My son turned 3 and we had an awesome, outdoor party based on the movie Cars.  INVITATIONS:  I copied this from someone else on this website. The cards were red and I printed Attention Registered Driver on the front and added Cars stickers. The inside read Driver # (age), Lightning (name of child) has zoomed through another year and invites you to race on over to the Piston Cup championship.  Race Date:  Race Time:  Race Track: , We'll make a stop in Radiator Springs on the way. your pit crew is welcome to watch you from the sidelines.  Register with race officials (parents) at (phone #). See you at the starting line! KA-CHOW!!!!  DECORATIONS:  We had a huge, mylar Lightning McQueen balloon at the road, a 5-foot poster of McQueen, Sally and Mater on the garage door, red yellow and black balloons strung all around the fence, red cups with 2 checkered race flags in them for centerpieces on each table & 2 Cars posters hanging on the windows. Two tables had Cars tablecloths on them. Each table/activity was labeled with homemade signs. I cut out the characters from a poster.  The areas were: Ramone's House of Body Art, Sally's Cozy Cone Motel, Sarge's Surplus Hut, Flo's V8 Cafe, Fillmore's Dome House, Dr. of Internal Combustion, Fix Route 66, Casa Della Tires, and Tractor Tippin'. While waiting for everyone to arrive, the children could color pictures of 8 different cars from the movie, read various Cars books, or complete Cars puzzles.  While the kids played, the parents snacked on oil (dirt cake), Wagon Wheel Hotel pasta salad, and a Mexican dip in which I used tomatoes to write CARS over guacamole. We started the party with independent activities. I explained these 4 activites and how they related to the movie before the kids started. They had fun answering my questions about the movie!! The children completed each activity in the order they chose. At Ramone's House of Body Art they were given a 2-inch wooden car to paint with whatever colors they wanted (Oriental Trading). One of my good friends stood at this table and poured paint and cleaned up.  At Sally's Cozy Cone Hotel they had to pick up each of the 8 cones and name the car that was underneath.  When done, they were given a chocolate car to put in their goodie bag, a Cars treat sack (WalMart). My mom was in charge of this station. At Fix Route 66 they had to assemble a broken road made out of black posterboard. I cut it in a pattern like the broken road in the movie. At Dr. of Internal Combustion's, they chose 2 Cars tattoos (Birthday Party Express)and my husband put them on each child. It was then time for group games. I had 2 rows of 7 cones set up and divided the children into 2 teams.  We talked about Luigi and Guido.  For Casa Della Tires, they had to roll a tire intertube (WalMart)in a weaving pattern down through the cones and then straight back (one at a time of course).  The parents stood along the sidelines helping to guide the younger ones. To introduce the next game I asked the children about Mater, Lightning McQueen and what they did during the night in the movie. This seemed to be one of their favorite parts!!  For Tractor Tippin' all the kids stood together on one end of the course. I wore a TowMater hat from one of my son's costumes. I asked the kids to run toward me and when they heard me beep the horn (bike horn, WalMart) they had to fall back and moo like the tractors. They were all giggling while doing this!!  If you have older kids you could have them spread out and pretend to sleep and listen for the horn right next to them and then tip over.  I had kids that were 2 and it would have scared them if I had gone right up to them and honked.  We then took a stop at Flo's V8 cafe to fill up on some oil (KoolAid Koolers). The birthday boy sat in his Cars lawn chair and everyone sang happy birthday to him and enjoyed a Cars birthday cake and ice cream at Fillmore's Dome House (under our awning). It was time for Sarge's Surplus Hut - PRESENT OPENING!!! He sat in his Cars chair and I had the gift giver stand next to him so I could get photos for the thank you cards. The finale was the best!!! I made a race track for the Piston Cup.  I used red, yellow and black balloons as the outside and inside of the track. The balloons were tied down to a lunchbag with a scoop of sand. The balloons were at the kids' eye level.  The start/finish line was made of posterboard and I painted black checks on it. I waved the green flag (felt) and said, Start your engines on your mark get set go!" When I waved the yellow caution flag (felt) they all had to take an automatic pit stop.  I had given the parents the Cars plastic oil cans full of water.  They had to find their parents and refuel before completing the race.  Of course the birthday boy won the Piston Cup which I made from a golden cup from an old trophy. He didn't even want it he wanted to keep running through the balloon track. So did many others.  All the children received a bag of foam pieces from a Cars pack I had bought at Michaels. There were letters in it to spell their names and several other pieces.  Some things I had planned and completely forgot were to play the CARS soundtrack throughout the party. I had prepared several questions about the movie to ask between each gift my son opened (i.e. What was Sally's nickname for Lightning McQueen?).  EVERYONE had a blast including me!  Thanks for your awesome website!!!"