Out of all the themed birthday parties we did over the years, one of the most original and interesting was a Cops and Robbers themed party! We had so much fun gathering costumes from thrift shops and yard sales. One of the costumes was a gangster outfit. Another was a policeman costume. We also had a prison outfit. We made a jail out of a large cardboard box painted black, with bars across a window.
We also created cardboard cars for the car chase. We used computer paper boxes, and we painted one of them green. The other one we wrapped in black butcher paper that I had left over from another project. The top was cut off completely, and the bottom had a circle hole for the kids to fit over their bodies. we hot glued a makeshift steering wheel by placing a Pringles can first against the box, and then attaching a Wii steering wheel to the Pringles can that was hot glued to the front of the box car.
We decorated the dining room with silver and black helium balloons, which we tied to the back of each chair, along with a Happy Birthday sign.
We made a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting with sprinkles. Then we created a white frosting star in the middle of the festive cake, adding small marshmallows to the ends of each of the points of the star. Finally, we added a sherrif badge to the middle. We got a package of sheriff badges from a local party store.
We placed a black sheet over the table and sprinkled silver stars over the cloth, along with the remaining sheriff badges. We also had various other snacks.
After cake and presents, the kids went downstairs to play cops and robbers with their costumes, cardboard cars, cardboard jail, and secret hideout in a closet under the stairs. The kids chased each other for hours and had a great time.
We attached a piece of cardboard painted with chalkboard paint against the wall of the secret hideout under the stairs, to write with chalk all the secret plans. I was inspired with this unique idea from the Wile E Coyote cartoons that I watched when I was a child.
The kids had a hilarious time with this Cops and Robbers themed party!
For more themed birthday ideas we’ve done over the years, check out our 31 Days of Themed Cakes.
