Trash Truck Birthday Party

My nephew LOVES trash trucks, so my brother and sister-in-law put together a Trash Truck themed 3rd birthday party that was amazing!  Check out these super cute ideas...

Decor:  This is the incredible trash truck that my brother made out of boxes and paint!!  The kids loved playing in it during the party.  The front had a steering wheel and stick shift for the kids to pretend to drive (see my super cute nephew below).  The back end was filled with empty cereal boxes and other empty food items.  The kids took items out of the back and then dropped them in the top (see below).  They would flow down a ramp into the back again.  The part of the truck that normally wraps around the trash can to pick it up also would wrap around the kids if someone pulled the strings on the opposite side of truck.

Table decor is easy and inexpensive for this party -- simply newspaper! The party also had empty soda cans and water bottles littered throughout the yard to add to the trash truck theme.  My sister-in-law found these nifty grabbers as a favor for each of the kids.  They had fun using them to pick up the trash items and place them in the appropriate recycle bin.

Activities:  Picking up cans and bottles was one activity/game the kids had fun with, but there were several others. One was recycle bags that the kids colored with markers. These can be found at Oriental Trading among other stores.

Pizza box art was another activity for the kids.  You take an empty pizza box and put a piece of cardboard (your canvas) and a marble inside along with a bit of paint.  Then you shake the pizza box to create a fun splatter design.  You continue to repeat this with various colors.

Bottle cap necklaces was another activity.  The holes in the bottle caps are drilled ahead of time, so all the kids have to do is string them on.  Colored beads helped to separate the caps.

Dessert:  For dessert, my mom baked a cake with a trash truck design.  She added a cut out photo of Anthony in the driver's seat of the truck.  My sister-in-law baked trash can cupcakes.  I used this idea when I hosted my Trash to Treasure Recycling dinner.  Hers are much cuter than mine!!

It was a great party, and the kids really loved all the crafts and playing in the trash truck. Most importantly, my nephew grinned ear to ear throughout the party and had a blast!