My son wanted a Volcano Lava themed birthday party for his 7th birthday so...we did our best to give it to him...I made a volcano out of a garden tomato tree and wrapped paper around it to look like a mountain, then spray painted it with dark brown spray paint and added orange paint for lava.
Tomato tree: $.69, painters paper: $2.00, spray paint: $1.20
Tomato tree: $.69, painters paper: $2.00, spray paint: $1.20
The coolest part was the dry ice we put in the top of the volcano (in a glass carafe) to look like smoke.
Dry ice: $5.00
Dry ice: $5.00
I spray painted plastic cups brown and hot glued dixie cups to the inside. I cut a hole in the bottom of the plastic cup, flipped the cup upside down & put in a tablespoon of baking soda, 4 drops of orange food coloring & 1 teaspoon of dishsoap. I then gave each child a dixie cup of vinegar to pour on top of the plastic cup. And voila! A bubbly volcano!
Plastic cups: free, had them around the house. Dixie cups: free (I borrowed some from a friend). Baking soda, vinegar, food coloring: free (had them already)
Dad came up with a few "Lava " games; Lava Tag, Volcano Obstacle Course, Hot! Lava! (just like Marco Polo), and Balance the Lava Rocks (running with spoons with cherry tomatoes on them). We also had a "Hot Pinata" for the kids.
Finally, the cake (Pioneer Woman's Best Chocolate Sheet Cake) My sister helped me figure out how to use the part of the cake I cut away and put it on top like running lava. All in all, it was a fun party. I still can't believe my sweet boy is 7!