Race with Lightening McQueen to this Cars birthday party just for kids! This complete Cars birthday party guide has fun activites, party games, decrating tips, party supplies, and food for your guests.
To make planning a cinch, find your Cars party supplies here from Birthday in a Box.
CARS BIRTHDAY PARTY INVITATIONS
Mail out party invitations 3 - 4 weeks befor the party
Purchase these invitations from Birthday in a Box:
CARS BIRTHDAY PARTY DECORATIONS
Rev-Up the festivities by drawing a road with chalk on your driveway, or sidewalk and posting homemade road signs throughout the party area. Hang car cut-outs, posters, or calendar pictures from the ceiling and on the walls. Add checkered flags, black and white streamers etc. Use clean tires stuffed with pillows for chairs.
Cover your table with white butcher paper. Tape black construction paper down the middle to represent a road. Add yellow lines, using paint or paper. Place a car pinata or a few toy cars on the track. Fill plastic trophies or, Piston Cups, with treats and place one at each place setting.
Advanced Decorating: For those of you who "go all out" for your birthday parties, use large appliance boxes, paint and poster board to fashion Radiator Springs in your own backyard. The Cozy Cone Motel, Sarge's Surplus and Flo's V-8 Cafe will also provide a fun party activity for little ones, if you cut windows and doors.
Candy Race Cars
These edible cars make a super place setting and double as a fun party favor!
Materials:
- large packs of gum 3"x1" = car body
- snack-size candy bars = spoiler and headlights
- round hard candy or peanut butter cups = tires
- low temperature glue gun and glue sticks (adult use ONLY)
Directions: Use the glue gun to attach the tires onto the sides, spoilers off the back and and headlights on the front to the pack of gum. Position the back tire candies lower on the pack of gum, to simulate a "dragster".
Tips: The new mini candy bars no longer have silver wrappers. So we covered ours with aluminum foil to make headlights. If you don't have a low-temperature glue gun, a standard glue gun can be used, but it will melt the chocolate so be cautious.
CARS BIRTHDAY PARTY GAMES AND ACTIVITIES
When it comes time to plan your party activities, you'll want to keep your space, age of the children and amount of guests in mind. Select of few of the birthday activities listed below that will best suit your needs. Try to schedule extra help by asking friends, or responsible teens to assist you with decorating, coordinating and especially during your party.
Entrance Activities:
It's always a good idea to provide a simple activity at the beginning of your party. This helps to break the ice and entertains the children while they wait for all of the guests to arrive.
Color-a-Card
Before the party, cut a race car shape from a large piece of poster board. Provide glue, scissors, magazines car pictures, crayons or markers on the floor or table. When children arrive direct them to help make the birthday child a card. Your child can save it for a poster and you can save it for a memory.
Face Painting
Detail your party guests with face painted flames, cars, racing stripes or numbers.
Piston Cup Championship
Have your own Piston Cup Championship with wind-up cars.Before the party, mark a start and finish line with tape. Use a permanent marker to write each child's name on a wind-up car. Use a flag or cloth to start your race. Winners get a piece of candy, blue ribbons or a plastic trophy.
Guido's Pit Row Race
Can you change a tire as fast as Guido? To play this game divide the children into two or three teams. Give each team a car tire. Mark Start and Finish lines for each team and place a few cones in each team's path. The children will need to roll the tire from start to finish around the cones, back to their team and pass the tire to the next player.The next player takes his/her turn and so on until all players have had a turn. The fastest team wins!
Red Light Green Light
This traditional playground game is a simple yet perfect addition to your cars party theme. Click 
here for instructions.
Pit Stop Obstacle Course
Plan to play this only if you have the space. Use old tires, cones, chairs and boxes. Prepare the obstacle course buy creating challenges. The children are cars, and they must get through the challenge course: around tires, under tunnels (cut boxes), through cones. Let the kids run the course as many times as they want, receiving a candy or small treat every time.
Variation: Before the party fashion some cars, using cardboard boxes, poster board and paint. Cut the tops and bottoms from the boxes, so the children can step inside and hold the sides of the car while they run the course. Adding handles with pieces of clothesline, will make it easier for the players to hold their cars.Mater Tow Relay Race
This game is not recommended for younger players!
Place cones marking a start and finish line; not too far apart. If you have several children divide them into relay teams. Provide cones for each team. The first two players from each team will take the first turn. One is Mater the tow truck and the other is the car.The tow truck walks on his hands while the other player holds his feet.They go as quickly as they can to the cone and back to their teams.The next pair takes a turn. This is a simple wheel barrow race.
Who Am I?
Before the party, prepare one 3x5 card for each child using pictures of the Cars characters, or simply write the names. Attach one picture to each card. Have the children form a circle. Tape a card to each of their backs. When you say "go," players look at each others cards and give clues until every player has guessed who's on their card.
Here are some examples of clues kids can give:
- You are a Classy = Chassis (Sally)
- You like to tow-hook fish = Mater
- You can only say "pit stop" = Luigi
Luigi's Tire Bean Bag Toss
Place an old tire laying flat on the ground. Mark and "X" a reasonable distance from the tire. Provide a few bean bags for the children to take turns tossing the bean bags into the center of the tire.Ramone's House of Body Art,
The kids can make their own cars to take home as favors!
Purchase wooden cars, kid-safe paint, and paint brushes, or use with spray painted shoeboxes. Be sure to provide large shirt smocks and a protected space for painting. A large tarp on the ground will do just fine. Also provide wet-wipes for messy hands. Encourage the children to decorate their cars with racing stripes, numbers, etc.
Va-Va-Vroom Art
Materials:
- old matchbox cars
- black paper
- white and yellow paint (or any light color)
Directions: Pour paint in meat trays or cookie sheets. Place a few cars in each paint tray. Have the children "drive" the cars through the paint and then drive them onto the paper. Use a white crayon to label each picture with the artist's name. Very little paint is actually used, so that these dry quickly.
Try these party games and arts and crafts projects for more party fun.
CARS BIRTHDAY PARTY FOOD
Time for a pit stop? Party guests can fill up and re-feul on your party treats!
Flo's V-8 CafeTire Treat Cupcakes
Place a round candy (Life Savers work best) in the center of a chocolate sandwich cookie using frosting to secure the candy. Place the cookie tires on top of a frosted cupcake.
Car Sandwiches
Use a car cookie cutter, to cut simple sandwiches like P,B&J or ham and cheese. You may also choose to simply cut slices of lunch meat and cheese and served w/ crackers. Add carrot sticks, orange wedges and grapes.
Try these party cake and cupcake recipes.
