In 1st Grade, Kayla was obsessed with Pokémon, those loveable pocket monsters that are at the center of a video game empire.

Naturally, she decided to have a Pokémon theme for  her 7th birthday. 

We turned her party into a Pokémon Challenge where each child was a “trainer” who went on a journey to earn badges.

7 Year Old Birthday - Pokémon Party

It’s a popular theme, so I found lots of ideas for activities and decorations online.

Before The Party:

We set up Badge Challenge Activity Centers throughout the house.

At the entrance, each child picked up a collection bag (paper lunch bag) and selected a companion Pokémon (sticker.)  They also received a Poké Ball.  Nowadays, you can pick these up at toy stores, but I made ours by painting a white foam ball.

Since I hadn’t heard about the Pokémon Badge Master, we made our own badges.  We downloaded clip art images onto white cardstock, cut it to size, and inserted it into pin-on badge holders.

Badge Challenges:

I wanted to keep the party non-competitive, so each child earned a badge just by completing an activity.  This put the focus on having fun, not on winning.

Boulder Badge - I filled a clear, plastic jar with gravel and asked the kids to guess how many “boulders” were in there.  Some of the children came up with complicated formulas for guessing the number, and I never revealed the fact that we didn’t really know the answer.

Cascade Badge - Kids earned this badge by pinning the tail on Marill, a water-type Pokémon with a black lightning bolt tail.  We drew Marill on poster board and cut out tails from construction paper.

Thunder Badge - Kids were asked to name as many Pokémon as they could.

Rainbow Badge - We set up our rainbow school parachute outside, and let the kids play catch with the matching balls.

Volcano Badge - We used a squeeze bottle filled with red food colored water to play a game where kids had to freeze when the “volcano” erupted.  Of course, I was the “volcano” since I couldn’t trust anyone else not to splatter the clothes.

Earth Badge - The kids sat in a circle holding the presents and listening to the Pokémon CD.  When the music stopped, Kayla opened the present in her hands.  All the kids (and parents)enjoyed this twist on the usual gift opening frenzy.

Piñata:

As always, our birthday party concluded with cracking open the piñata. 

This was a little more traumatic than usual since the piñata was an adorable Pikachu. 

After they dislodged the treats, Kayla insisted on reassembling her beloved Pokémon.

More Birthday Party Articles:

Learn more about our party traditions on Birthday Celebrations.

Baby Parties: Baby To Preschool.

4th Birthday: Ariel’s Caribbean Luau and our  Piñata Tradition.

5th Birthday: A Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.

6th Birthday: The Art Party.

7th Birthday: A Pokémon Party.

8th Birthday: A Harry Potter Party.

9th Birthday: Tween Spa Party.

10th Birthday: Chocolate Dreams Slumber Party.

11th Birthday: The Last Dance Tween Disco Party.

12th Birthday:  A Girl-Led Tween Roller Skating Party.

If you would like to receive free articles from On Living By Learning by email, click this link.  You can also click here to receive updates on a RSS Feed Reader.