Heidi from SquigglePOP parties threw an amazing Chuggington themed bash for her sons 3rd birthday.
Venue: Silverstream Railway.
Party favors contained: Train Whistle, Train bath toy, Train Stickers, Train flashing keyring & Multicoloured mini lollipop.
Food Train:        Coal Car    -              Black Coco Pop treats  
                           Produce Car       -     Fresh fruit / Veges
                           Log Car                 -  Strip Chips / Chocolate covered finger  biscuits
                           Livestock Car      -    Animal Biscuits /  Crackers
                           Feed Car              -   Popcorn


Other food:
Train Cookies
Tiny  Teddy Liquorices Trains
Candy Apple Bites
Train  Wheel Chippies

Decorations

1.)    Welcome to (Child’s name) Train Station, Est. (Year of Birth)  with the Birthday conductors photo to mark the entrance of the party. A sign directing the passengers to Track # ( your Child's age).
2.)    White paper spelling out “Welcome to (Childs’s name) Station # (Childs Age)” and cut it out into the puffs of smoke. Also use the same method to do his name under the Happy Birthday sign in the food area.
3.)    Use black bags to make train tracks to your front door and potentially through the house to the party.
4.)    Use some chalk on the road to draw a train and two huge XXs to indicate a Train Crossing.
5.)    Red, Blue and Yellow balloons with helium and / or on sticks as well as streamers.
6.)    Take an old piece of wood / cardboard and created a sign that stated “Child’s Station #3(His age)"
7.)    Your son should wear the bought Thomas Tank Engine outfit already.
8.)    Take some of your son's toy Thomas the Tank Engine trains and Use them for decoration. Set them in the centre of the table.
9.)    If you have a moving train set, set it up to run for the duration of the party in a place that the kids can’t play with it, but can hear or see it. Try getting the train toys from the playgroups, toy library etc.
10.) If you can find a train clock bell hour chime it with the sound of the train for that hour.
11.) Mat time with Thomas Tank Engine story time just before you eat.

Themed Food - The “Dining Car” could serve the following:

Children
1.)    Fairy Bread cut with a train shaped cookie cutter
2.)    Fruit Sticks on Kebab sticks
3.)    Pop Corn in coloured cone papers with Thomas stickers
4.)    Cherios & Tomato Sauce
5.)    Traffic Light Ice Lollies
6.)    Cake. Don’t forget the little wooden train set around the cake for good display purposes. I can highly recommend bright colours for the cake otherwise it does not make a huge impression no matter how beautiful it is. Kids love colour!
7.)    Name all you food and make small handmade signs like:- You could have hot dogs(“Toot-Toot Dogs”), BBQ pork burgers(Choo-Choo Burgers”), chips(Chugga-Chugga Chips), juice(Conductor Power Juice / Train Oil).
8.) You can take the tinsel dishes and create a “Train with a toy caboose” by just making the wheels from cardboard and then you could put all the food in the carts.  This food is for the children and can be picked up and put on the kids tables.

Adults
1.)    Veggies, Rice Crackers & Humus for Dip
2.)    Sausage Rolls
3.)    Cherios & Tomato Sauce
4.)    Peanuts and Raisins
5.)    Baguette with Balsamic Vinegar, Olive Oil and Dukkah
6.)    Carrot Cake

Drinks

1.) Blue Fizz / Juice : Place a small amount of blue food colouring to the bottle of  Lemonade or clear juice before pouring.

Favours

1.)    You could use the loot bags if they are included in the Thomas Tank engine pack or you could get more creative by using brown paper bags, Thomas stickers and some colourful whistles hanging on the outside of the bags. You can make little stickers with the word “FRAGILE – Handle with care” on it just to round it off.
2.)    Thomas and Friends colouring-in book that you can download from the net.
3.)    Sweets

Games

1.)    Follow the Locomotive: Line up the kids with the birthday child at the head of the train. Turn on some fun music and have the birthday child lead the "train of people" by making creative moves that everyone must follow (e.g., jumping, hopping, skipping, spinning, rolling on the ground, waving arms and any other fun gestures).

2.)    Train Wheel Necklaces: Dye pasta wheels black, blue and red by dipping in liquid dye or rubbing around the dye paste. Spread bowls of coloured pasta wheels in front of the children. Hand guests a string and help them as they make their own train wheel necklaces.

3.)   Hot Thomas the Tank: Gather children in a circle. Hand them the train car and turn on the music. They are to pass the train car around quickly until the music stops. The person holding the train car when the music stops goes out of the game. Explain before starting the game that throwing the train car is an automatic out. Award a series of prizes, such as stickers for eliminated players, so everyone feels included.

Contact Heidi at SquigglePOP on 04 237-9435.

Every little boy (and some girls) go through a train faze and who is everyone's favourite? Thomas! So here are 5 ideas to get your planning started:
1)      Snack train! Put chocolate squares in the coal car, cheese cubes in the cargo car, pretzel sticks in the log cars, and animal crackers in the zoo cars
2)      Use train tickets as invites and clip the ticket at the door.
3)      Decorate your table and home using Thomas' colors of blue, white and red.
4)      Use black masking tape to create train tracks up your path to the door, around the house and on the tables.
5)      Give out an engineers hat and train whistle as favors

Don't forget to check out our Thomas Tin.