My kids and their friends love Nerf®. I'm forever stepping on bullets around our house or fielding requests for the latest Nerf gun! A Nerf-inspired party is the perfect theme for boys and girls of almost any age. You'll love how easy it is to pull together this camouflage-covered Nerf celebration for your little soldiers. Split them into teams, get them to gear up and send them off to a battlefield. You will be right on target with this EPIC Nerf® Wars party! Be sure to download the FREE Nerf Party Bottle Labels here.
Set the Scene
If you have an open space or access to a local park, set up your own mess hall and Nerf® battlegrounds. This will give the kids plenty of room to run around and create a "base" for each team. Remember no shooting from base!
I set the scene by putting up both a Medium and Large Green & Brown Camo Net over the trees outside our house. I also hung some parachutes I found at a local surplus store from a tree to complete the look.
The Mess Hall
Soldiers get hungry! Feed them in the mess hall. I created a Mess Hall sign by painting 2 DIY Unfinished Wood Large Rustic Signs army green and attaching them together with clamps and camo duct tape. The letters are made with a classic military lettering stencil and white paint.
To get a rough and ready look for the table I used a wood pallet which sits on top of a wooden reel. I found these at a local junkyard. Underneath this makeshift table I laid down a camo tarp. On top of the pallet, I used a Nerf® Plastic Tablecloth.
Get Your Grub On!
When it comes to feeding the troops have a little fun! I created place mats using DIY Wood Plank Signs. I spray painted them army green and used my army stencil to spell out GRUB down the side. The kids could use these as trays to collect their food. The tray is set with a Camouflage Paper Dinner Plate, Nerf® Round Paper Dessert Plate, Nerf® Party Plastic Cup, Nerf® Beverage Napkins and green cutlery.
Layer the Nerf products with camo to get the military look.
Download FREE bottle labels for "Battle Hydration" and a "Power Boost" HERE.
For dessert, nothing beats the classics! These Nerf bullet inspired treat pops come in jello or a traditional cake version.
The kids loved popping these out and eating them! Find out how to make this super simple and fun themed dessert HERE.
I used another wooden reel to display this fabulous Nerf & camo cake.
I decided to label my dessert table with "CAKE" using the army stencil.
Gear Up!
Before going into battle, the kids geared up with fun mission kits I created. Find out how to make your own DIY Nerf® Battle Vest & Mission Kit HERE.
I displayed the mission kits on some old shelves we had in our garage. They were truly rough and ready for action!
The signage was made using another DIY Wood Plank Sign. Grab the free printable by clicking over to the DIY Nerf Battle Vest & Mission Kit.
The birthday boy got his own Personalized Camouflage Duffle Bag for his kit.
They looked super cute all geared up!
Stock The Armory
Peg board makes a super cost-effective way to display your Nerf guns. It is also light enough to move around and easy to expand in size by zip tying multiple pieces together. I sprayed the peg board an olive green and used the army lettering stencil to write "ARMORY". I then leaned it against our tree line with Camouflage Plastic Tablecloths as a backing. The Rules of War signage is FREE download too! Get it on the DIY Nerf Target Range project page.
DIY Large Silver Tin Pails make great buckets for ammo. The kids can pick these up and take them to their own base or use this site as a reload station.
Pick up peg board hooks from your local hardware store to hang the Nerf guns in the armory.
Mission is a GO!
Once they are geared up and armed, send guests off on their mission. There are so many options that don't involve shooting at each other. Scope out base and capture the flag are just a few ideas!
You could also set up sniper stations to score points on a DIY target range.
Get all the DIY instructions for setting up this points-based target range HERE.
The kids loved practicing their sharp shooting on this DIY range.
But they had to watch out for invading forces...like a sister crashing the party!