Celebrating A Birthday At Steel Pier?

10 GREAT BIRTHDAY IDEAS

Going to be at Steel Pier 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!

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.

Plan a fun scavenger hunt throughout the day at Steel Pier. 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 Steel Pier - a package for them to open once there filled with all kinds of puzzles and things to do! CLICK HERE to learn more!

This is a great game to play for a larger group (4+). Ahead of time, prepare a list of fun tasks to do at Steel Pier 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 Steel Pier) 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.

This activity is typically best with family (or friends they've known for a very, very long time) and although it might take some coordinating, it can have a great impact on the birthday boy/girl. Divide up the years among everyone going to Steel Pier with the birthday boy/girl. For example, if he/she is turning 14, then divide up the years 1-14 among everyone. The goal is to have a unique story to share about each year in his/her life that can be shared with everyone throughout the day. For those that are older, it's ok to skip every few years for the sake of capturing their whole life span. Make sure the stories are told in order. This also works especially well when you focus on their achievements throughout his/her life!

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 Steel Pier. 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.)

Before you even leave for your day at Steel Pier, decorate the INSIDE of your car with streamers and balloons (of course, being sure to not obstruct the view of the driver.) This will get the excitement going for the day ahead before you even get there!

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 Steel Pier. 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.

Bring a bunch of small cake candles with you to Steel Pier 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.

If you'd like to give them a gift for them to open AT Steel Pier, consider putting it in a locker first and then wrapping up the key to the locker in a little gift bag. This way you won't have to carry around the gift all day and it's always fun and mysterious to get a 'secret key' as a gift! This also works especially well if you're planning a treasure hunt or scavenger hunt inside Steel Pier.