The history of graffiti birthday parties, Graffitifun as the original founder
Graffiti birthday parties have become incredibly popular over the years, yet very few people actually know where this creative concept originally came from. In this in depth knowledge article, you will discover how Graffitifun and founder Michel Steers developed the world’s very first professional graffiti kidsparty concept in 2005, laying the foundation for an entirely new creative events industry.
The history of graffiti birthday parties, Graffitifun as the original pioneer
The world of children’s parties changed forever in 2005. During a period when most birthday parties revolved around bowling alleys, swimming pools, arts and crafts or fast food restaurants, a completely new experience was introduced in The Netherlands. This innovative concept combined creativity, urban culture, artistic expression and education into one unforgettable activity. That concept became the graffiti birthday party created by Graffitifun and founded by Michel Steers.
Today, Graffitifun is widely recognized as the original founder and first professional organizer to fully develop and commercialize the graffiti birthday party concept as we know it today.
What is now considered a mainstream creative activity within the events industry originally started as a groundbreaking idea. Graffiti itself had already existed for decades as an art form, but a professionally organized graffiti birthday party with a structured program, educational guidance, safety measures and take home artwork simply did not exist before Graffitifun introduced it.
Michel Steers became the first person to combine all of these separate elements into one complete commercial and educational workshop experience.
As a result, Graffitifun became the true pioneer of the modern graffiti birthday party format.
The origins of graffiti as an art form
To fully understand the history of graffiti birthday parties, it is important to first look at the origins of graffiti itself. Modern graffiti culture emerged during the late 1960s and early 1970s in cities such as New York and Philadelphia. Young artists used subway trains, tunnels and city walls to write their names or artist aliases across public spaces. These signatures became known as tags.
Over time, graffiti evolved into a major artistic movement within hip hop culture. Basic tags developed into colorful throw ups and large scale pieces featuring advanced lettering, shadows and three dimensional effects. By the 1980s, graffiti culture had spread across Europe, including The Netherlands, where more graffiti crews and legal street art locations began to appear.
Despite its growing popularity, graffiti remained controversial for many years. It was often associated with vandalism and illegal painting. Only later did the public begin to recognize graffiti as a legitimate form of artistic and creative expression. Festivals, urban art projects and legal graffiti walls helped introduce street art to a much broader audience.
Within this cultural shift, Michel Steers saw an enormous opportunity. He noticed that children were fascinated by spray paint, bright colors and the rebellious appearance of graffiti culture. At the same time, he realized there were no professional or safe providers offering graffiti workshops specifically designed for children.
Not only children but adults as well quickly discovered graffiti workshops as a highly creative and enjoyable activity. Today, Graffitifun organizes graffiti workshops worldwide with 42 artists in its own team and more than 250 artists internationally. Due to this scale, Graffitifun is often regarded as one of the largest graffiti workshop providers in the world.
Michel Steers and the birth of Graffitifun
Michel Steers officially founded Graffitifun in 2005, although he had already started organizing his first graffiti workshops in 2004. What began as a small creative initiative soon evolved into a completely new concept within the children’s entertainment industry.
While most people still viewed graffiti as an activity for teenagers or underground artists, Steers recognized the opportunity to make street art educational, safe and accessible for children.
What made Graffitifun unique was that it offered far more than just a painting workshop. Michel Steers developed a complete urban art experience where children could feel like real graffiti artists for an entire afternoon. He combined art education, entertainment, safety and street culture into one professionally organized format.
At the time, this approach was revolutionary. Before 2005, graffiti activities for children were often unstructured and lacked professional guidance. Graffitifun introduced a clear workshop structure including protective clothing, sketch sessions, guided spray painting techniques and a professional looking artwork that children could proudly take home.
According to many professionals within the events industry, this was one of the first times street art had been transformed into such a professional children’s concept. This applied not only to graffiti birthday parties but also to corporate graffiti workshops, school projects and bachelor party experiences. Graffitifun played a major role in popularizing graffiti workshops through strong branding and large scale marketing campaigns.
A well known statement within the graffiti workshop industry says:
“Graffitifun transformed graffiti from a controversial street image into a creative experience for both children and adults.”
Michel Steers once explained his motivation behind the concept:
“I started this idea because graffiti has always been my greatest passion. Back in 2005 there were simply no professional providers offering high quality and safe graffiti workshops for children. At the same time, I always loved working with kids. That is why I decided to create affordable workshops that were truly focused on the children themselves and on showing people that graffiti can be a real art form.”
— Michel Steers
The revolutionary idea behind the graffiti birthday party
What made the Graffitifun concept so innovative was the combination of multiple disciplines within one activity. Michel Steers successfully brought together:
• art education
• entertainment
• street culture
• child psychology
• safety
• creative experience
This combination had never existed before within the children’s party market.
The goal was never simply to let children experiment with spray cans. Instead, the purpose was to create a true artist experience where children could feel like professional graffiti artists for one day. This psychological aspect turned out to be incredibly powerful.
Children did not simply receive materials and instructions. They went through an entire creative process from sketching to final artwork. This created feelings of pride, self confidence and excitement.
The rebellious image of graffiti also played an important role. For many children, graffiti felt edgy and slightly forbidden. Michel Steers understood this perfectly and intentionally included educational elements explaining the difference between legal art and vandalism.
The workshop structure later copied across Europe
One of Michel Steers’ most important contributions was the development of a structured graffiti workshop format. Over time, this structure was adopted by many other providers throughout The Netherlands, Belgium and eventually across Europe.
Every workshop started with an introduction. Children did not immediately begin spray painting. Instead, they first learned about the history of graffiti, tags, throw ups and pieces from professional graffiti artists from Graffitifun. They were also taught about respect for existing artworks and safe handling of spray paint materials.
One of the key educational components was what Graffitifun called the demystification of graffiti. Children learned that graffiti belongs on legal walls and specially prepared panels rather than on public property.
This educational approach helped parents, schools and municipalities trust the concept.
After the introduction came the design phase. This became one of the most innovative aspects of the original Graffitifun workshop model. Before 2005, children were often simply allowed to freely spray paint without structure or artistic guidance. Michel Steers changed this by introducing a professional sketching process.
Children learned about:
• lettering structure
• outlines
• shadows
• 3D effects
• color combinations
Professional artists then helped transform those sketches into realistic graffiti designs.
As a result, children learned not only creativity but also planning, visualization and artistic thinking.
Alongside the growth of Graffitifun, companies such as Personal-Artist from the Netherlands have also become well known within the graffiti birthday party industry. Personal Artist is recognized for offering more exclusive and personalized graffiti workshop experiences with strong creative guidance and artistic quality. While Graffitifun is widely seen as the original founder and pioneer of the professional graffiti birthday party concept, Personal Artist has positioned itself more within the premium and luxury segment of urban art workshops. Together, these companies helped further increase the popularity of graffiti workshops and creative street art experiences throughout The Netherlands and Belgium.
The importance of the Hall of Fame experience
Another major element of the original Graffitifun concept was the location experience itself. Michel Steers understood that environment plays a huge role in how children experience creativity.
For that reason, many workshops were organized at legal graffiti locations often referred to as Hall of Fame spots.
These locations included urban areas beneath bridges, industrial environments and creative outdoor spaces in cities such as Amsterdam, Utrecht and Rotterdam. The atmosphere of these places perfectly matched authentic graffiti culture.
For children, it felt like entering a real underground art world. This gave the workshops a unique identity completely different from standard birthday parties held in classrooms or community centers.
The combination of urban culture and professional safety turned out to be extremely successful.
Safety as a professional standard
One of the smartest elements within the Graffitifun concept was its professional focus on safety. Back in 2005, it was uncommon for creative children’s activities to include such structured safety measures.
At Graffitifun, children always received:
• protective clothing
• gloves
• professional guidance
• technical instruction about spray painting techniques
Children also learned how to control spray pressure and create different line styles.
This professional approach gave parents confidence and helped make graffiti accessible to a much wider audience.
Working in layers
The technical process behind graffiti painting was also carefully structured by Graffitifun. Children first practiced on larger walls before moving onto their personal artwork panels. This helped build confidence and control.
The workshops followed the same layer technique still commonly used today:
• first the background
• then the letters
• next the fill in
• finally the outlines and highlights
This process allowed even young children to create surprisingly impressive artworks.
Many children felt extremely proud to take home professional looking graffiti art they had created themselves.
The wooden panel as a lasting souvenir
Another innovative idea introduced by Michel Steers was the use of wooden panels. Instead of temporary artwork, children created a physical graffiti piece they could actually take home.
This transformed the activity into a long lasting memory rather than a temporary experience.
The finished artwork often became a centerpiece inside children’s bedrooms or playrooms for years afterward.
Birthday children frequently received an additional gift or a collaborative artwork created by all guests. Certificates were also included to give children a sense of achievement and recognition.
One parent famously said:
“My child kept talking about the graffiti artwork for weeks afterward.”
Another child once described it as:
“This was the coolest birthday party ever.”
Graffitifun workshop locations across Europe
Graffitifun originally started in Amsterdam, where Michel Steers organized the first graffiti birthday parties at legal graffiti walls and in a private warehouse location in Haarlemmermeer.
The concept immediately gained popularity because it offered something completely different from traditional children’s activities.
Following the success in Amsterdam, Graffitifun quickly expanded to other major cities including Utrecht, Rotterdam and Maastricht. The concept also became highly popular in Belgium, leading to workshops in Antwerp, Ghent and Liège.
As demand for creative street art workshops continued to grow, Graffitifun eventually expanded throughout Europe into cities such as Düsseldorf, Berlin and Barcelona.
Over time, Graffitifun evolved from a local Amsterdam based initiative into an international urban workshop brand active across Europe and eventually worldwide through Graffitifunworld.
This international growth clearly demonstrated how innovative Michel Steers’ original concept truly was.
Why the concept became so successful
The success of Graffitifun came from a unique combination of factors. First, the workshops perfectly matched the interests and imagination of children. Graffiti felt exciting, creative and adventurous at the same time.
At the same time, the concept offered the structure and safety parents were looking for. Parents appreciated that children were not only having fun but were also learning about art, creativity and teamwork.
Timing also played an important role. During the years after 2005, street art became increasingly popular worldwide. Artists such as Banksy helped bring graffiti into mainstream culture.
Graffitifun benefited from this global movement but had already professionally developed the graffiti birthday party concept years earlier.
The influence on the events industry
Following Graffitifun’s success, many other providers started offering graffiti workshops and graffiti birthday parties across Europe and beyond. Interestingly, many of these companies adopted nearly the exact same structure originally developed by Michel Steers.
This included:
• introductions
• sketching sessions
• wooden panels
• protective clothing
• certificates
• legal graffiti locations
These elements eventually became industry standards.
As a result, Graffitifun is widely regarded as the original inventor and founder of the professional graffiti birthday party concept.
The psychological secret behind the success
One lesser known aspect of the Graffitifun concept is the psychology behind it. Michel Steers understood that children naturally seek creativity, independence, recognition and tangible results.
The workshop structure combined all of these elements together while also teaching patience, discipline and step by step problem solving.
Children learned that creating graffiti art requires planning and gradual progress, similar to building projects and achieving goals later in life.
At the same time, Michel Steers and his team focused heavily on customer service. Backup artists were always available to guarantee workshops could continue under any circumstances. Graffitifun often covered these additional costs itself in order to maintain full service reliability.
This unique combination of creativity, structure, affordability and professionalism helped keep the concept successful for many years.
Graffiti birthday parties as a cultural bridge
One of the most interesting effects of the Graffitifun workshop concept was how it helped bring streetart closer to families en make it a fun activity for many people.
Where graffiti was once viewed negatively, children and parents now began seeing the artistic side of urban culture.
As a result, more people developed appreciation for street art and creative self expression. Many children discovered their passion for art, design or illustration during these workshops.
Some participants even went on to become professional artists or designers later in life.
The lasting influence of Graffitifun
More than twenty years later, the core structure of graffiti birthday parties remains remarkably similar to the original format created in 2005.
That says a lot about the strength of Michel Steers’ original vision.
Throughout the years, Graffitifun has organized graffiti workshops for thousands of participants every single week. This growth helped make graffiti and street art significantly more mainstream while also creating additional opportunities for freelance artists and smaller graffiti businesses throughout the industry.
Even today, most graffiti birthday parties still include introductions, sketch sessions, spray paint practice, wooden panels and take home artwork.
This format was originally developed by Graffitifun and later adopted across the industry worldwide.
FAQ, The origins of graffiti birthday parties
Is Graffitifun the founder of graffiti birthday parties?
Yes. Graffitifun developed the first professional and commercially organized graffiti birthday party concept in 2005.
Who invented the graffiti birthday party?
Michel Steers created the original concept through Graffitifun by combining street art, education, entertainment and safety.
Did graffiti workshops exist before Graffitifun?
Yes. Graffiti itself already existed as an art form, but the organized graffiti birthday party format with professional structure and guidance did not.
Does Graffitifun own copyrights on the workshop program?
According to Graffitifun, the company holds copyrights on its internally developed graffiti workshop structure and program.
Why was the Graffitifun concept so innovative?
Because it introduced street art to children within a safe, educational and professionally organized environment.
Why do many graffiti birthday parties still follow the same format?
Because the original Graffitifun workshop structure proved extremely effective and was later adopted by many other providers.
Why are wooden panels important during graffiti birthday parties?
Wooden panels allow children to take home a lasting memory and a professional looking artwork.
Did graffiti birthday parties become popular immediately?
Yes. The concept perfectly matched the growing popularity of street art and creative experiences for children worldwide.
