need help with kid's party ideas

[TJ's Mom]

My son is turning 8 tomorrow. I am breaking all rules for the party! We are having it tomorrow - on a school night! Every weekend close to his birthday was booked with something, then we hit Thanksgiving and Holiday party stuff in December. So we decided to have kids over for pizza and cake from 4:30-6:30. Time to do homework before the party and time to bathe after. I figured they go to baseball and dance at this time, so why not to our house! I was worried no one could come, but so far it looks like all but one is coming.

It is a little cold outside so I am looking for inside things for them to do. It is a mixture of girls and boys. I do not want to wind them up too much since it is a school night. Any ideas of games/things to do?

 

[mom2travel]

Hmmmm.... I have found that good "old-fashioned" games are always enjoyed, like musical chairs, freeze dance and hot potato. They could play charades. Or a guess-who game where you stick a character/type of person name onto each person's back (one at a time) and have that person ask the others questions until he/she guesses what is on his back.
Or do some variation of pin the tail on the donkey - we do "pin the face on the witch" at Halloween. Kids don't care whether you have artistic talent or not - if you tell them it's a (fill in the blank) then they believe you . Maybe some variation where they get to decorate the birthday boy while blindfolded - hat, scarf, mittens - or even paper-taped-on items.
I love crafts, especially decorating with fabric markers with the kids because it is mostly mess-free and easy to clean up after (just throw a cheap plastic tablecloth down on the work surface). T-shirts or tote bags, etc can usually be purchased at Michael's (craft store) for a few dollars each plus buying fabric markers which you'll have for other events... super-easy craft and a party favor in one
If you have time left toward the end, your son can always open his gifts if you are comfortable with that - the other kids usually enjoy seeing the birthday child open their present.

 

[zoemurr]

I agree.. do some "old fashioned" ones. I bet they would even love duck duck goose.

We play "the blanket game" with my preschoolers, and I did it with my GS troop and they loved it. One kid goes outside of the room and another one hides under the blanket. Child returns and guesses who. If they can't guess the one under the blanket says, "Hi Suzy" until they guess.

Another one we had fun.. I can't remember the name.. kids sit in a circle. give them each a number. One kid is in the middle. They call out 2 numbers. Those kids try to switch places (through the circle) without the middle person tagging one. If they are tagged they are in the middle.

I bet they would also have a blast with musical chairs. Everyone is so worried about someone being upset when one "wins" that kids don't play this anymore.

Have fun!
check out www.birthdaypartyideas.com one of my favorite sites for lots of ideas.

 

[TJ's Mom]

Thanks for the ideas!