Birthday Party - Paris,TX

For my daughter's 8th birthday we did a full on tea party in the backyard. The girls dressed in sweet dresses and they had tea and fancy sandwiches and pastries and all. As a favor, my daughter and I had picked out a pretty (and different one for each child) teacup and saucer for each girl. It was a hit!

Just let them hang out & play! It seems anytime I try to do organized games, the kids blow them off in favor of just enjoying being together & playing on their own.

Also check out http://familyfun.go.com/

D.

Bubbles are always a hit ($ Tree by Target) has some really big wands with shapes in them and the big things of bubbles (these are more older kid like wands)They also have kites...that might be fun most kids dont ever think to do kites anymore ..also egg races w/ a raw egg and spoon. We always did the balloon race too....to pop as many as you can by sitting on them! Kick ball and tag are classics too. Just have a variety of things like a toss game (can get the ones for the pool from the $ store and it should stand on the ground like ours), balls (diff. kinds), bat & ball, some hula hoops for contests. Iwouldnt plan too many actual games kids always end up running around and making up there own stuff too. Good Luck and yall have a fun time!

Hi,
My daughter has big birthday parties every year, and because we live in a very small community, all the children in her class attend.
What they seem to like best are games like kickball, volleyball..that sort of thing.
Hope this helps!
Peace,
C.

Someone already mentioned the egg race, only I do it with hard boiled eggs so that if they drop they aren't wasted and don't make a mess that I have to clean up later. Another fun race is the bean race. Place 5 to 7 dry beans (we used lima beans) in a row on a dinner knife and the have to race to the finish line without dropping any.

Here's another idea. Get a large roll of white butcher paper at a craft store. Hang it up along the fence. Place some drop cloths on the ground just below it and give the kids water pistols with paint inside. They'll have fun squirting paint onto the butcher paper a creating a work of art. Make sure there's nothing around the paper that you don't want accidentally painted.

Scavenger hunt! I had my nieces party at my house and they LOVED the scavenger hunt!
They had to get things like a colored paper clip, a q-tip, piece of green construction paper, envelope, etc.

For prizes I went to Sam Moon at 121 & Preston and bought cheap boa's, necklaces, etc.

Red Rover

Red Light/Green Light

Flag Tag - two teams different colored flags stuck in a pocket. Kids pull the flags of the other team. If your flag is pulled, then you are out. The team that wins gets a prize. The kid with the most flags gets a prize

Simon Says

You could rent a bounce house for all the kids, they love that. We have one and it keeps them busy for hours. You could look on-line or in the phone book under "party supplies-renting", have fun.

Kids love the potato sack race (ou can use pillow cases for) also the egg on a spoon race! You can do a pinata or bounce house also!

K.

Definitely a bounce house! Those are always a hit.
At that age a scavenger hunt or obstacle course (one legged race, hopscotch, egg race etc.) would give them loads of entertainment. You guys are going to have so much fun!!!

Good luck!!
A.

I like the ideas you have been given. My son turned 7 last October and we rented a bounce house for the backyard. It was $115 and we had it for about 20 hours. I tell you what, that was the best money we have ever spent on a party. The company I rented from (I'll do a business review on it) was fantastic to work with. Because it was such a big hit, we'll most likely do it again next year too. :)

Silly string is always a big hit! I've done a scavenger hunt before where I hid clues around the house and yard leading them to the final spot where I had cans of silly string hidden. Then they had a silly string fight. It's messy but if you do it outside, then it's all cool.

The clues were phrases that described the next spot for the next clue like - "Harry Potter used to use me as a bedroom" which described the closet under the stairs. Then I had the next clue in the closet that then described the next spot. It was fun for the kids to try to figure out which spot was being described, then to find the hidden message, then start all over.

Good luck!

Have you considered relay races? Like the kind with the egg on the spoon? Or there is another one where you try to throw water balloons to your team mate...and whoever can last the longest without a busted balloon wins or with the least busted balloons? Water guns are fun too...and it is just now getting warm enough.