Celebrating A Birthday At Dutch Wonderland?

10 GREAT BIRTHDAY IDEAS

Going to be at Dutch Wonderland for someone's birthday? Celebrate throughout the day with these fun ways to keep the birthday fun going!

These ideas are sponsored by the Great Dollywood Adventure Challenge - Watch the video below for details!

If the birthday boy/girl is going with a larger group (3+ people) have each person take a different time slot to give a small gift or card. In this way you won't have to plan everything - just the making sure that each person has their small gift/card with them ready for the special day at Dutch Wonderland. For the sake of remembering, it's suggested that each person take an hour on the hour time slot (I.e. one person has 1:00, the next person has 2:00, etc.)

Plan a fun scavenger hunt throughout the day at Dutch Wonderland. There are all different types of scavenger hunts to go on, each with a different format. Although for some parties having different teams compete with each other can be a lot of fun, for someone's birthday when there is one person to honor, it's typically best to have everyone on the same team - everyone gets to help the birthday boy/girl be successful…when one person wins, they all win! These can be a lot of fun to create, but can take some extra work to make creative (sometimes you'll need more than just a list to excite some teens, for example.) Consider our GREAT ADVENTURE CHALLENGE AT Dutch Wonderland - a package for them to open once there filled with all kinds of puzzles and things to do! CLICK HERE to learn more!

Pick different events that happened in the birthday boy/girl's life - events that happened somewhat close to each other. For example, different sets might include: (first tooth, crawled, sat up) or (learned ABC's, ride a bike, poured his/her own milk). This will work for adult events as well including (first girlfriend, first job, broke leg.) Everyone else there will have to guess the ORDER that the events happened. Award points as you go and determine a winner at the end of the day. This is a great activity to play while there are lulls in the fun (I.e. while standing in lines)

Gather a bunch of trivia to create questions about the actual year the birthday boy/girl was born. This could be about everything from movies, music, political leaders/current events and even the price of gas! Ask a few questions each time there is a lull in the fun (I.e. waiting in line, etc.) and keep track of who gets the most correct answers throughout the day. Give a prize at the end for the winner. The prize could be something special that they get to do WITH the birthday boy/girl!

Sing Happy Birthday in EVERY line that you wait in. You'll be surprised how often other folks don't mind joining in the song…especially in those longer lines when there's not a lot else for folks to do.

This is a great game to play for a larger group (4+). Ahead of time, prepare a list of fun tasks to do at Dutch Wonderland at write the out separately on small pieces of paper - at least enough for each person going. It's best to have someone else (who is NOT going with you to Dutch Wonderland) write them out - someone you can trust. Throughout the day, the birthday boy/girl periodically pulls one task out and reads it out loud. He/she then CHOOSES who in the group must complete the task right then. The rules are that EVERY person completes one task. The birthday boy/girl cannot look ahead at the different pieces of paper to see which ones he/she wants to assign or do for himself/herself. This can also be a great thing to do in the different lines you might wait in.

Although this can get a little pricey, it can be a lot of fun. Set out at the beginning of the day to collect a certain number of items at Dutch Wonderland. For example, if the birthday boy/girl is turning 14, then have them collect 14 buttons throughout the park. They could also collect different pressed pennies, pieces of candy (the wrappers), signatures from workers, etc.

At one point, buy a helium balloon at Dutch Wonderland. Each person there uses a Sharpie marker (that you brought with you) to write down something positive they'd like to wish for the birthday boy/girl for that coming year (or later in life.) Once everyone has had a chance to write them all down on the balloon, allow either each person to share what they wrote or allow the birthday boy/girl to read them all. Finally, let the birthday boy/girl RELEASE the helium balloon in the air and watch their dreams sail up and up - where the birthday boy/girl will 'catch up with them later'!

Bring a bunch of small cake candles with you to Dutch Wonderland and stick them in EVERY bit of food that the birthday boy/girl eats for the day - to blow out the candles each time. It will get to be a lot of fun as they blow out the candles on their birthday hot dog, birthday churro and birthday soda!

Wrap a single gift many times, preferably with different colors/types of wrapping paper and containers (though not necessary.) Give the birthday boy/girl the gift at the beginning of the day and tell them that they can unwrap ONE layer in each line that they wait in. Don't tell them how many layers there are - let them wonder if each layer will be their last! If you don't plan on going on many rides/attractions, you can also have them unwrap one layer every hour.