Every little boy loves Monster Trucks! Here are a few tips and tricks for planning a great Monster Jam Party.

The Invites: Sure, you can buy amazing invites from sites like mine, but if you have the time, are on a budget or just love to personalize your own invites, google a "free birthday invitations" website. Use the script "Its That Time of Year, So Lets Get Into Gear!" You can download some free clipart or even cut up an old Monster Truck magazine for its colour pics. I have even seen Tire and Truck shapes cut from black construction paper and decorated - very cool.

The Decorations: Monster Jam licensed party goods are now available in Canada but for some extra flair, and cost savings, you can decorate with black & white checkered items. Checkered tablecloths, balloons, checkered flags, pennant banners - you name it. Even some old tires - wouldn't that look neat. Put out all of your child's Monster Jam toys as decoration and even as a table Centerpiece.

The Food: Yummy Race Track snacks like popcorn, pretzels and rootbeer are a must! Nothing says Truck Rally like Hotdogs and Hamburgers! The cake can be decorated very easily by crumbing up a whole pile if oreos (or any dark cookie) and placing a large "mud hill" on your cake. Prop one of your child's plastic trucks upon the hill and voila - A Monster Jam Cake.

Games & Activities: If you are hosting an indoor party, have a few video game centers set up. Playstation, WII, PS2 and Gamecube all have games centered around 4x4 truck racing. Set up a remote contol or hotwheels racetrack for the kids to play with. Pre-cut some Monster truck shapes out of bristol board and have each child design and name their own truck. You can even continuously run a DVD of the races to add to the theme. If your hosting an outdoors party, or have room indoors, give these games a try. Tire Toss - Stack up a few old tires and have the guests attempt to toss in tennis balls at various distances for points. Digger Dash - Divide guests into 2 teams, line them up and give the first person on each team a large spoon. Put a small empty pail in front of each line and about 20 feet away place a large pail filled with dirt. On "GO", the first player races to the large pail, scoops out some dirt and races back to the fill their pail and hand off the spoon. The team who fills their pail first wins! Red Light/Green Light- Choose one player to be the Race Official and have him stand in front of one line facing forward. Eveyone else stands behind an opposite line about 30 feet apart. The game starts when the Official yells, "Green light!" and counts to five out loud as quickly as he can. The other players then walk quickly towards him. When the Race Official has counted to five, he shouts, "Red Light!" and the players must immediately stop moving. If they are caught moving, they must return to the beginning and start again. The player to first tag the official wins. Just remember to keep it simple and the activities will run smoothly - if you have time left over, just play a round of "hot potato" with a small Monster Jam Truck. The last boy left wins the toy!

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