@ - Birthday party activities

[eponinepontmercy]

What do I do with 9 kids ranging in age from 2.5 - 5?  Last year, I just got a bunch of balls and bubbles and art supplies and everyone just ran around outside.  Since the response to "what kind of party do you want?" has been baseball, soccer, princesses, running, Jake, and 17 other things, we don't have a real theme.

The party is at my ILs house, and they have a pretty big yard.

[jeaniebueller]

Is it going to be warm out? You could set up a kiddie pool or sprinklers, slip n slide, water guns, etc?
A piñata?
Pin the tail on the donkey?
A bean bag toss game?
Organize some type of craft for them to do?

[eponinepontmercy]

We'll probably do a pinata again. If it's warm out, a sprinkler would definitely be fun. I'll keep that on my list!

[ttt]

I went to a party where they had set up a whole obstacle course in the backyard made out of pool noodles and such. The kids seemed to have fun with that.

[eponinepontmercy]

Aug 21, 2015 9:50:50 GMT -5 ttt said:

I went to a party where they had set up a whole obstacle course in the backyard made out of pool noodles and such. The kids seemed to have fun with that.

I don't know how I'd keep the adults out.

Hmm...off to pinterest.

[mbcdefg]

Do you want an organized activity for all the kids at once, or do you want to set up stations so they can pick and choose what they want to do?

Organized:
tug of war
pinata
volleyball, kickball, a couple innings of wiffle ball
water balloon toss
freeze dance

Do relay races with two teams: 
- carry an egg on a spoon to a mark maybe 20 feet away, turn around and run back, give it to the next kid
- full pail (#1) of water by the start of their line, empty pail #2 at the mark on the other end; dunk a big car-washing sponge, or a plastic cup punched with small holes, into the pail #1 and then run to pail #2 and pour it in; run the sponge/cup back to the next kid; first team to fill pail #2, or to have the most in #2 once #1 is empty, wins
- Or you can have the teams line up and then pass the sponge/cup under their legs to the kid behind them, and the last kid dumps it into the empty pail - the last kid can either run up to the beginning of the line and you can keep going in that fashion, or you can have the kids remain in place the whole time. 
- scavenger hunt: Fill a paper bag with different small items (rubber bands, small toys, paper clip, penny, etc.) and place it at the mark. An adult stands next to each team with a list of items and an empty paper bag or pail. At "Go!" the adult reads the first item on the list (example, the penny) to the first kid, and the kid has to run to the mark and find the penny in the bag. Then he runs back, drops the penny in the team's bag, and the adult reads the second item to the second kid. Keep going down the line until the bag is empty or you get through all the kids. For this game it's best to have the teams line up oldest-to-youngest and then let the younger kids find the bigger items so that they're not searching through the bag forever. 

Stations:
bubbles
hula hoops
bean bag toss/cornhole
squirt guns
kiddie pool ... they can lounge in the pool, or you could float rubber ducks in the pool and write numbers on the ducks' bellies. Match the numbers to small prizes. Kid picks a duck and turns it over, then comes to you to collect the corresponding prize. 
cover a small table with butcher block paper and do a coloring table, Play Doh, finger painting


Ideas: www.annies-eats.com/2012/07/05/camp-andrew-andrews-fourth-birthday-party/ 

[redheadbaker]

Aug 21, 2015 9:48:30 GMT -5 eponinepontmercy said:

We'll probably do a pinata again. If it's warm out, a sprinkler would definitely be fun. I'll keep that on my list!

DS talked about the pinata for weeks after last year's party.

[meshaliuknits]

I threw a bunch of balls, bubbles, hula hoops and devil sticks in a box and let the kids run wild. Turns out, that BabyLiu's loft bed is more fun.

Last year we had a toss the cookie in Cookie Monster's mouth game I made. I was gonna do that again but make a Death Star for BoyLiu's birthday, but I ran out of time. For BabyLiu's Iron Man birthday I was gonna do pin the arc reactor on Iron Man, but again I ran out of time.


I'm great with ideas. My problem is I'd rather sit around and watch Supernatural.

[eponinepontmercy]

Aug 21, 2015 10:51:49 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

I threw a bunch of balls, bubbles, hula hoops and devil sticks in a box and let the kids run wild. Turns out, that BabyLiu's loft bed is more fun.

Last year we had a toss the cookie in Cookie Monster's mouth game I made. I was gonna do that again but make a Death Star for BoyLiu's birthday, but I ran out of time. For BabyLiu's Iron Man birthday I was gonna do pin the arc reactor on Iron Man, but again I ran out of time.


I'm great with ideas. My problem is I'd rather sit around and watch Supernatural.

Our original plan was to throw money at the problem and have the party at the trampoline park or the zoo.  We cut our budget once we found out we were going to Disney.  Now we're back to pizza and games in the backyard.  It's going to be fun, but I have to put a lot more thought into the whole thing.