Finding Nemo Birthday Party

Finding Nemo Supplies

Disney's newest movie, "Finding Nemo", has captured the attention of many young kids, including my own. Here's some great ideas for creating a birthday party with a Nemo theme.

Invitations:

For handmade invitations, why not trace a Nemo-shaped fish on construction paper and write the details on the back? Or fill a tube with goldfish crackers and hide the invitation inside? For pre-cut shapes, try your local scrapbooking store. They have die-cut machines that can cut shapes out for you.
If you like the real thing, buy invitations at Birthday Express
For decorations, think "under the sea" style. Blue balloons for bubbles, "seaweed" streamers from the ceiling, even bubble sounds played on a tape recorder add to the atmosphere.

Welcome Ideas:

Make name tags from construction paper in a fish or shark shape, and put a paper clip at the mouth of each fish. As the guests arrive, have them fish a name tag out of a fish bowl using a pole with a small magnet at the end of a string. Once they pull out their fish, write the guest's name on it and let them decorate their fish with markers.
Create a graffitti wall with butcher paper. Prepare ahead of time to draw an underwater scene with water line, rocks, seaweed. Let the kids draw fish, shells, sharks, etc. on it as they arrive. Have them sign their name or let an adult help, and this is a great poster for your child to remember his party by.
If you want another activity to do while guests trickle in, let them play with playdough and fish-themed cookie cutters.

Games:

Bruce the Shark Hide-and-Seek - Let one of the kids be "Bruce the Shark" and all of the other kids are fish who hide from Bruce while he counts to 10. Then Bruce looks for the kids, and if he tags one, that one is the next Bruce. If no one is tagged, either repeat with the same Bruce or choose another child to be it.
Catch the Bubbles - Fill water balloons with water to be bubbles. Team the guests up in groups of two who will throw the balloon to each other. The last team to pop their balloon wins!
Aquarium Obstacle Course - Our hero, Nemo, has to brave many dangers to escape the aquarium in this movie. Create an outdoor or indoor obstacle course that the kids follow to get from an "aquarium" to the finish line. Some ideas could be using a big box with the top off to be the aquarium where everyone starts. Let each child go one at a time through an obstacle course of couches, chairs, boxes, running around balls, whatever you have on hand. If you want to time them for a winner, go ahead. Otherwise, you could just have every finisher a winner! I'm sure you can think of even better ideas than this!
Catch the Fish - Throw your fishing pole in the water. Then we catch a fish and we eat it.

Activities:

If you have access to an aquarium nearby, you could take the children on a trip there to see how underwater creatures really live. Talk about Finding Nemo, and how the fish in the real aquarium were bred in captivity or rescued (so you don't upset the kids!). There are usually very helpful docents who volunteer to speak to groups at most aquariums.
If not an aquarium, what about a tropical fish store?
A fun craft to do is to make your own aquarium to take home. Gather blue hair gel (stay with me here), shells, foam sea creatures, small ziplock bags, and duct tape. Let each guest fill her baggie with whatever shells/etc she wants. Next squeeze the blue gel into the baggie to be the ocean and zip and tape it shut. Mush it around a little to mix up the goo into the shells, and you have a take home aquarium! Keep the items small and not too sharp so the bags don't break and leak.
Feel adventurous? Want to use paints at your party? Try fingerprint fish! Using each child's thumb or forefinger, turn fingerprints into fish by drawing fins and bubbles onto the painted oval. Create an under water world unique to each guest!

Food:

Of course, you HAVE to have goldfish crackers! Only, call them Nemo crackers.
For a cake, you can create a simple fish shape by cutting a 9x13 sheet cake. Or, take one of your Finding Nemo napkins down to the local bakery to have the image "painted" onto the cake. Or, for those who want something truly awe-inspiring:
Finding Nemo Aquarium Cake - Bake a 9x13 cake in any flavor. Cut out the center so that you are left with a big rectangular hole in the middle. Next, make blue jello using the Jigglers recipe. Pour this into the center of the cake, and place gummy fish (also known as Swedish fish candy) into the jello. Frost the cake edge as you like, and frost the part you removed from the center (you can serve it too). Chill the cake so that the center firms up. Serve and cut, giving guests the choice of cake, jello, or both!
Octopus Hot Dogs - After cooking the hot dogs, cut half of it into 8 lengthwise strips (or whatever you can manage) but keep them attached to the uncut half of the hot dog. You're left with an uncut "head" and cut "tentacles" on the bottom. Yum! You can put them in a bun or not.
Starfish Sandwiches - Make tuna sandwiches and cut the bread into star shapes. Easy!

Supplies:

For Finding Nemo birthday supplies, click on the link.