A tornado is a spinning column of air that causes destruction in its path. A tornado birthday party is a good choice for children who are fascinated by severe weather. Purchase weather posters at an educational supply store to set the scene, draw your own, or print images from the computer.

Roll a gray poster board into a cone shape. Tape in place and cut off any excess at the top. Wrap in blue netting and stuff with blue-and-silver streamers and curling ribbon. Hang one from the center of the party room. Make several small tornadoes to place along the walls and door frame. Use gray and black, or silver and blue for the balloons, streamers and table decor.

Save soda bottles before the party. You will need two bottles per tornado. Purchase a "Tornado Tube" for each party guest. These can be found in educational supply stores. Have each child fill one of their bottles with water. Attach the "Tornado Tubes" according to the manufacturer's instructions. Show the kids how to shake the bottles to make a tornado appear.

Create a special tornado cake for the birthday party. Start by making the birthday child's favorite flavor cake. Cover with green tinted frosting. Dye coconut with a little green food coloring and sprinkle on the cake. Make a tornado with different sizes of flat disks of baked meringue. Poke a hole in the middle of each disk with a skewer before baking. Stick the skewer into the cake. Slide the baked meringue disks on the skewer, starting with the smallest disk. Add small plastic toys such as cars, farm animals and trees in between the meringue disks and spread across the cake.

Play the game Twister. This traditional party game takes on new meaning when played at a tornado- themed birthday party. Rent a children's science video that focuses on severe weather, or tornados in particular. Set up a relay race: gather weather-related clothing such as raincoats, rubber boots, rain hats and umbrellas. Place the items in two piles. Divide the guests into two teams. The object is to have the first person on the team put on all the clothing and then open the umbrella. Then have her quickly take off the gear and close the umbrella. The next person does the same until everyone has had a turn. The first team to finish wins.