Birthday party games

[JacobsMommy11002]

I need help. I am having my first kids home birthday party for my sons 6th birthday in a few weeks. I need a party game for the first 1/2 hour the kids are here. I have a guy who works rescuing injured animals coming then to give a little show and tell. He brings in various animals he has rehabbed, but still can't be released into the wild, and shows them to the kids and teaches about them..ie de-skunked skunks, raccoons, a hawk. After that we are doing pizza and cake, presents and the pinata. So I just need something to amuse them while everyone is arriving. Any ideas would be great!

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Hope you don't mind if I hang around and see what turns up here, I am in the same boat.

We did an "I Spy" scavenger hunt for DS7's party and DS9, too. It was a big hit. I split the kids up into two teams, red and blue. Before the party I went around the house and picked up about 40-50 odds and ends-toys, etc. Then we hid them around the yard. I typed out two lists, one for each team. Gave each team a list of "I Spy" (like the book) treasures to look for(the items from the house). Some items were the same on both lists, some were on one but not the other. One point for every item found. If one team picked up something that was not on their list, they lost a point. The kids loved it, it took about 1/2 hour. I could see this going on while kids show up, assigning them to a group as they arrive for the party.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

bumping - looking for more games!

 

[MSSANDRA]

I love the scavenger hunt idea. I would have it an individual quest as children will arrive at differnt times. ANother idea for arrival is instead of doing games, do a craft or art activity. Maybe a animal puppet or a bird house or anything animal related. That way the early and late arrivals can work as they arrive. Another idea I have used for boys b-day parties is to set up a building set construction area. We have a huge container of legos and I would often spread a sheet and invite children that arrrived early or finished an activity early to set down and build. Saves lots of running around!!!


Good luck, sounds like fun.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

Let's see, I've done two of these things and I'm trying to think of what I did....
pinata... that will either take up quite a bit of time or in the case of the last party, the 2nd kid to hit it broke it wide open... game done.
I also bought a foam picture frame kit from party city for the kids to put together. I took pictures of them while they were doing the pinata and then quick printed them out on regular paper so they had a picture to put in their frame when done.
I also had a coloring contest and when everyone was done, they all won a prize.
Last but probably the most fun for them was just letting everyone play downstairs in the toy room for a while.