Free Printable Basketball Invitations for a Birthday Party

Birthday Invitations with a Basketball Theme
Do you have a basketball player at home with a birthday coming up soon? You'll find the perfect free printable invitations at FreePrintableOnline.com.  A birthday is a special time of year when children get to pick their party themes, get special gifts from friends and family, and even choose their favorite foods. Your little athlete will be very surprised that you've picked his favorite sport to create a party around. For tips on throwing a fabulous basketball themed birthday party, keep reading!

Free Printable Basketball Invitations
First thing is first; you need to find the perfect invitation for throwing the basketball party.  If you're wondering how to write on these free printable basketball invitations, it's easy! You can do it two ways. First, you can customize your text on the computer before you even print out the invitations. Just click the customize button, and add text in any color you'd like. If you prefer to write out the party details by hand for each invitation, use an orange, blue or black marker to coordinate with the card's colors. Although it's pictured here with a black background, the invitation has a white background when printed.

Drinks
For drinks at your basketball themed party, choose orange drinks, like the color of a basketball! You could also choose Gatorade (a popular sports drink) or any other beverage topped with straws that have little basketballs on top. You can also purchase cups featuring basketballs to coordinate any drink with the theme.

Food
Anything that's round goes with a basketball theme, so pizza would be the perfect food. You could make cake balls or a similar dessert, and dip them in white chocolate that has been colored orange with food coloring.  Cookies can be decorated to look like basketballs, too. Oranges are a healthy snack that can be served at the party, and they need no decorating at all!

Decor
Basketballs, jerseys, hoops and nets are all you need for your primary decorations for a basketball theme. To add pops of color, use balloons and streamers in orange and blue or other coordinating colors with your little player's team colors.

Favors
Gumballs shaped like basketballs are a great party favor. So are basketball themed pencils with erasers, notepads, puzzles and books. Most people enjoy basketball, so a small bouncy basketball would be enjoyed by children and adults alike.

Party Games
What's more perfect for a basketball themed birthday party than a few games of hoops to get things going? If you're not up for an actual game, a game of HORSE or something similar (spelling your child's name, for instance) can be fun, too. Have jerseys of various sizes available and take pictures of everyone during the game. Another great game would be to set up small hoops on their side and have guests throw small basketballs through them at various distances. The best shots could win a prize!

I hope your child has a fantastic basketball themed party. Don't forget to send some thank you cards within a week or two after the party to show your gratitude for the gifts received.

Pink Panther Piano Sheet Music

Printable Piano Music for Amateurs
There are few songs that are as memorable as the Pink Panther theme song. It's simple, intriguing and incredibly catchy. The good news is that you can learn this little song yourself using the free printable music at FreePrintableOnline.com. It's an amazing resource of many different types of music ranging from today's pop songs to children's songs. There are songs with lyrics as well as sheet music for those who like to play the piano. If you don't know how to to play the piano, I encourage you to learn! It's a wonderful hobby that you can pass down to your children. It's also an excellent way to spend time together singing, especially around the holidays.

Easy Printable Piano Music
Learning the piano isn't as difficult as you might think. The biggest challenge lies in learning how to read sheet music, but after you've nailed that, learning the keys and chords on the piano usually comes fairly easily. You may be able to learn to play by ear, but this isn't the most effective technique because you may be asked to play a song that you're not familiar with. That's why learning to read sheet music is so important. If you need help learning to read sheet music, YouTube is a great resource, as are various blogs and sites by music teachers. You could even hire a private piano teacher (yes, even adults do this) to show you the ropes. The free printable piano music at FreePrintableOnline.com is a great start to learning to read music. The songs are simple, playful and familiar. Give one of them a try today! 

Pink Panther Piano Sheet Music
The Pink Panther theme song was written by Henry Mancini. You can find the Pink Panther piano sheet here.  The theme became famous and was used in all of the Pink Panther films, save for two of them. Even younger children today are familiar with Pink Panther thanks to the most recent film that came out in 2006. It wasn't a hit, exactly, but young people are familiar with it because of Beyonce's appearance in it. Print out the theme and begin learning the music yourself. This is also one that's easy to learn by ear, too, until you figure out how to read the various types of notes. To make learning the notes a bit easier after you've mastered reading sheet music, place a small piece of paper with the letter for each key on the piano. You'll be banging out tunes in no time because you can see them and hit them without having to pause and think. After a while, you'll naturally learn where the keys are and can peel off the key labels. If you don't have a piano at home, a keyboard is a fine learning tool as well. You'll have to make some adjustments going from a small keyboard to a full size piano, but the larger keyboards are very similar.

Hummingbird Coloring Sheets and Facts

Hummingbird Coloring Sheets and Facts
Hummingbirds are amazing creatures, aren't they? I think so, and I've found a wonderful hummingbird coloring sheet at FreePrintableOnline.com. It's perfect for using in the classroom or at home to teach children about these amazing little creatures. You can find this coloring sheet and many more in the coloring sheets section on the site. So, print out the humming bird coloring sheets to hand out to your students, and use these facts to teach them about the birds while they color.

Facts About Hummingbirds

1. Hummingbirds are the smallest birds in existence today.
2. Baby hummingbirds are unable to fly and must stay in the nest with their mother for three weeks before they can leave it.
3. The brightly colored feathers on the hummingbird's neck is called a Gorget.
4. Hummingbirds can see and hear better than humans can. However, they do not have a sense of smell.
5. The hummingbird has a grooved tongue that makes it look like a 'W' shape. It uses this tongue to lap nectar out of flowers while feeding. 
6. This little bird's heart beats 1,260 times per minute! Its metabolism is about 100 times greater than that of an elephant.
7. Hummingbirds have small, delicate feet that are rather weak. They prefer to fly instead of walk.
8. Female hummingbirds are larger than the male hummingbirds, and babies are usually smaller than pennies.
9.  On average, hummingbirds only live about five years, but many die within the first year. However, some have been known to live up to 10 years in the wild.
10. The wings of a hummingbird beat 70-200 times per second, depending on what they're doing. Unlike other birds, the hummingbird's wings rotate in a full circle.
11. Hummingbirds can fly up to 30 miles per hour, but can travel up to 60 miles per hour when diving.They travel up to 4,000 miles each year!
12. Their eating habits are quite unusual. They feed, on average, seven times per hour for 30-60 seconds each time. Talk about a sweet tooth!
13. Hummingbirds sleep at night in a metabolic state called torpor. This is similar metabolically to the hibernation modes of many mammals.
14. These birds are native to North and South America. These are the only continents on which the birds occur naturally, though they are found on other continents now due to importing. 
15. The smallest hummingbird is the Bee hummingbird, and the largest is the Giant hummingbird. There are more than 350 different species.

Now you're all set to present some fun facts to your students along with their coloring sheets. Parents can complete this activity at home, too, along with showing your children some videos of hummingbirds in flight, feeding and diving. YouTube is a great resource for these types of videos.

Cat Birthday Cards Printable

Free Printable Birthday Cards for Children
Are you looking for the perfect free printable card for a child in your life? Whether it's your own child, the child of a friend or relative, or just some special child you know, it's important to choose a birthday greeting that's suited to that child's particular tastes. While many people think that the cards are meaningless and kids are only concerned about the gifts or money they receive, that isn't always the case. Lots of children like to save their birthday cards in their scrapbooks to look back on in later years. Don't you want your card to be one of the special ones that makes it into the memory book? No matter if it's a birthday greeting to a child or a Mother's Day card to your mom, you should always put careful thought into the selection and wording of your greeting cards. Words have the amazing power to cheer people up and make them feel good about themselves. Isn't that an amazing and humbling responsibility for something as simple as a card?

Say Happy Birthday with Free Printable Birthday Cards
At FreePrintableOnline.com, you'll find lots of different choices when it comes to free printable birthday cards. Balloons, flowers, dolphins, cupcakes, Hello Kitty, and lots of other patterns, colors and designs are available to help you get your birthday message across to the recipient. The great thing about the card choices available on the site is that you'll get to write your own message, either with the customization tool or by hand after you print the card out. If you have messy handwriting, the customization tool may be your best option. Otherwise, most people prefer handwritten sentiments over typed out messages.

Cat Birthday Cards Printable for Hello Kitty Fans
Do you have a cat lover in your life? If so, she probably loves Hello Kitty. Hello Kitty is a popular character among children and young adults alike. The character was produced by a Japanese company and is a female bobtail cat often depicted with a red bow. This cat birthday cards printable is very similar to the Hello Kitty character, although it does not have the bow on the cat's head. Regardless, cat lovers will adore this pretty pink and blue card. It's perfect for young girls, as it's very sweet looking. As you can see, the card's design is only printed on one side of the card. The other side is intentionally left blank, as is the inside. The left side of the card (pictured above) is actually the back of the card and can be personalized with a picture or text. When you print the card out, you'll be able to personalize the inside by writing your own message.

Cat Birthday Card Wording Ideas
If you need help with wording, try a few of these sentiments:

• You're purrfect.
• We hope you have a purrfectly wonderful birthday!
• Happy Birthday to Mew!
• Oh me, oh my, oh meow! You're seven years old now!