My 8 yr old son is obsessed with the army!!  So we decided to have a recruitment party for his birthday.  I purchased paper with the American flag flying high on it, I typed each guest name informing them that the US government needed them to attend a recruitment celebration at Fort Anthony (our son's name)to come dressed in fatigues, for immediate departure to the bush after being properly trained.  I went to the local army recruitment center, and they were more than generous with their posters of the all the armed forces, along with the picture of Uncle Sam wanting you! I also made a trip to the local Army Navy supply store, where I bought canteens, dogtags (engraved with the guests names) camo handkerchiffs, medals of honor, face paint, and 3 large camo nets, and a few extra camo shirts just in case.  We set up camp in the front yard and backyard. The front consisted of a pop up tent drapped in a camo net, the posters of recruitment where placed everywhere, along with several American flags (sml & lrg) Inside the tent we had a table set up, with all the guests names on the offical draft list, we handed each recruit their dogtag, tied a bandana around their heads, and painted their faces camo.  Then sent them off to boot camp (the backyard)  My husband was waiting dressed as a drill sargent.  The boys then began their training. Jump jack contests, push up contests, and of course the dreaded obsticle course.  We borrowed some old tires from a local tire shop, lining them up for the boys to have to run/jump thru, next was the dirt/mud pit we used one of the nets to cover an 12 inch area the boys had to go on their bellys and manuever thru the dirt, we held the net up with stakes, next was the balance beam, then up the rope to the top of the fort (part of our playgym) down the slide, to a table lined with pie tins filled with whip cream. The boys had to put their hands behind their backs, dive face first in the cream to retrieve 5 plastic soldiers.  The first one to complete the obsticle course was the winner and was awarded the medal of honor.  After cleaning up it was off to the chow hall for brown bag lunches, cake and ice cream. During lunch the Drill Sgt. returned with an urgent message. All recruits where to leave immediately for a top secret mission.  The boys where divided into 3 teams, and each given a secret mission. The first team to complete their mission successfully were the winners.  An adult was assigned as the leader of each troup and they set off for a "scavenger hunt" of the neighborhood. The boys had a lot of fun with this they took it very seriously, hiding behind cars, bushes, to keep thier cover, each troup had walkie talkies to keep in contact with the other teams.  When they returned we took pictures of all the boys by the obsticle course, which I mailed to them in their thank you notes, informing them that they had all been awarded the highest medal of achievement showing courage and valor, and that their troup had saved the world by providing the best birthday party ever. The boys had soo much fun they continued to play "army" for hours after the party ended.