Birthday Parties - SavvyMom

Party Game: Donut Eating on a String

Jan Scott — Sat, 18 Oct 2025 15:37:00 +0000

When it comes to cheap and cheerful party games and treats, almost nothing can top the classic Donut Eating on a String. In my family, it’s a huge part of our celebrations, as the twelve cousins lined up to be the first to successfully devour a donut without using their hands. It was hard for anyone to beat my son when he was 15 with his Titanic-sized teenage appetite! It’s a tradition, and one that all of the kids look forward to more than anything else. And it’s an excellent party game for any celebration or birthday, regardless of the party theme.

To put it together you’ll need three items: donut (one per participant), rope, and ribbon. Tie a length of rope between two trees and ask the kids to line up underneath it. Tie pieces of ribbon to the donuts and then to the rope, hanging them slightly above the kids’ mouth level. Let the children know that on the count of three they are to begin eating their donut without using their hands AND without letting it fall off the ribbon. The first to finish is the winner, and the prize is the eaten donut.

For fall, I usually pick up plain or pumpkin spice donuts, but it’s also fun to get powdered sugar covered ones because it leaves little faces coated in a sweet and sticky mess that looks adorable in photos. To make your donuts match a specific theme, choose sprinkled covered donuts, or drizzle some coloured icing over the donuts yourself before hanging them between the trees.

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7 Interesting Birthday Traditions from Around the World

Jan Scott — Sat, 13 Sep 2025 17:15:09 +0000

World sporting events like the Olympics or the World Cup is a great opportunity to learn a lot about other cultures and countries around the world. Many of the athletes celebrate birthdays while competing and it’s interesting to learn a little about international birthday traditions. I did some research on my own and found some fascinating facts about how birthdays are celebrated around the world.

7 Interesting Birthday Traditions from Around the World

Russia

In Russia, children receive birthday presents from their teacher and classmates. Also, pie is more popular than cake when it comes to the celebration confection.

Australia

In Australia, it’s customary for the birthday child to feast on fairy bread, a sweet snack of buttered bread topped with coloured sprinkles.

Brazil

In Brazil, homes are decorated with brightly coloured paper flowers and the family members pull the earlobes of the birthday child as many times as needed to represent each year being celebrated.

Germany

German children get to skip homework and chores on their birthday, and the dining table is decorated with a wooden wreath fitted with candles, which are lit each year until the child turns 12.

Denmark

In Denmark, presents are placed at the end of a child’s bed so they can see them as soon as they wake in the morning. Also, a flag is flown outside the house to indicate someone inside is celebrating a birthday.

Israel

In Israel, the birthday child wears a crown made from leaves and/or flowers, and sits in a chair decorated with streamers while guests dance around the chair singing.

China

In China, the sixth birthday is cause for a big celebration, and it’s considered bad luck to give someone a clock/watch for their birthday. Also, people believe that tigers protect children so family members bring gifts of clothing or toys decorated with tigers. When a Chinese girl or boy turns one year-old, an assortment of objects and toys are placed on the floor around the child, and according to ancient beliefs, the object that the child chooses to play with is a symbol foreshadowing the profession he or she will pursue in life.

Do you have any unusual birthday traditions in your family? Does anyone remember birthday ‘spankings’, and does that ritual still exist?

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7 Brilliant Hacks to Bump Up Your Boxed Cake Mix

Jan Scott — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 17:04:00 +0000

I know plenty of moms who love baking, but they don’t always have time to make something from scratch. When this happens they usually turn to a trusted boxed cake mix to help them along.

I’ve done the same thing periodically over the years, and have collected some brilliant hacks to make a boxed cake mix taste even better. Here are seven simple things you can do to make your birthday cakes taste like they came from an artisan bakery…

7 Clever Hacks for Boxed Cake Mixes

Use melted butter in place of neutral-flavoured vegetable oil for a better tasting cake.
Substitute a flavoured liquid for the required water. Coconut milk adds a surprisingly decadent taste, but regular milk will work just as well.
For chocolate cake, use boiling water (same amount as the box recipe calls for) and add ½ teaspoon espresso powder for a deeper, richer, chocolate-ier taste.
Feel free to include add-ins. Chopped chocolate, toasted nuts, shredded coconut, a handful of sprinkles, and/or dried fruit will add something extra special to your cake.
Make a homemade frosting. It’s quick to whip up and adds a gourmet flavour to boxed cake mix.
Add an extra egg for a richer flavour and extra height.

Bonus Boxed Cake Hack:

Do you need cookies but not a cake? No problem. Simply turn your boxed cake mix into cookies using the same ingredients required to bake a cake (plus a few add-ins). This recipe is a great starting point, but feel free to experiment with other flavour combinations.

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3 Fall-Inspired Birthday Party Ideas

Jan Scott — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 21:42:05 +0000

I received the following text from a friend last week:

‘Thinking of you as I plan a possible apple picking birthday party celebration with the family. Any fab ideas?’

It absolutely tickles me that when she’s in party planning mode she sends me notes like this. I have lots of ideas for fall birthdays, despite not having any children born in the months between September and December, and think the natural backdrop of an apple orchard or pumpkin patch is the perfect setting for an autumn birthday celebration.

Here is what I suggested to her for the party, plus two other ideas for the season that are as sweet as they are simple…

3 Fall-Inspired Birthday Party Ideas:

Apple Picking Party

Invite party guests to meet you at a local orchard. Most have birthday party set ups or can reserve spots for group meals.
Pick apples for the first 30-60 minutes, then set up a buffet of soup (take in thermoses) and sandwiches.
Cover tables in red and white gingham tablecloths and use squares of burlap for napkins.
Cut some of the apples you’ve picked and serve them with caramel sauce for dipping.
Purchase fresh cider and apple fritters (most orchards sell both) and stack the sweets on a serving platter to create a donut birthday cake.

Little Pumpkin Picnic Party

Invite party guests to meet you at a local pumpkin patch.
Try to find a place that has corn mazes and hay bales for climbing—these can be the party activities.
The natural backdrop of a pumpkin patch provides plenty of photo opportunities (haystacks, corn stalks and pumpkins) so be sure to take lots of pictures.
Cover picnic tables with a kraft paper tablecloth and use squares of burlap or plaid fabric for napkins.
Serve simple sandwiches cut into pumpkin shapes with a cookie cutter.
Make a pumpkin-shaped birthday cake (DIY to come!)
Find a large grassy area and use pumpkins to make the shape of the age that the birthday boy or girl is turning. Get the child to lie on grass beside the number and take a photo.

Harvest (Thanksgiving) Themed Birthday Party

Make cute gourd place settings
Serve tiny turkey sandwiches in disposable berry baskets
Make a fun apple + gumdrop turkey (DIY to come!)
Serve apple cider in rustic melamine mugs (for the adults)
Decorate the party space with mini pumpkin, squash, and gourds
Rake leaves into a pile for some leaf jumping fun
Let older kids in attendance (siblings, cousins) bob for apples
Set up a sweets table with an assortment of fall treats like mini pumpkin and apple pies.

Are you planning any fall parties this year? I’d love to hear all about them!

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Easy Toddler Party Theme: Colour, Colour, and More Colour

Jan Scott — Sun, 17 Aug 2025 23:21:11 +0000

When celebrating my toddler’s birthday, my plan was to make this (and every!) toddler party as simple as possible. When someone I know would ask me about the party theme was I stumbled over my words a little… because truth be told there really isn’t a theme. In the middle of February, with more grey days than one can count, my only thought about decorations and cake is to make both as colourful as possible. When I told my friend that we were just going to have a colourful party instead of one: with a specific theme, she broke into a huge grin and said she thought that was a fabulous idea. Phew.

Even without having the entire thing planned out, I know I want to buy as little as possible for this party and I want to use as many leftover decorations and craft items as possible.

Here’s the plan…

Easy Toddler Party Theme: Colour!!

For the decorations:

A proper paper chain garland: Do you remember the ones we used to make in elementary school? I picked up a pack of colourful cardstock and plan on making a long paper chains to hang in rows around the dining room.

I’m repurposing the coloured heart banner I hung from the mantle for Valentine’s Day. With a birthday close to that special day, I feel that it’s okay to keep the hearts around for a few more days.

An oversized gold number balloon: This is one of my go-to party décor items, and I hope to get a picture each year with my son holding his number balloon at his party.

Like I do for most of my parties, I’ll cover my dining table in Kraft paper and give the kids crayons to keep them occupied while they’re eating. If doesn’t end up with too many milk spills and pasta stains I’ll fold it keep it tucked away in his baby box.

For the cake:

I’m baking blogging superstar Molly Yeh’s funfetti cake. I bought a large polka-dotted candle for the top of the cake and will cover the outside in Sweetapolita’s sprinkles.

I’ve also made up some white chocolate-dipped funfetti biscotti, and am thinking a colourful fruit platter for dessert and homemade marshmallows are also in order. We’ll see how far I get!

The Main Meal:

I’m planning the same thing that I did last year: three different kinds of baked pasta dishes with killer garlic bread and a green salad. So simple and definitely crowd-pleasing.

I don’t spend a lot of time on loot bags, so I’m sending the cousins home with boxes of Smarties and glow bracelets. Both are cheap and cheerful—not to mention colourful!—and won’t create too much waste at home.

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