A Trash Truck Party for Hudson’s 4th Birthday

Because that is now a thing.

Several months before his birthday (much too early, in fact), Hudson announced out of the blue that he was going to have “a trash truck party at the dump, and everyone in our whole entire city is invited!” My initial reaction was, “Umm… No.” But after some coaxing from my husband, and a few Pinterest searches, I decided to give it a go. Turns out it’s easier to throw a trashy party than I thought!

Okay, stop right here. Before I go on there’s something you should know. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. There. I said it. This means that if you click on one of my affiliate links and happen to buy something (that thing, or anything) from Amazon, I may earn a small commission at zero cost to you. I am not getting rich here, just trying to make enough to convince my husband it is okay to keep paying for this blog. Thank you for supporting me!! Now you know. Carry on.

Republic Services sent out a real trash truck!

I thought I was going to pull off a pretty great trash truck party with all my decorations and activities, but the team at Republic Services made it a truly epic trash truck birthday. When I contacted them about possibly arranging to take a picture on their usual rounds, I didn’t expect them to send out a separate truck and team just for the party. But they did!

The team also brought him a big toy roll off truck (among other Republic goodies), and let him climb up in the truck and honk the horn as much as he wanted.

They went above and beyond for this little fan and we cannot thank the team at Republic Services enough for their kindness. Now he’s going to be talking trash every Wednesday and Saturday morning for the rest of our lives! 

Decorations

As far as decorations, we washed and saved up a lot of our recycling for several weeks. I didn’t keep anything too small or anything that could get ripped up too easily, because I didn’t want trash to accidentally get left in the yard. Some of the best things to save are milk cartons, pizza boxes, paper and plastic cups (styrofoam could get torn apart too easily), boxes of all shapes and sizes, aluminum cans, toilet paper rolls, and every bit of newspaper I could get my hands on. Technically, all you really need for a trash truck party is trash!

I taped together pieces of newspaper to make the cheapest table cloths and backdrop ever. I usually set up some sort of backdrop by the front door so as friends are coming and going we can catch a quick snap with them.

A trash truck party isn’t complete without flies, and these fake flies from Amazon really made the whole theme come together. I scattered them throughout the house and especially near the food. Everyone, including me, kept trying to shoo them away and then laughed when we realized they weren’t real! Find them here –> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE]

Trash truck decor is not exactly plentiful, but you can truly find anything on Amazon! Here are the Amazon links to all my purchases:

• Trash Truck Balloons -> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE] – We had them blown up at the grocery store

• Giant Gold “4” Balloon -> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE]

• Trash Truck “Happy Birthday” Banner -> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE] – These we used inside

• Big Trash Truck “Happy Birthday” Banner -> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE] – This one went outside

• Galvanized Trash Cans -> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE] – shop around for these- you may find cheaper

• Fake Fish-> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE]

• Trash Truck Shirt -> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE] – Comes in different colors and adult sizes too

• Trash Truck Pajamas -> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE] – Hudson wore this shirt

• Bubble Machine -> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE] – Worth every penny! We use this one all the time

• Kids Coveralls/Jumpsuit -> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE] – Hudson wore this for party invitation pictures

• Fake Flies -> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE]

• Mini Plastic Trash Can Set of 2 -> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE]

• Super Tiny Plastic Trash Can Set of 6 -> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE]

• Galvanized Mini Trash Can Set of 2 -> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE]

• Dollhouse Sized Trash Can -> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE] – This one went on the cake

• Toy Dumpster -> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE]

• Barrel of Slime Favors -> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE]

• Soda Can Candy Favors -> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE]

• White Picture Frames with Stands -> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE] – I have used these for numerous parties

• Toy Trash Truck -> Target Link [CLICK HERE] – This was the cake topper

These wreaths are super cheap and super easy to make! I found the best tutorial –> [CLICK HERE]

These fish were a hit with all the little boys! One of them even asked to take one home with him! Find them here –> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE]

Food

Since Texas summers are so brutal, we started the party fairly early in the morning. Donuts and kolaches are a must!

I’m sure I could have really gone wild with the food for a trash-themed party, but I didn’t want the adults to get too grossed out! I decided to go with “junkyard dogs.” 

…And then my husband, who was in charge of the food, decided we had to have hamburgers too and I couldn’t come up with anything to call them! 

I found the perfect trash can cups for the kids, which doubled as another party favor!

Activities

• Trash pick up

Before the party, we threw all of the trash/recycling we had been collecting out in the backyard. I had a couple of these galvanized trash cans out there and I bought as many of these grabbers as I could get my hands on.

The kids had a blast just going around picking up the trash with the grabbers and then seeing how high they could stack it. I think they might have some experience in this trash stacking thing, don’t you? 

• Trash sack races

The rain messed up this activity for us, but I bought some cheap black trash bags and planned to have potato trash sack races. Wouldn’t that have been funny?!

• Newspaper hats

I had several different styles of newspaper hats ready-made, but I still had a bunch of extra newspaper, so I thought the kids (the girls especially) would like to make their own.

Everyone had a blast with the ones I had (including, and especially the adults), but the kids were all too busy just running up and down the stairs to be interested in making anything. I didn’t care as long as they were having fun, but this is definitely an activity that is perfectly suited to a trash party! 

I found the best tutorials all in one page! –> [CLICK HERE]

• Trash art

Another use for all the trash we had collected would have been to make some trash art. It was also a great way to clean out my craft closet! I had all the markers, glue, leftover craft supplies, and most importantly, trash they could have ever wanted. But again, they were too busy making their own fun. This is just a reminder that sometimes the best activities are the unplanned ones. But if anyone ever got bored I was ready with plenty of things to do! (Side note: no one got bored). 

Favors

I used a big bowl as my template, and cut circles out of big trash bags to make little trash bags for favors.

They each had a small barrel of “toxic slime,” trash can pencil sharpener, a pack of soda can candies, a wind-up car, a punching balloon, a kazoo, and a whoopee cushion. 

Cake

Once again, I am not a cake decorator, and it shows. Still, I have so much fun making my own cakes for my kids every birthday. Sometimes they are awesome, sometimes they are epic fails, but they always get eaten. 

Hudson doesn’t like chocolate, so the sheet cake was a confetti cake with green store-bought icing. The road was made with Oreos put through the food processor. 

The “dump” was 2 layers of chocolate cake cut into a dome. I used chocolate icing and then just stuck candy all over it. We used small sour gummy worms, mini Swedish Fish, Runts, Nerds, mini chocolate chips, Mike & Ikes, Smarties, and marshmallows. I also found some little “4” sprinkles that I stuck in wherever I could. 

The truck is from Target –> [CLICK HERE], and the tiny trash can is from Amazon –> Amazon Affiliate Link [CLICK HERE]. 

If you’re planning your own trash truck party send me your pics!

Here’s a few more of our epic party themes:

• Camping Parties are S’more Fun! [CLICK HERE]

Stay tuned for more party themes!