My fiance will be 40 this week. We are having a big party for him, about 35 - 40 people. Our children, ages 1, 5, 13, & 16, will be there as well as a few others ranging from 2 1/2 to 15. I would like to make the party fun for the kids also, rather than just letting them run around or be bored. Any suggestions? I brought up the idea of a pinata but my fiance did not think that would be fun. Also, I would like to do something that would be fairly cheap and practical since we are on a tight budget. Thanks for any suggestions.
My nieces and nephews range from my youngest child 1 yr. to the oldest niece of 17 years so we do struggle for fun for all. This past weekend we had sprinklers, slip-n-slide, water balloons, hot potatoe and a pinata. The kids had a blast!!
Hi You can play a game called Fruit Basket Upset. One variation we did was: The person who is "it" stands in the center of the circle, with all other players sitting down on chairs or spots. "It" calls out the name of a color that some one is wearing or hair color or eye color or if they are wearing jewelry or something about the people invilved (some one in band or who takes dance classes. One girl said who likes bacon. Then everybody has what is called must jump up, run to another empty chair and sit down. "It" also tries to get a seat while they are changing seats, so there "should" be a new "it" (the person left without a chair) each time. If "it" wants to, she can have *everybody* get up and change seats by calling "Fruit Basket Upset" (actually, we yell "Fruit Salad!" - at Halloween we'd yell "Trick or Treat!") It's a fun game for all ages, one that involves a little running but can be played indoors in a large room, since the circle of chairs contains them.
You could use hula hoops and beannie babbies and do a toss game. Check on line for games for all ages.
You could also do a clay game with teams (make sure the ages are spread out in the teams so that you don't have all of one age group) if you have 2 teams of 3 or 4 you will need 2 sets of clay (with at least 4 colors). You can pick a thing to make we did fruit bowl and bus stop. Each person would get 30 seconds to make their part then they would switch and the next person could finish making what the other started or start on something new. For example for a fruit bowl the first person chose to make a bannana and the second decided to make the bowl and the third person finishes up making the bowl. Do this at least 2-3 rounds seeing how they do and at the end share your creations. This is for team building also. Have Fun.
T.
I love www.birthdaypartyideas.com for stuff like this. Check it out!
I think the Pinata will be great too! The trick to it is 2 strings, so you can really get it going. My brother had one at his graduation party and there were alot of 17 and 18 year olds that really enjoyed it! I also had one for my 11yr old daughters birthday and it was the highlight of the party. I put some small squirt guns in it too and that took off almost as fast as they discovered them.
My youngest daughter got marrried last Sat she had a pinata for the kids, everyone had a ball...you don't have to put candy in it, maybe some things from the Dollar Store, then they would have something to play with also.
As far as other games go anything that they would play at a birthday party...
Help the 2 older children organize and let them in be charge of the kids games, that might make them feel more a part of what is going on.....
Good Luck and have fun!!!!!!!
B. C.
Check out local dollar stores you'd be amazed at what little games and goodies they have for kids.Some kind of ring toss game, maybe have your (almost) older step-daughter help write up a scavenger hunt and do something fun outdoors.Reward them with prizes.Pinatas are always fun but you have toddlers involved so it might get dangerous there.Good luck and I hope everything turns out great at your hubbys b-day party!
Just some quick ideas, if it can be done outside, you can do 3 legged races, or sack races. Egg toss, or water run(you get something that easily spills water, like a spoon) and they have to dip it in a bowl and carry the water to a cup with a line drawn on it, first team to fill the cup to the line wins. My neighbor had a table set up with playdough at a graduation for the little kids. You can get some printable crafts or just have some pine cones with a jar of peanut butter and bird seed for them to make bird feeders. You can blow up some balloons and tie it to their ankles and they try to stomp on each other's balloons, the last one with one on, wins. WARNING: Make sure all the balloon pieces are picked up before a 1 yr old chokes on it. I would recommend going to some of the crafting websites and getting some ideas to put on a table, otherwise there are all sorts of outdoor games, if you are having it at a park, you could strike up a softball game and everybody over the age of 5 can play(you can't be highly competitive with little kids around, but they would all love it).
Really depends on if it is an indoor or outdoor thing. Have fun!
We recently did something similar at a party to celebrate my brother's wedding (a couple months after the fact). We set up a kids table, made sure the table had a paper table cloth on it, and raided the dollar store. We bought big pads of construction paper, markers and crayons an asked them to draw cards and pictures for the happy couple. We also encouraged them all to bring their favoriate hand held games to play at their table, and put a portable dvd player with a movie in it for them as well. Doing a scavenger hunt is a great idea as well, as long as your guests won't mind the kids coming up to them and asking for things, or having them sign cards. (Go get a kiss on your card from someone wearing lipstick or Go say hello to someone wearing orange). have fun!
When I got married we had a lot of kids at the reception so we went to the dollar store and bought crayons and coloring books and made little gift bags for the kids. We also went to Michaels and JoAnns and bought some simple little crafts for the kids. Both went over very well with the kids. They were between the ages of 2 and 12. It was really inexpensive, especially if you use coupons for the craft stores. Good luck
I love the piniata idea. But also you can do a bean bag toss, the ring toss, I love the scavanger hunt idea too. Maybe an obstacle course, think back to field day at school for ideas.
Sarah,
I attended a party like you mentioned and they had a "kids" table- with playing cards, board games, crayons and markers, legos, etc..... All stuff you probably have or can borrow. Ask your older children for suggestions.....some of the game ideas are great, if the older kids want to take charge of running them. Good Luck and have fun!
T.
FYI....K_Mart (don't know if you have one close by) has a slip and slide on sale for $6.39 this week, I'm picking one up for our party in two weeks. Family Dollar and Big Lot have cool things for outdoors at reasonable prices too, I am going to get a badminton set from there for around $10. You can never go wrong with water games even the big kids like to join in!
It's a perfect time of year for good ole outdoor games like races, water balloons, etc. Bob for apples, dress people up in toilet paper. It's all good! Most of all, have fun!
S.
Is the party going to be outdoors? Kids of all ages might enjoy different sports, like volleyball for the bigger kids and maybe other random balls to kick and play with. If you can't beg or borrow, maybe you could speak to parents ahead of time and encourage them to bring a toy or two to help occupy a group of kids. Little kids usually like things like bubbles, and if it's nice enough you might consider being adventurous and getting some squirt guns. You can get lots of things like that cheap at dollar stores. If it's inside, maybe you could designate an area for the kids and play music and let them dance,or give them space to play with their toys. Hope you find these suggestions do-able and that everyone has a great time.
L.
