzels, mini cookies, peanuts, and crackers.
• Serve sandwiches cut with an airplane cookie cutter. Rice cereal treats and brownies can also be served in this shape.
• Prepare edible airplanes children will love! Cut a banana in half lengthwise and place one half, cut side up, on a plate. Spread the cut side with peanut butter (for those who don’t like peanut butter, try marshmallow crème). Press a whole (all four sections) graham-cracker rectangle into place for each wing and a quarter rectangle for the horizontal part of the tail. Then place the other banana half on top. Next, cut a slit at the tail end of the top half, and push a graham cracker rudder piece in place to complete the tail. Add raisin windows with a little dab of peanut butter.
• Place a “Drink Cart” sign next to the cold drinks, such as small bottles of water, half-cans of soft drinks, or milk cartons. Serve the drinks with shaped silly straws.
• Place a group of candy airplanes on the food table, and let each guest choose one to take home. Use our easy instructions for making adorable candy airplanes from a roll of Smarties, two sticks of gum, and two Life Saver candies.
• Would your child love an airplane cake? We have three different ideas for making an easy airplane birthday cake:
  
  1. Create the shape of an airplane using a loaf cake and a 9” x 13” cake. Place the loaf cake on a serving plate, and trim both ends into a curve to resemble an airplane fuselage. Cut off a two-inch strip from one end of the 9"x13" cake, and use this strip to cut out the plane’s tail pieces. Then cut the larger piece of cake in half diagonally to create the wings, and slice two inches off each small pointed end (discard or eat these trimmings). Flip over one of the diagonal wing pieces, and place them on either side of the loaf cake. Cover the entire cake in frosting, and use a darker icing to pipe on windows and a message, if desired.
  
  2. Decorate a 9”x13” cake to resemble an airport runway. First reserve 1/4 cup of white frosting and tint it sky blue. Use this to frost just the top corner of the cake. Then cover the rest of the cake with white frosting. Create a runway across the cake using chocolate sprinkles (or crushed chocolate cookies), and add green sugar on either side to resemble grass. Set a toy airplane on the runway. Use whipped cream to create several clouds on top of the blue frosting, and gently lay another toy airplane on them. This plane will appear to be flying in the clouds!
  
  3. Make or purchase cupcakes in any flavor, and create sky blue icing by adding blue food coloring to a can of white frosting. Frost the cupcakes, and place a clean toy airplane on each.