8 Year Old Girl Party- Coming up Fast

My son was about that age where we just had a few close friends and I bought prebaked pizza dough, and the makings. They loved it. Not the best tasting, but lots of fun. I would give them a huge box or craft stuff and see what they can come up with.
My friends daughter once did a princess theme. She got little boxes from the crafts store and jewels and they decorated them. Even the token boys had fun with it. I have founds some of the simplest parties were the funnest.

S.,

You might think about a "spa" party. You can buy flip flops very cheaply at a Michaels/Hobby Lobby. Have your area divided into different sections. One station could be where the girls decorate flip flops. Another station could be where they have their nails painted, etc. Maybe another station where they get a girlie temporary tattoo or decorate headbands. If you have a couple more adults to help that would be great.

Recently my kids did a spray on tie dye shirt with a group of their friends. We put a tarp in the back yard and explained the concept of tie dye. They made their own shirts, doing the rubber band design. This type of tie dye required 15 minutes in the dryer to set. The shirts faded a little on the first wash, but our kids had a great time and it wasn't as time consuming as doing the tie dye the hot water way. Afterwards we went and took pictures of all the kids together in the blue bonnets.

There are lots of ideas for scavenger hunts if you google them. Some of the ones my daughter (who is 12) enjoyed the most was taking pictures with the objects.

My son had a "chef" party last year. It was SOOOO fun! I got aprons for the kids to decorate (cheaply at Hobby Lobby with 40% coupon which you can get off the internet). They personalized them the first 30 minutes or so. Then they made their own pizzas. (I bought disposable cookie sheets, cut them in half and wrote their name in permanent marker to the side of the pizza so I wouldn't have to remember whose was whose) While those were cooking I did fruit on a stick (cut up chunky fruit and gave them wooden skewers). After eating their pizzas we decorated one layer cakes. I baked the cakes the morning of the party and kept them in disposable pans. I made plain icing and had food coloring so they could mix their own. I bought icing that looked like hair mousse cans with different decorating tips to do more intricate decorating. I had sprinkles, gummy worms, m&m's, red hots, etc and cut them loose. They had a ball while decorating and it was fun to watch. Their take home was of course their cake and their apron. I took pictures of each chef with their creation and when we did thank you notes included a picture in there. The boys still talk about the party. I have done lots of parties and the chef one to me was one of the very best.

Hope this helps and have a ball! :)

Blessings!
L.

I really like the make and take idea, especially if you all ready have the supplies! This is something that they get to take home with them, so you don't have to spend extra money on goody bags if you don't want to. I agree that you most likely will not get very many guests with the late notice, so what about a small sleepover? Kids get invited to sleepovers last minute all the time, and it is something that you can talk to the parents about before hand. I would recommend that you let the parents know that you are having a little get together for your daughter's bday, but that you are not asking for presents due to the late notice. I think that some parents would not take their kids to the party because they did not have enough time to go shopping and they don't want to show up empty handed, so don't let this be an issue. If you go the sleepover route, it is a bit more of a headache having the kids all night and morning, but these girls are old enough to entertain themselves. It shouldn't bee too expensive if you order a pizza or two and cake. My little cousins had a spa party where they painted each others nails and gave each other makeovers and then put on a runway show. You just have to make sure that parents approve of the makeup, and do it with everybody or no one at all (for fairness). They also made face masks with oatmeal and honey (which are inexpensive) and had to wash all of the makeup off before applying the mask. Party games like twister of pictionary are always fun and can be used at a regular party or a a sleepover. You can look online for lots of fun games to play that don't cost a thing. Good luck to you and you daughter!

Just let her have a sleep over. Cake and pizza.. In the morning scrambled eggs and toast.. Snacks, popcorn, lemonade, fruit..

They can watch movies, turn off all of the lights and make it into a theater.. they can play board games.. heck they will figure things out..

Summer birthdays are super hard. Everybody is on vacation... Have her call and invite 2 girls.. they will have a great time..

sleepover with a movie or take her and a few frineds to the swimming pool.

It's sounds like you have most of it already planned. One of the best parties my kids had one a simple one in the back yard. We played stupid games, where they could win a prize, and ate cake and ice cream. IMO keep it simple.

Blow up a few beach balls and let them play volley ball or see how long they can keep it up in the air.

If it's hot, do a water baloon toss. Set up the sprinkler and let them run through it.

You can do a simple scavenger hunt by handing out a list of items for the kids to find. Or you can do a treasure hunt type, where you start with a clue like "if you go to the well, it will have something to tell" (we have a wishing well in the front yard), they find the next clue there, and at the end they find a prize. The prize can be the bunch of balloons and each child can take one home.

There's no need to waste money on lots of decorations, and you really don't need a theme. A few balloons work for decorations, and you can just buy generic plates and a colorful table cloth at the dollar store.

Just my opinion, but I never give big gifts for a birthday, just something small. Basically the party is the gift, from which the child receives more gifts.

Wow, there aren't a lot of details to go on. If you are a week away from the party and haven't sent out invitations, then I would imagine you aren't going to have a large turn-out. What I would suggest is having her pick two or three of her closest friends (depending on how many will fit in your vehicle) and taking them to someplace with inflatables (Monkey Joe's or Pump it Up, something like that) then back to your place for cake. You could make cupcakes and let them have fun decorating their own. You can also make a sundae bar for fairly cheap. If you're feeling really creative and adventurous.... you can also do make-your-own pizzas and that can be your theme. Keep it small and fun, and your daughter will have a great time.

I would do something "beauty related". Facials, french braid their hair,nails, pedicures etc. That sounds like fun to me....Have fun!!

if your daughter's friends are anything like mine, doing crafts is an easy and inexpensive way to have a fun party, especially if you start with recycled supplies (paper bag puppets, 'sandals' made from cereal box cardboard - search "cereal box sandals" on http://www.familyfun.com for instructions). If you've got markers, glitter glue, scissors, and paper, you're already more than halfway there!

And if you don't have the energy for planning a full-out sleepover, you can do a "faux sleepover" where the guests come at around 4 or 5 pm in their jammies, roll out sleeping bags, eat pizza and watch a movie, then parents pick them up at around 8 or 9 pm. A few of our daughters' friends have done this and the kids all seemed to enjoy it almost as much as a regular sleepover.