Race Car Themed Birthday-Growing up TWO fast!

Racers, start your engines! In May we celebrated Hudson’s 2nd birthday! We had an absolute blast and everything came together nicely! The theme for his birthday was Hudson’s Growing Up TWO Fast! Instead of having a generic race car theme, I opted in for a vintage style derby car party! This enabled me to use a pastel/vintage color scheme to match the vibe I was aiming for!

This party was full of child friendly activities all centered around race cars! Each activity was perfect for the toddler age group! Our food was festive and matched what you would get if you were at a car race! The party decorations were zoomin’ from the front door all, hallway, and backyard.

Got a birthday party to plan! Here are the details from Hudson’s party to keep you up to speed! Planning this type of party doesn’t have to be difficult and I would hate for you to run out of gas! Trust me, with the help of all these details, you’ll be first to the finish line in no time!

Vintage Race Car Party Details

Decorations, signs, and party favors
Race Car Toddler Activities
Race Car Themed Food, Beverages, and Desserts

Decorations, Signs, and Party Favors

Decorations was the hardest task of all! With an energetic toddler speeding through the house going 65 mph with a mama that’s in her 2nd trimester with twins, I was running on EMPTY!

I started slowly making decorations for the house a couple months in advance and hid them from my little racer in the closet. In order to create the perfect vintage race car to cut and print for all my party needs, I purchased an SVG clip art off of Etsy. This was awesome because I was able to apply this graphic to my invitations, signs, decorations, and the birthday boy’s shirt.

Vintage Race Car SVG File

I wanted to stick to the theme from start to finish. I created the same design and layout for all the invites, signs, and thank you cards to match using the FREE version of CANVA. All I had to do was upload the SVG file of the race car and I was able to create my own designs. This was simple, fun, and quick. All I had to do was take my designs to Staples to print.

When it comes to party favors, I wanted to be intentional with my purchases. I personally, prefer not to give children candy to take home since they are already gassed up and ready to race! I had a couple ideas of different party favors for the kids to take home, but I decided to get checkered sunglasses since it was a beautiful sunny day in May!

Here are some the decor and party favors I used for a race car themed party.

Race Car Toddler Activities

Keepin’ the little racers busy was a task I did not take lightly! I invited approximately 17 children in a variety of age groups (newborn/ toddler/ child). I wanted there to be plenty of options available for boys and girls to enjoy together or independently. I created themes for my living room and front room and incorporated activities that were safe for the infants and toddlers. I had play mats and bouncers available to give parents the opportunity to put their children down if necessary as well as a pack n play and sound machine ready in case one little racer needed a quick snooze. I set the front room and living room up into a Pit Stop Room and a Zoom Room.

Pit Stop Room

The Pit Stop Room had a giant race track going down the hall with small cars like Hot Wheels and wooden cars for kids to play with. In the center of the room I had a couch for parents to sit and watch their kids while they enjoyed playing in the ball pit. If you do not have a ball pit, I HIGHLY recommend getting one! This FOLDABLE BALL PIT can fit up up to 3-4 kids inside and is so easy to fold up and put away.

The ball pit itself isn’t expensive, but purchasing the balls is more of an investment. I personally, wanted to get extra balls to be able to refill when some get crushed or broken so I splurged and purchased the 1000 BAG of Plastic Pastel Colored Balls. It also comes with a storage bag if you choose to put the pit away. I was able to fill the ball pit and have plenty of extra for future parties or play dates.

Zoom Room

The Zoom Room was the perfect place for little racers to grab a car and race on a play mat track. This was a great area for newborns or toddlers to have their own little space away from the loud Pit Stop Room or high energy levels outside. The Toddler Racing PlayMat was a huge hit!

Outdoor activities

In our backyard, I had a small Little Tikes Slide, Car Painting Tables, and an Inclined Speed Track for the toddlers and older children to play with. I bought some washable paint and put it into small paint trays with a variety of brushes available. Racers were able to choose a car and paint it. After letting their cars dry, many of them would race the cars down the track my dad built for Hudson. The painting idea was such a family favorite. It kept the kids busy and also acted as another goody bag item for them to take home.

Race Car Themed Food, Beverages, and Desserts

I wanted to stick to the theme as much as possible while maintaining a low cost on food, drinks, and desserts. Beverages were simple and easy! I got a large container and Country Time lemonade mix which we called “AntiFreeze”. There was some fresh fruit on the side for people to add. My husband barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers we called them “Speedy Dogs” and “Flat Tires”. For snacks and appetizers we had chips and dip which were “Nuts & Bolts”, fruit and veggie kabobs, “Traffic Lights”.

Hudson has never been a fan of cake so I had a local bake shop make a variety of treats. We had themed decorated sugar cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, and I purchased some circular shaped ice cream sandwiches which we called “Spare Tires”. I used my printer and Cricut to make labels for each food item on the table. Everything went along with the Race Car theme nicely and didn’t put a dent in our wallets!

Party Planning Tips

While your fueling up to get yourself ready for this speedin’ party, keep this in mind- IT’S JUST A PARTY Your child will love anything you do and I promise they will not notice if something is missing! My best advice- START EARLY! By buying little things here and there a couple months in advance, I wasn’t waiting till the last minute. You got this Mama! READY, SET, GO!

Race Car Themed Birthday-Growing up TWO fast!