invitation

decoration

games

return gifts

cake

b'day dress

age group

party food

THE INVITATION:

Trace out Popeye's face on thermocol and use a hot knife to cut it out. Paint it or stick felt on it and write out the invitation on the back.The message could read...

OH COME ALL YE SAILORS!

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY
AND I'M HAVING A POPEYE PARTY. 
THERE'S LOADS OF FUN FOR EVERYONE.
SO ARE YOU GOING TO BE OLIVE OYL,
WIMPY OR GOOFY?
OR JUST DON YOUR BEST SAILOR SUIT. 
ALL SAILORS AHOY! 

DATE:
TIME:
PLACE:

SEE YA,
Rahul Saxena

THE DECORATIONS:

Make a poster on which you can have an anchor with two chains dropping down. On this board, you can write RAHUL'S POPEYE PARTY, and stick it up at the entrance of the hall. Or else, take a huge lifeguard ring and paint this message on it and stick it up at the entrance. 
Inside, you should fill the hall with blue and white gas balloons. Have cut outs of Popeye, Wimpy, Olive Oyl and Goofy on the four corners of the hall. (This can later be used for the games as the party progresses.)

THE ENTERTAINMENT:

POPEYE IN COMMAND-  the rules will be similar to the popular game- "The Queen of Sheba" where a leader divides the group into two teams and announces an article that is to be found somewhere in the hall. Whichever team is able to find that article first will get a few points. At the end of the game, the team with most points wins.

PASSING THE SPINACH CAN: once again, this is similar to passing the pillow/parcel. Here you should take a small can and cover it with red felt and stick green strips on it to make it look attractive. Cut strips of green crepe paper to fill the tin, so it gives you the impression of spinach. Play some music and ask the kids to sit in a circle while they pass this tin around. The person caught holding the tin when the music stops is asked to leave the game. But only after he pulls out a strip of spinach from the can and follows the instruction/punishment on it. Finally the last child left playing the game is declared the winner. 

PIN THE PIPE ON POPEYE'S MOUTH: draw Popeye on a huge chart paper and stick it to the wall. Draw a small pipe and make a cardboard cut out of it and ask the children to take turns to pin it to Popeye's mouth while they are blindfolded. The child who manages to pin it closest to Popeye's mouth is declared the winner. 

SAVE OLIVE OYL: you should have two people holding a string across the hall. Ask the children to make a line and go beneath it without touching it. Then lower the string a little so that they have to bend while going underneath it. Keep progressing towards the cut out of Olive Oyl while progressively lowering the string. This serves as a series of obstacles until they reach Olive. Whoever touches the string is asked to leave the game. The final winner is the one who is able to slide under the string when it is at its lowest level above the ground. 

FOUR CORNERS:  as you have already placed cut outs of Wimpy, Popeye, Olive Oyl and Goofy at the four corners of the room, all you need to do is play some music and ask the children to run around. When the music stops, they all have to choose any one corner to take refuge. Keep a small basket with four folded slips having the names of the four corners on it, and ask someone to pick out any one slip each time the music stops. All the children in that corner are then disqualified from the game. The winner is one that always chooses a corner that has not been disqualified until the end of the game. 

RETURN GIFTS:

1. A Popeye pencil box filled with pencils, pens, an eraser and a sharpener  to go with the theme. 
2. School bags or satchels with Popeye's face on it.
3. Popeye lunch boxes.

THE CAKE:

You can order a cake in the shape of Popeye's face or even Goofy, Wimpy or Olive Oyl. Another interesting option would be to order it in the shape of an anchor. If you are baking it at home, you could use a ring mould and shape the cake as a lifeguard's ring as it would also go very well with the sailor theme. 

THE BIRTHDAY DRESS:

A sailor suit would be best - jacket, trousers, cap and all. If the birthday child is a girl you could dress her up as Olive Oyl. Please insist that all your guests dress up according to the theme or at least come in something blue and white.

AGE GROUP OF CHILDREN:

This theme would be ideal for children in the age group of 7 - 14 years. So that they are able to fully understand and enjoy the party.

PARTY FOOD:

As we all know, Popeye loves spinach so try to incorporate a lot of greens in your food. You could go in for:
POPEYE'S IDLIS: when mixing the idli batter, add a little green chutney to it before steaming the idlis, so you get hot and healthy idlis with a greenish tinge. You can serve this with red garlic chutney to make the dish look attractive.
WIMPY'S BURGERS: as he loves Burgers, you should not miss out on this great offering and fill it with the goodness of tomato slices, lettuce, cucumber and onions.
OLIVE'S GREEN FINGERS: or your good old Hara Bhara Kababs, which are patties made out of spinach, peas and cottage cheese.
GOOFY'S CHUTNEY SANDWICHES: make the chutney out of spinach and spring onions. And don't forget to serve wafers with tomato sauce and chutney. 
KHUS SHARBAT: topped with soda is cool, refreshing and above all green to go with the theme.