I remember birthday parties of my childhood. They typically included Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Hot Potato, and Musical Chairs followed by D.I.Y. pizza. If you were really lucky, your mom booked the party room at McDonald's.

In that vein, the last few parties I put together for my kids consisted of turning on the lawn sprinkler and filling the SuperSoakers. Less is more was my thinking. As my oldest starts edging toward double digits, I'm discovering that such simple delights aren't quite up to par. It seems that More is more.

My daughter attended a fabulous party this weekend. My friend pulled out all the stops for her son, planning and executing what may go down as Year's Best among the elementary school set. While I am not usually an overly competitive mom (except for on the soccer field. Yes, that was me that time), she inspired me to put a little more effort into these little shindigs.

1. The Totally Amazing Gross-Out Party

My friend created a team competition inspired by Fear Factor/Amazing Race. Each team had to pass through stations of increasing icky-ness on the way to victory. These stations included (in no particular order):

~kiddie pool filled with cooked spaghetti and several real and fake earthworms. Find at least 10 worms to proceed to the next station.

~a large mop bucket filled with a mixture of water and cornstarch, plus peeled grapes ("eyeballs"). The cornstarch mixture should be thick enough to stand on, but thin enough to liquefy when you hold it in your hand. Find the grapes!

~a window screen dripped with icing sugar/water mix or vanilla pudding. You should dribble it on to mimic bird poo, which the kids have to lick 10 times to move on.

~change a dolly's poopy diaper, filled with lemonade peepee and chocolate pudding doodoo.

The winning team gets first dibs on Kitty Litter Cake! Totally edible, assembled in a litter pan, and served with a Pooper Scooper, this cake has Tootsie Roll turds that'll have your guests totally amazingly grossed out!

2. Treasure Hunt

Load up on pirate costume accessories from the dollar store and play a nautically-themed treasure hunt. You'll need a large yard or park for this.

Prepare a treasure map and clues, with a buried treasure chest at the end of the game filled with loot (this can double as your goodie bag). At each station, the teams find the next clue and must pass a piratical challenge to proceed. If you have access to a pool, the winners make the losers walk the plank (i.e. diving board) with all their clothes on.

3. Academy Awards

Collect Halloween costumes and old clothes, plus a video camera and several script ideas. Ask your budding actors to produce a commercial or short movie, including some basic editing, adding background music, etc.

When the teams have finished, hold a screening in your rec room with popcorn and Twizzlers (cover any windows thoroughly to produce a movie theater atmosphere). Award the winning team trophies for their achievement (you can find cheapies at a dollar store). Burn each child a DVD of all the submissions as part of their goodie bag.

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Now, I'm not claiming that I'll be doing any of these things come next b-day party. I think, though, that the cop-out days of Twister 'n beanbag tosses are probably over. Do you have any cool ideas for birthday parties?