OMG - this snow totally ruined my plans for my daughters 2nd birthday party tomorrow. We bought her an ourdoor little tykes playset and a bounce house and we were going to have all the kids over to play. Now my yard looks like a swamp and I doubt that it is going to be dry enough by 4pm tomorrow. Any ideas to entertain 6 children 2 and under for an hour inside? I am freaking out because just 2 can destoy everything in like 2 minutes and I have no idea what to do to keep them entertaind. Any suggestions would be awesome!
Thank you for your advice. I know this is a situation I will face every year, as early March is always iffy in Texas. We had made plan B to set up in the garage, but just as we were about to blow up the bounce house we decided to check out the mud situation in the back yard. Thankfully it had dried enough to set up so we were scrambling at the last minute to get it all ready but it all worked out and of course my daughter would have never known the difference. Can someone remind me why we stress out over things that aren't that big of a deal in the course of all of life????
This is probably too late, but I had a friend do a ball party. Lots of balls on the floor for them to play with.
When my daughter was little and we had parties, we used the garage a lot. Her bday is 12/27 so the weather is unpredictable. We would set up her Little Tykes in the garage and the bounce house fit perfectly on our driveway.
I went through the garage carefully making sure I had it kid friendly. The parents were also on hand to help out as well.
We did this for years when we would have big fall parties as well because it kept everyone out of the house for the most part and my house was not destroyed.
Good luck!
Susan
Have some coloring pages available for them. You can print out free pages from the internet. Maybe find something related to your theme? Music is always good for a distraction. :) Good luck!
Our bounce house actually fits in our garage. It may be worth a try.
my kids love stickers--- print out some pics of your theme (if there is one) and let them do stickers. Just one suggestions... and just get more snacks. LOL!!
Can you put the bounce house in the driveway instead?
for alternate entertainment get the game hullaballoo from cranium at toys r us. it's a fun version of cake walk. kids love it! that will take a few minutes. we even played it on our driveway! =)
also can you come up w/ a scavenger hunt of some sort?
google: indoor birthday party games for kids
~~~ OBSTACLE COURSE ~~~
WHAT YOU NEED:
Obstacles--furniture, pillows, etc.
String
Paper and tape
Household objects
HOW TO PLAY:
1. Plot your course. Obstacles that might be included in the course: crawling under or over chairs; crawling under a table without disturbing any balloons dangling on strings from the bottom; sliding under or crawling over a string stretched between two table or chair legs; crawling or slithering through a tunnel made from couch pillows; or stepping on a series of pieces of paper taped to the floor.
2. To make the course even more challenging, add further elements. Have kids go through the course while holding an empty toilet paper tube in each hand. Try wearing a large hat while maneuvering through the obstacles; if the hat comes off, it's back to square one.
VARIATIONS:
Other obstacle possibilities include silly rules like jumping up and down three times after completing certain "stations" or singing a song at a certain point in the course. The variations are almost endless.
I hope you were able to figure out something! The Spring is so tricky when it comes to outdoor parties in Texas.
For future reference, I am a child entertainer (with a team of entertainers to pull from) and I do offer last minute parties. We are like Build-a-Bear, but we come to you- your home, the park, your church, etc... AND the children actually stuff the animals themselves. Great, quality products and great prices- $15 to $17 per child.
Just wanted to put that info out there to help any future "yucky" weather situations.
Thank you,
R. B.
www.MakeYourOwnStuffedAnimal.com
PS I am a certified teacher with lots of references. :)
Stonebriar Centre in Frisco and most of the malls have a children's play area with lots of kid friendly "dry" things to crawl and play on. Just a thought but have everyone meet at the play area if there is one closeby.. You can use the food court tables at no extra charge to have cake and snacks!
