Magic Tree House Party {Bookish Birthdays with PRINTABLE}

I’ve thrown some fun bookish birthday parties in my kids’ short lives, but this Magic Tree House party is one of my favorites! When my 7 year old requested a MTH theme, my mind started working right away! There are so many fun themes to run with!

Inspired by 6 books, we chose to arrange our party around 6 “missions.” The materials were all items I had around the house with the exception of black cupcake liners and some plastic dinos that I purchased at the dollar store for our Dino Egg favors. More on that in a minute!

I created rhymes like Morgan leaves for Jack & Annie to solve on their missions, and I tucked those inside the book it paired with. I put those into oversized envelopes. If you’d like a printable of the mission clues, you can find one in PDF here!

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Mission 1: we started with an active game– create a toilet paper mummy based on Mummies in the Morning! In two teams, the kids were challenged to mummify one of their friends by wrapping them in tp. It was harder than they expected as they found the paper tearing easily! We didn’t make this a competition, but I could easily see how you could by adding a timed element or racing to finish the entire roll.

Mission 2: a slightly calmer game– play “sleeping lions” based on Lions at Lunchtime.  One child is the “poacher” and his/her job is to wake the sleeping lions by making them laugh. They cannot touch any of the lions. When a lion makes a sound, they can join the poachers until only one lion remains who is the winner! Predictably, the toilet paper that was still laying on the ground assisted in this task 😉

Mission 3: active construction fun– create obstacle courses based on Night of the Ninjas! I split the kids into two groups and had one group create a giant obstacle course in our basement while the other group created one in our living room. (For a warmer weather party, I definitely would have used the ninja warrior kit we got for Christmas this year, along with our slackline that we got last year!) We used all of the normal fort-building supplies we have around the house (cushions, pillows), a mini trampoline, Rody bouncing horse, balance board, a foam roller, and giant waffle blocks.

The second group used smaller blocks to create a maze and used a mini air pump (the kind you’d use for inflating balloons- we found ours in the party aisle at Target) to propel a ping pong ball around the maze.

After they finished their creations, the kids challenged the other group to complete their courses, and then they swapped places. Note: many of the items I used for the obstacle course are on my post Getting Energy Out When Indoors (we use these allll the time!)

Mission 4: craft time– constellation viewer made from a toilet paper roll (insert a flashlight and you’re set!) based on Midnight on the Moon. I set out a spread for kids to decorate with markers and construction paper, then they poked holes in a black cupcake liner and attached to the top with a rubber band. (We poked holes with an embroidery needle.) Some kids recreated constellations like ursa minor, and others created designs (there were a spectacular horse and also a sword created by a super artistic family!).

Mission 5: cake! This was based around Thanksgiving on Thursday with the idea to “feast”… but I forgot to get that book checked out from the library! No one seemed to mind 😉

Mission 6: a mission for the road– favors: Dino eggs based on Dinosaurs Before Dark! I created baking soda dinosaur eggs. Here’s the recipe I used (but I did not use food coloring. Instead I dripped paint onto them in splotches for a more “realistic”(?) egg! lol) My kids loved pouring vinegar on them and watching them fizz! Mini dinosaurs from the dollar store were found inside.

I think everyone had a magical time! Have you planned a bookish party?? I’d love to hear! Connect with me in the comments or on my Instagram or Facebook accounts!

If you’re looking for the 6 FREE PRINTABLE mission tags, you can access the PDF here.  Have fun!