Thomas & Friends Party Ideas

They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight... Thomas is one of our permanent fixtures at Party Ark and has been a children's favourite since 1945. It's a strong, bold design with good accessories. The Thomas foil balloon in the shape of Thomas himself makes a great impact at a party.

You'll want to know who's who (if you don't already) - knowing the names and numbers can be really fun if each child is a character. In our experience girls don't mind being boys, but you'll have tears if you tell some poor chap he's got to be Clarabel. Anyway, they are:

Thomas the Tank Engine
Edward the Blue Engine
Henry the Green Engine
Gordon the Big Engine
James the Red Engine
Percy the Small Engine
Toby the Tram Engine
Duck the Great Western Engine
Donald and...
Douglas the Twins.

If you still need names, there are Bill and Ben (little yellow engines), Annie and Clarabel (Thomas' coaches), Henrietta (Toby's coach), Terence the Tractor, Bertie the Bus and Trevor the Traction Engine. Thomas Invitations gererously come in packs of twenty.

Parents should be, of course, the Fat and Thin Controller - we'll leave you to decide who is whom!

Here are some more ideas: It's fun to involve your child before the party, and paint a 'Welcome to [Jack's] Train Station' sign in the style of a train station sign. When the children arrive, give them each a ticket - they can use the tickets to be 'admitted' to any of your party games. If you haven't got too many children attending, give them each a big Number sticker or cutout too so they know which train they are. The birthday boy or girl should always be Thomas, no. 1.

A really good game is 'Hot Thomas' for which you'll need a fairly robust Thomas toy. All you do is play some music (you could use the Thomas theme unless it drives you mad) and ask the children to pass Thomas around. Whoever's holding Thomas when the music stops is out. Much frantic activity and excitement will follow! For a more conventional pass-the-parcel game, you could try our Thomas Parcel Kit.

For food you could try making biscuits in the shape of trains. Or, if you're really getting into the train theme, really rubbish sandwiches! (not really...)

You can't really go wrong with a Thomas party - everyone loves Thomas, both boys and girls. At going home time, our train magnet makes a lovely present.