Poorly chicken

[little chickadee]

Hi Everyone. You are a resourceful lot and I thought I'd pick your brains.

My son (7 on Saturday 27th) has a very small class (14) in his village school and we always end up inviting the whole class to his party, on the understanding that probably a few can't come.

This year, I think everyone is coming apart from his very sensible best friend

This is all very well if it's sunny, but i like to have wet weather ideas up my sleeve.

I've got some handpuppet kits to make with them, but has anyone got any other good ideas for me to have on standby? (We'll already be doing pass the parcel etc)

 

Hope this doesn't get lost on the nesting box board, I can't keep up with it at the moment.

Edited September 21, 2008 by Guest

[Karen & co.]

You could let them decorate cakes or biscuits that they can then eat later, I did this at YD's party and one little girls made a total mess and piled on as much as possible and when she was picked up, she chose a lovely nicely decorated cake and told her mum she had made it

 

Pizza decorating where they choose their own topping, this may need rationing too

 

Games we used to play are hunt the thimble ( do children know what one is anymore ) treasure islands where each child has an island made out of paper, they could even decorate their own to kill a little more time and whilst they are dancing the islands get taken out one at a time and then a child has to sit down, until only one is left.

 

Plus dead lions is always a good one for a few minutes peace

 

Karen x

[jlo]

You don't mention how old he is. I am guessing that the party is coming up quite soon. We had a hallowe'en party a couple of years ago and the kids really emjoyed the games that we put on. Some can be adapted to be not quite so ghoulish....getting them into teams and getting them to wrap one member of the team in loo roll - like a mummy; putting different things into a box that they can't see and getting them to feel inside and guess what is in there. As it was hallowe'en we also got them to guess what it could be - eg maraschino cherries (eyeballs) I filled a latex glove with warm water and tied the end ; cold cookd cauliflour. Can't remember anymore off hand but a search round the kitchen could do the trick!

[Bassett]

I'm watching this thread with interest, as my son's birthday is soon and he has requested a superhero party at home, so I'm trying to think up some ideas.

[deejmum]

At my sons recent 7th birthday party our small air hockey (argos £30 odd a couple of years ago) was a big hit, as was nintendo wii bowling, but I think the main attraction was the pinata I got from ASDA. They loved it and it took ages to break. Next year I think I will just get three of them and scrub the bouncy castle(which got used for less than 5 minutes)

[Hen Watch]

Last year my 7 yr old son had a party loosely themed around a treasure hunt but with each clue of the hunt being an excuse to do an activity.

 

All the children came in fancy dress (so I had Batmen, Judo Warriers, Pirates etc.).

 

I have 2 older daughters who were the Captain and First Mate of the ship (HMS Dominic) and they helped read out clues for any little ones who can't read well.

 

I took a camcorder videa of eldest daugher who read out the first clue and all the children had to sit down as I played it back on the TV, then paused it whilst they thought of where the clue was, then pressed play to reveal the answer.

 

Rest of the clues were typed out. Some clues just pointed to the next clue eg. "S"Ooops, word censored!"e the s"Ooops, word censored!"s off all the plates, this machine just cleans them great......?" So I hid next clue inside the dishwasher. etc.

 

Most of "clues" included pirate tasks which were just an excuse for party games. Once the task was over I gave them the next clue.

 

Games included :

eg. "Traders from the Caribbean have come to trade sweets. But they are poisonous and you must not touch them. Transfer the treasure into the hold without touching it"

So this is transferring smarties from one plate to another sucking them on the end of a straw.

 

eg. "A freak storm blows you off course to Egypt. The pyramids are short of Mummies. You must sacrifice a shipmate to become a Mummy FOREVER...".

This is the classic game of wrapping up a child in tons of value toilet tissue (only rule is not over the face). Kids love to do this in teams then at the end the Mummy breaks out of the bandages.

 

eg. Bobbing apples "Magic apples must be rescued from the pond on the island"

 

eg. Palm trees grow magic balloon coconuts which must be harvested and stored in the hold for the onward journey. So this leads to the under over balloon passing game and putting them in a chest or trunk or corner of the room that is the hold.

 

eg. Port and Starboard game. Children dance but must do an action when you shout out a word. ie. Starboard = run to the wall, Port = run to the window, Captains Coming Aboard = salute, Submarines = Lie on the floor, Ships Dirty = pretend to scrub the floor etc.

 

Food is one of the clues as well since the Captain lays on a banquet.

 

Last clue something clever written in mirror image so they have to hold it up to a mirror to read it.

 

Finally the treasure chest when they found it contained all their party bags to take home.

 

I've got bags of clue ideas and riddles all typed as notes to use or not use. If you are interested PM me and I'll send it to you.

 

This party only takes a little bit of planning, typing clues out, hiding them, but in reality it is just a few basic party games which you would do anyway put into a theme.

 

The kids that came last year absolutely loved it.

[Hen Watch]

Sorry just re-read your post and you want indoor party activity ideas.

 

In the past I have made fairy cakes and each child had 4 on a plate to cover with runny icing and various toppings like hundreds & thousands, choc chips, angelica etc. Then take home in party bag.

 

Pin the nose on the child. Roll of wallpaper or similar. Birthday boy lies down and you draw round him then pin it to wall. You pre-make nose, eyes, lips, ears and each child is blind folded and bluetacks them to the wall. Kids fall about when they see where they've put them.

 

Pass the parcel.

 

Mummy game and Port/Starboard game - see above.

 

Hide mini sweet packets around the house for them to find.

 

Sucking smarties through straws and transferring is great fun, but lots of spittal ends up on them so they don't get eaten.

 

Put objects in a box with a hole cut out to put their arm in. They must guess what the object inside is. So yucky stuff like jelly is good for a reaction, liquorish lace (you can get them going by talking about worms) etc.

 

Painting is good if you can stand it. I once bought 10 clear plastic pencil cases from Woolies and some acrylic paint and the kids painted a picture or put on their name and took them home in party bags. Some spend ages on this, others took a few seconds.

 

If you google party games you will get loads of ideas.

[Snowy]

Katy that sounds fantastic! I've been struggling to think of things for my sons party in a couple of weeks, those are great ideas, thanks!

[little chickadee]

I knew that you lot would give me plenty of ideas Love the smarties/straw and the mummy idea. I think we'll shut Quita away in her crate for the mummy bit (Our Guide dog pup)

[Hen Watch]

little chickadee - I've only just logged on and got your msg. Have emailed you some info.

[Goosey Lucy]

I'm not sure what you do for a living Katy but have you thought of being a children's party planner?

 

Your ideas and theme are fab!

[Hen Watch]

I'm not sure what you do for a living Katy but have you thought of being a children's party planner?

 

Your ideas and theme are fab!

 

Errr.......no, don't go a bundle on other peoples kids Just a housewife, mum of 3, and eve/weekends in a call centre (which I love as I can talk to grown ups....oh and on this forum too).

 

My kids are 11, 9 and 7 (soon to be 8 years old TOMORROW.....OH HELP SLEEPOVER WITH 4 SEVEN YEAR OLD BOYS PLANNED FOR FRIDAY AAGGHHHHH) and all their birthdays fall within 4 weeks. So every year one child is allowed an "outside" party which we pay for and the other 2 have to have traditional home parties. The funny thing is that over the years my kids get invided to so many "outside" soft play, bowling, lazer, ice skating, snow tubing, gym parties, that having a "home" party is a bit of a novelty. I have been asked by a couple of friends to "run" their parties at their houses which I have done only twice. But I think this is more because I have a loud voice and love bossing children around.

 

Girlie parties are easiest as nail and makeup sessions (even for 9 year olds) go down a storm. Then each child gets to keep their own lip gloss, silver eye shadow and nail varnish as a party bag present. So no cross contamination and the kids love their party bags and that is all the whole party has cost.

 

Ultimately I just don't want to spend loads of cash on parties and I think with the credit crunch loads of people will go this way too. Here's to jelly and ice cream......

[Lesley]

There was a bit on BBC Breakfast a couple of weeks ago about Mums going back to more traditional parties and stopping the OTT, High Cost, events.

 

Jelly and Ice-cream sounds good to me

[Snowy]

We are the same - 3 birthdays within 3 weeks. I've never done the big parties either. The biggest we had was to use the church hall and had a pirate fancy dress party and a friends bouncy castle (very cheap and the adults got to bounce when the children had gone home!) Now it's just a few friends round for a birthday tea and some games!

[Bassett]

How did the party go?

[crisparkle]

I might be a little too late, but anyway. Does anyone still need an advice on celebration parties? We had one for my little princess last month! With contests and fancy dresses, the organisation was held by the same concierge that was supplying wedding photographers in bristol for my sister's wedding a year ago or so.

[Patricia W]

It’s lovely to see old posts again.  I’m at the stage of grandchildren’s parties.  Only drawback is the number of birthday cakes I make now we are at grandchild no 8!  As they get older they get more elaborate - I’ve done Peppa Pig (4 times) unicorns ( 3 times) Postman pat, Octonauts, Paw Patrol control tower with vehicles, Superheros, Ninjago.... 

I worry sometimes that the parties are getting too elaborate.  I was pleased when  my grandson wanted ‘ proper’ party games like pass the parcel etc and a small party at home.  Beats running amok in a church hall!  

[Alis girls]

I think I had a senior moment as I read it as wanting ideas for wet party. I was going to suggest a paddling pool , garden hose and a lot of towels and something alcoholic for you as you would need it. 

When  mine were little I did pass the parcel , pinning tail on some animal or other. Icing cakes or biscuits another good one. Good luck