With so many kids party themes to choose from, you can plan a party that will keep guests happy and entertained.

Boys of every age crave excitement and seek adventure. They are boisterous, rambunctious, and even mischievous. So, rather than being overwhelmed with a house full of wild, uncontrolled noise, why not let your boys use their superhero energy to save the universe, test their pirate bravery on the dangerous high seas, or harness their power for an adventurous space mission?

Choosing a theme will not only give your party direction and make planning easier, but it will allow you to create an adventure, plan an expedition, or transform your home into an unknown world of mystery and intrigue.

Safari Exploration

Take your guests on a wild trip through the jungle where they can battle tangled vines and blazing sun while tracking untamed lions or unsuspecting elephants. Give each explorer a pith helmet, binoculars, canteen, and even a butterfly net. Decorate your venue with green streamers, ferns, rubber snakes, spiders, and lots of real or artificial large plants or trees. Use stuffed animals, animal cutouts, or for a little real life adventure, give some of the boys masks and allow them to play the part of jungle beasts. For authenticity, find a cd of animal or jungle sounds to play in the background. When your animals and explorers grow hungry, have them stop for a rest at the "oasis" where they can munch on tropical treats and jungle delights.

Space Adventure

Invite your little astronauts aboard your spaceship with invitations written on plastic rockets or Mars candy bars. Create planets from Styrofoam balls, hang glow in the dark stars around the room, and add to the outer space look with lots of black and silver helium balloons. Have your guests paint moon rocks or design spaceships, awarding prizes for the most creative. Play a game of glow-in-the-dark Frisbee and then float on over to the space station where the hungry boys can snack on neon space punch and authentic astronaut food. Add a little alien mystery by having guests dress as creatures from other planets and see who can correctly guess everyone's homeland.

Superhero Convention

What boy doesn't want to be a hero for a day? For the invitation, use a picture of the guest of honor wearing the costume of his favorite superhero, or send each guest a card of a different superhero, asking them to attend the party dressed as their designated character. As a unique twist, have each boy create and name his own superhero. Make table coverings from comic book pages or comic strips, tie large capes around chairs and mini capes around water and soda bottles. Paint rocks kryptonite green and send your boys on a 'save Superman' adventure, or host superhero races, tug-of-war competitions, and strength testing arm wrestling contests. Allow guests to create their own comic strips or film a superhero movie.

Pirate Cove

Begin the anticipation with a treasure map invitation in a bottle so the boys have plenty of time to brush up on their pirating skills. Give each buccaneer an eye patch, telescope, and even a pirate hook. Decorate with jolly roger flags, pirate balloons, skeletons, skulls, and treasure chests filled with chocolate gold coins and trinkets. Serve food in small treasure chests, have a treasure hunt, or play capture the flag. If you can find several large boxes, have your pirates design their own ship and award a prize to the best builder.

Go West Cowboy

Take a trip back in time to the wild, wild west, where a man survived by his brawn, his strength, and his sharp shooting ability. Create wanted posters or attach invites to metal sheriff badges. Hang ropes, horse pictures, cactus cutouts, and if possible, shutter doors at the entrance. Add a few bales of hay and cover tables with red and white checkered tablecloths. Play horseshoes, rent a horse or pony, and have a roping contest or tin can shoot out using squirt guns. Of course, no cowboy adventure would be complete without a campfire and some authentic trail food such as beans and hotdogs.

Sports Camp

Invite guests to the ultimate competition where they can test their sports skills and prove that they are worthy of the championship trophy. Wrap the party particulars around a bottle of Gatorade or a Powerbar, or write the invitation on a baseball, mini bat, small sponge football, or mini basketball. Decorate with team pennants, sports posters, and jerseys. Serve food in helmets or caps, and use trading cards as prizes. Have all the guests sign balls or pennants so each boy can take a special memento home. A simple green tablecloth can be transformed into a football field, food stations can be set up at home plate, and bushel baskets can be used to create interesting basketball variations. Teams of the boys' chosen sport can compete against each other, accumulating points for the post season triumph.

Great parties begin with great kids party themes, so choose an idea that your boys will love and let the planning begin!