I Need Craft/game Ideas for Daughter's 7 Year Old Birthday Party for 4-5 Kids

I went to a homeless shelter at Christmas and we had cupcakes and had the kids decorate them, also we had a box that fit construction paper. We first put a piece of construction paper in box, then squirted in three differant colors of kids paint, then had a handful of marbles and had the child move the box all differant directions to make a design with the paint on paper. They loved it. Each child can make one or more. Let them dry and they are proud of them. Also you can take graham crackers pretzels gumdrops and icing and make reindeers. They can eat them.Just a few ideas.

Try the Family Fun website. Lots of easy things. Also, what I did for my daughter when she was that age, we painted clay flower pots (from Michaels...they have every size from teeny to huge) and planted flowers in them. We must have planted the flowers first, to make it easier. We also made necklaces from thin ribbon and decorative buttons.

How about a tea party theme? When you send the invites, have the girls dress for a tea party. Then you could have them decorate craft store/party store straw hats with feathers, "jewels" and flowers, make necklaces out of sparkly, girly beads, and frost the cookies they're going to eat at their party (use old tshirts to protect their dress-up clothes). If you want, you can have them decorate foam frames for 4x6 photos and send each girl a photo of herself in her party finery when you send out thank you cards...

How fun! Well, my name is J., and I am an artist, so this is a fun area for me. My kids are too old for these ideas now...How about getting a wide roll of butcher paper and rolling out a sheet for each girl long enough to lay down on. Then trace each girl's outline of her body as she lays on it, and their project is to finish the picture however you see fit. You can provide paint, markers, glitter (go for it, Mom!) yarn for hair, pipe cleaners for glasses, construction paper for whatever, material for clothes, all kinds of glue, anything that sounds fun. Then the ideas to provide: "Make a portrait of yourselves in the future!" They can show what they will look like as moms, doctors, teachers, veterinarians, anything! Have fun! J.

We still love the frame with glued (Elmer's glue) shells on it from one of our kid's birthday parties. (This may be too fancy, but...if you have a digital camera and printer, you could take some photos and print them out on the spot for the kids to put in the frame.) You can buy big plastic containers of shells at Michael's Art Supply or one of the craft stores.

We did a treasure hunt. We had a pirate theme....but it wouldn't matter..The kids had soooo much fun.

I went to a website that organized the whole treasure hunt it was so easy and inexpensive for a game.

The website is www.treasure-adventure.com

There are all sorts of different ones to chose from and you just pay and get it downloaded into your email.

Hope that helps. I hope you do it I can't believe how much fun they had!!

A.

Hi K.,

Last year for my daughter's 7th birthday I rented a jump house - (about $75.00) and set up a craft table for them as well with those sticky foam art crafts (door hangers, etc from Michaels or Target) that kept them entertained for the whole time. We also played freeze dance. The jump house is always a big hit and you won't need anything else with that! I had done it the past 3 years.

If you just want to do games, you can do art with crayons/paints and papers/paper plates and some fun art supplies (puff balls, puff paints, glitter and glue...) make masks, freeze dance, musical chairs, dress up dance party, etc. Instead of doing a cake, you can do cupcakes and let them decorate their own to kill some time as well!

Hope this helps! I love throwing parties for my daughter - we have had quite a few - birthday, summer, halloween, etc! At this age they think it is cool when you are a part of it as well :) Guess we need to take that while it lasts!!

D.

My son is 16 now, but when he was 5 we made gold paper crowns for his party. Get some heavy gold paper with metallic finish , cut it into 5 inch wide sections and long enough to fit the children's heads . Cut a serrated pattern on one edge. Custom fit the crowns on each child's head,make a mark , remove the crown,then staple. Find decorations, like glitter that will dry fast , because they will want to wear them immediately!

Familyfun.com is a great source of crafts. My son went to a 7 yr old's party where they did shrinky dinks and turned them into keychains--the kids loved it. There's always cookie decorating if the group is small enough--you can have ziploc bags all set with different colors of frosting to make it easy. I think it's always fun if the kids have something to take home from the party.
Hope that's helpful!

I did an ice cream sundae party for my daughter's 6th birthday. Easy... just scoop the ice cream and let them go to town with the toppings. You might be able to get by with out a cake too. It was really fun and my daughter's friends had a blast.

Hi, I am E., My daughter is 19 now and I asked her what was her most memorable birthday and she said it was her 7th...We had a Victoian theme tea party. The girls and boys dressed up in their fanciest clothes,(some wore moms dresses pinned up) they love that, and we had tea(decaf)and mini sandwiches and drank out of little tea cups(thrift stores sell them cheap if you don't own any) We played victorian games, like dropping a clothespin into a narrow neck bottle, croquet and had a scavenger hunt around the yard/house. For a craft we made decorated hats. I think she liked it because it was different than all the other parties she had been to.
Have fun...that is most important.

Hi, K.--

I always do home parties for my boys. I put a lot of planning into my son's 5th birthday party as I invited his entire kindergarten class (each child had to keep a parent with them and I hired a teen to help).

I set up in stations with fifteen minutes planned for each station. One station was pin the tail on the donkey in a theme related to the party--this year we did the "knobs" on legos for my oldest and the eye patch on the pirate for the youngest, my favorite was the bucket on the backhoe.

Another station was to build houses with frosting and graham crackers, then there was a coloring station with lots of crayons and printouts from Tonka (most computer sites for kids have coloring sheets) and the kids were pleasantly surprised when I told them: there's one rule here: what ever crayons you touch you keep. It took them a minute to realize that they could keep their crayons and then they were all excited. Another station was playing in an "excavation pit" looking for burried cars. And decorating cookies was another station. OH--and they got to stamp a t-shirt to take home (I used rubber stamps and fabric ink--they had a ball).

I had a goodie bag (handled gift bag from Michael's) ready with names for each kid to put their stuff in. The parents who brought their kid had a great time watching their child play with the others and it was just a great experience.

Specific craft ideas: mini scrapbooks (I just saw flip books at Target that would be super cute--seems they were about $5 each and you could just get stickers and fancy scissors and a few sheets of coordinating paper--use glue sticks to put the paper on) are great fun.

Stamped items such as pillow cases, t-shirts (Michael's usually has colored tees on sale like 5/$10 or Walgreens might as well), ball caps, tote bags, etc. Oriental Trading has good prices on quantities of these.

Picture frames with the sticky foam.

Good luck and if you need any more suggestions/clarifications I'd be happy to help.

M.

Hi K.,

I teach recycled art and science workshops to kids through my program, RecycledArt. I teach 4-5 and 6-8 year olds. Depending on your daughter's interests some fun ideas might be rainsticks or found object instruments. Or maybe dioramas of the deep sea if she likes the beach. If she is into animals they could make hybrid animals with found objects (part mammal part bird, etc.). A mural might even be fun...and face painting is always a hit!

I hope that's helpful. And if you're interested, check out my website: www.freewebs.com/makerecycledart

Have a super fun party!!!

L.

My son's 7th bday was at our home and was a dragon theme. We had plain light brown paper sacks (the handle kind --cheap at Wishing Well) for the kids to decorate with castle, dragon, knights, and princess stickers (boy and girl party) and to color/marker/paint on as well. We also had foam core cut outs to piece together to make a dragon breathing fire, and had pin backings to hot glue gun (parents in charge of that) to the backs, so they had a dragon pin to wear, that they'd made. We played 'pin the fire breath on the dragon' and the kids made their flame licks to stick on the posterboard. I'm blanking on the other game we played, but there was at least one more game and another craft to go w/ the theme. Oriental Trading Company is great for ordering fun craft kits from. Do you get their catalog? You can get it for free (probably from their website). Cheap prices, too.
Have fun!

K.,

We did a craft where you paint a flower pot and then plant a live plant inside of it. With the spring flowers out, they turn out lovely. You can get the pots and paint fairly reasonable at Michael's crafts. You could also pick various plaster figurines for the kids to paint. Enjoy!

hi. i have a couple of ideas. you could do a cake decorating party. bake enough cakes in advance so each child has one. set them up on pretty plates, get a bunch of frostings and colored sprinkles, put everything on a table or in an area where they can reach, and let them decorate! you can purchase cake boxes from a local bakery very inexpensively, and when the kids leave, put their cake in -- it's their party favor too!

alternately, you can do a mani/pedi party. get a bunch of nail polishes, fun music, magazines, finger foods, and let them do each other's toes and nails, or enlist the help of a couple other moms. get each girl a pair of cute flip flops (inexpensive and cute patterns at old navy) and a little bag to take home their favorite polish and that's the activity and party favor too. hope this helps!

Hi K.!

I had a "Glamour Party" for my step-daughter years ago when she turned 9. Basically, it's a Dress Up Party, but they just dress as Glamourous adults. Some moms went to Goodwill to pick out an adult Prom Dress for their daughter. Other girls just wore their favorite dress of their mom's. The girls were decked out from head to toe with hats, make-up, pearls, gloves, high heels, etc... I had the table set "formal", with appropriate party favors wrapped like a Wedding favor. I also arranged a scavanger hunt (alerting my neighbors ahead of time), so the girls could find odds and ends. More so, so they felt GREAT showing off how they looked.
I'll be honest, the girls were SO into "pretending" to be glamourous, that I didn't need to do anything else. They talked with "accents" and had "relationships". It was so funny to hear their imaginations. They hardly ate anything, only drank "Champagne".
Anyway, it truly is a great party to do, and the having only a few guests would be perfect.
I Have more info if you want to hear it :0)
Whatever you do....have fun!

K. a couple of good places to look on the web are: Familyfun.com you can go under party ideas and then it has a huge list of different themes with food and activity ideas. Another site I use for my pre-K class is perpetualpreschool.com it is full of ideas for different themes so if you know you are having a teddy bear theme it has food, activities,songs, crafts... Hope these help. Remember that at this age they only will do a craft for about 15-20 minutes max if they are really engaged. So more short activities is better or a project they can start and come back to.

I've used this website as a resource for many of my kid's parties:

http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/party_ideas.html

Just be aware that you can do a QUARTER of what these winning parties suggest and still have a GREAT party. Kids at these ages really love the simple things, like tag and balloons and art. If you have a theme it gives you a fun starting point. If not, go with the classics.

Do be aware that many kids this age still haven't learned how to "lose," so staying away from prizes and winning/losing terms will help keep your party fun and positive.

Your party sounds like a perfect size. Enjoy!

Funny enough at my company Christmas party, we had playdough competitions... we were given a couple small pots of playdough and as a team (each table was a team) we had timed sculpting competitions.

Scavenger hunts are always fun, my friend's 5 year old party sent everyone through the yard looking for treasure chests, and each chest had a number in it. Each child got to pick a present from the treasure chest in order of their number!

I also found a great book a couple years ago, it includes rules for every standard game around, including board games and card games. They also had a whole section for childrens parties. I believe it's called "The Book of Family Games"

My daughter is 7 and we went to a party where they had some canvas bags and markers, glitter, and iron ons to decorate the bag. I asked the mother where she got everythign and she said Micheal's. She liked that and used the bag. She has also went to a party where they had a sand bucket different colors but plan and sun visors. That they got to decorate with markers and these foam shapes that were animals, hearts, crowns and other things. that stuff was also from Micheal's and DOllar Tree. She really had fun at those parties. You can also do face painting and tattoos.You can do the tattoos yourself buy the tattoos that you just need a damp cloth to put them on.

I remember a really fun session of pin the tail on the donkey at one son's b-day. We made our own donkey and tail. Of course pinatas are always fun.

Family Fun Magazine has an awesome web site with great ideas. Good Luck!

I like to buy pre-made wood crafts that you can buy at a craft store, because they are cheap. My kids like to paint and decorate them on rainy days. I buy jewels, beads, and feathers to glue on. You can buy all kinds of stuff - big or small. I once got a step stool, but usually we get jewelry boxes, treasure chests, etc.

Two words: Face Paint. This was a HUGE hit with the girls at my 6YO twin daughters' b-day party last year and I hadn't really planned it as an activity (it's also one of the most popular attractions at their school's annual fall festival). I had it leftover from making cat whiskers on one of them for Halloween and as soon as one of my girls said we had face paint, a half dozen of their classmates were excitedly waiting in line for face painting (fortunately they all just wanted simple things like cat whiskers and leopard spots!). A basic set costs less than $5 at a craft store.

I just had a great birthday party for my 5 year old - but there were older siblings there too. We did a big scavenger hunt. I bought a bunch of small toys (we were having a camp out theme so we had bugs and animals, little birds in a little nest, butterflies etc.) and hid them all over. We were outside, but this could be done inside too. I made a list of everything each child had to find - including some items found in nature (eg. a pinecone, something red, a feather) and gave each child a bucket and a copy of the list. They had a blast!

Another year we used fabric paints and stencils/stamps to paint t-shirts and tote bags. You could do shoes or hats too.

Have fun!

Hello my name is G.-

Instead of ordinary gift bags, recylce your toilet tissue rolls, fill them with candy, and fun trickets. Wrap the rolls to tie in with the theme of the birthday party. Additional treat is to paste an unique poem to each roll, and tie the ends with ribbon. The children will enjoy and have fun.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at ###-###-####.

How about a treasure hunt? I used to make them for in and around the house (mostly inside) with treats and treasures for all. Each rhyming clue had a little surprise with the next clue. Biggest treat/gifts for the grande finale. Usually in the theme of the party, which was whatever they were into at the time.

Hi! Oriental Trading Company can be found online and has a ton of crafts. They are super cheap and the kids love them. You can actually get the party favors thru them, too!

Have fun!

Hi K...Try going to crayola.com they have tons of crafts to do for kids.

Good Luck

Jenny

K.,
I use this wab site for almost all of my boys' parties. You can find specific party ideas there. You should be able to find something along the lines of "craft parties". Good luck!
K. M.

birthdaypartyideas.com

Anything from Lakeshore on Bascom Avenue - crafting puppets or maybe decorating the wooden birdhouses that you can purchase at Michaels. I've also had my kids decorate sugar cookies with icing and sprinkles - and for non-sugar decorating, you can have the kids make their own pizzas using individual Boboli and favorite toppings. Have fun!

Dear K.,
My daughter just had her 9th birthday party this past weekend. She only invited two of her friends. We played jump rope, marco polo, musical chairs and kickball outside. It was a blast and I really felt like we connected. =)

If it's raining... you can play in the garage.=)

K.,

Sand jars are always a fun one, a little messy but the kids will love their creations. You can buy the colored sand from Michael's and then all you need are some empty baby food jars (peel the wrapper and clean the jar inside and out thoroughly and dry thoroughly)and some tooth picks on hand so they can make designs. Then some hot glue (done by parent) around the threading of the jar to keep the lid tight and to prevent spills on the way home.

Also potato stamps are fun (you will have to do the leg work of cutting the potato in half and creating a 3-D shape in the middle of each half. Normal inking pad works for the color. and some white card stock or construction paper.

Have fun.

One year we made sock puppets and the kid's loved it. Also we had the girls play dress up. We gathered up a bunch of clothes,wigs,glasses and all that fun stuff that little girls love to play with through it in a box and let them play. We had them model it for use and took pictures. We made the pictures part of the party favors. To get all that stuff we just called up friends and family. You would be surprised at what people have to help you out.

Hope that I could help a little.
C.

hi there K.! hope this email finds you and yours well! check out www.crayola.com thay have great craft ideas and you don't necessarily have to use they're products. they have coloring pages you can print, games, craft projects - it was a life saver last summer for me and my then 5 year old.

hope this helps!

be well

One of the best birthday parties I ever planned was a fort building party. It was actually for my son, but my daughter and her little friend had the best time of all. Every child I have ever known loves to build forts, especially when a new appliance box is handy. Anyway, this got me thinking, as I wanted to do something noone else had done. First I collected several appliance boxes from the back of a few appliance stores. Then I got some paint brushes, washable paint, lots of old blankets towels and duct tape. My husband and I had a box cutter and made ourselves available to cut out windows. We had three teams, and I told them there would be a prize for everyone based on "most creative fort", "Most comfortable" and I can't remember what else. Anyway, they spent about 2 hours happily building and decorating their fort. we did this on the front lawn by the way, as you need a bit of space. After they finished we gave away prizes, then they all wanted to play in each other's fort and they even ate their cake in there!
My son is now 15, and he still remembers this birhtday fondly. We actually did a repeat for one of my daughter's birthdays.
Since you only have 4 or 5 kids, you could do this with just one fort and give away prizes for whatever each child contributes to the fort.Have fun!

Hey K., have you decided on a theme yet? That always helps me to figure out some fun crafts and/or games. Sometimes I just go to a craft store (Michael's usually) and just wander the isle until I get an inspiration. I only have boys, so my examples probably won't do for your daughter, but one year I did a race car theme for my son. I got the wooden derby cars and everyone painted their own race car and put stickers on them. Even the girls at the party got into that. I did a race track cake (googled kids birthday cakes and got some great ideas). Another year we did a pirate theme with a treasure hunt and a treasure chest cake.

A good theme always gets my creative juices flowing! Let me know the theme and I'll be able to come up with some good stuff for you.

Hi K.,
www.orientaltrading.com is a great site for inexpensive crafts.
Good luck!
L. L

I just went to Michael's and they had some $1.00 craft kits for kids 5 and over. The one I liked the best was a kit to make a birdhouse. It includes everything. I think this would be fun for your daughter's birthday party. They had trucks, helicopters, planes and a couple of other types too. You can't beat the price, and since you will have some parents around they can help the kids if needed. Have fun and happy birthday to your daughter!

I got an email from target about birthday parties and they have themes with activities you can do for each theme. I have all boys so looked up pirates and found some neat pirate activities. Maybe they have something that your daughter is interested in?

N. E

They could decorate picture frames. You could get little stickers and charms, rhinstones, paints, etc. Then take a group photo of them, print it out on your computer, and send them home with their personally decorated pic.

I run All About Theatre - a local theater company for children and adults. We have done many improvisation parties - fun theatrical games for people of all ages....

It would be great for the kids to do a theme party...if you only have a small group my recommendation would be to get a theme like Disney Princesses... or High School Musical or whatever your daughter is passionate about...

Using that theme you can play fun party and rhythm games (the classics like musical chairs... pin the tail on the donkey and kid's twister). You can also branch out into theater based games like Ali Baba....

You can find games like these online:-
http://www.creativedrama.com/theatre.htm

I hope this helps.... :)

Sincerely,

L. Chester
Artistic Director
###-###-####
http://www.allabouttheatre.org

I did a craft party for my daughter's birthday party and ordered from Oriental Trading Company, the parents and children really liked the crafts and the quality was great. Also, when I was calling around Joann Fabrics informed me that they host craft parties.

Also the could "cook" together something like "pizza" (english muffins, spaghetti sauce, pizza toppings and bake).

RE: games you may just want to google some game ideas. My sister-in-law did that for her daughter's party and came up with some really neat games for the kids (such as a scavenger hunt).

Best wishes for a great party for your daughter.

Beading, you can get a beading kit from michael's and get some stretch beading string. The girls made bracelets. I did this for my daughter's 9th birthday it was a big hit. You'll need to be there to tie their creations.

My niece has a spring birthday and we had a flower theme for her birthday party. At the beginning of the party we had the kids decorate flower pots and then later, after the food, we helped them plant a flower in each of their pots. We got a container with 6 small marigolds from Home Dept and some potting soil. Then the kids took their potted flowers home as their party favor. Just be sure that there is a sink near by for washing up.

Web sites for kids parties and crafts? That's easy! www.familyfun.com

familyfun.go.com/parties/ is a great resource.

One fun activity I did at my daughter's birthday party was a dress-up relay race. It was so funny (especially since there were some older boys there). We got a bunch of funny things to wear:
2 clown wigs
2 princess tiaras
2 sponge bob t-shirts
2 pairs of froofy slippers
and 2 pairs of too big overalls or skirts

We divided the kids into two even teams and had them line up relay style. Each team had their own set of silly attire. They had to put on all of the silly clothes, run across to the other side of the line, take off all of the dress-up clothes, help the next kid in line get dressed and then that child would run back and help the next person get dressed. The kids ranged from 5 to 11 years old and it was the hit of the party. Each child on the winning team got to chose one of the dress-up items to keep and take home.

It was so entertaining for the kids and the adults got a good show as well. There were a bunch of funny photos of the kids, too.

Have fun!

Hi...It will make it easier to come up with crafts and games if you come up with a theme for the party. Perhaps instead of doing something expected like a princess theme or tea party, plan a color themed party. What is her favorite color? Dollar Tree stores are a great source for inexpensive party supplies. Let's say it is red. Start with red invitations:

"Oh my heaven!
(so in so) is seven!
There's a party so come
And join all the fun
You're sure to be fed
But come think'n red!"
Date, time, etc.

Decorations:

I would flank red balloons on both sides of your front entrance to set the color mood. I would then set the table with red partyware and perhaps some fake lady bugs sprinkled on the table (I found some extra large fake lady bugs at the Dollar Tree and they would be great with small clear bowls glued to their backs with strong clear glue - to serve snacks out of.). Cheap paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling and crepe paper streamers from the chairs attached behind a red hardstock paper cutout "7". Or glue "7's" to streamers and hang from ceiling at different lengths. Get creative with inexpensive red items you have around the house or find at thrift or bargain stores.

Food:

Finger food is great for kids. You can dye cream cheese with red food coloring and make a sweet dip for strawberries (just add powdered sugar to the mix). You can make ranch dip for veggies and dye it as well. Little hot dogs with cheese wrapped in croissants with red catsup dip on the side would be tasty. Or make english muffin pizzas - a favorite around my house. Just spread pizza sauce on open faced english muffins, sprinkle with cheese and pepparoni for those who like a little meat (cheese only seems to be most popular). I would also serve red lemonade and have the kids decorate their own red cupcakes as one of the activities.

CRAFTS:

One favorite craft is Gak or Gooey Gunk (it is slimy and stretches but do not play with it on wood furniture).

What you need: (taken from the book 'The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions')

Solution A
1 cup water, 1 cup white glue, 2 Tbs. liquid tempura paint or 1-10 drops of food coloring
Solution B
1 1/3 cup warm water, 4 tsp borax laundry booster

To Make:
Mix ingredients in solution A together in a medium bowl
In a second med. bowl, mix the ingredients in solution B together until the borax is completely dissolved
Slowly pour Solution A into Solution B (do not mix!)
Roll Solution A around in solution B 4-5 times
Lift Solution A out of Solution B and knead for 2-3 minutes
Store Gunk in an airtight container or zip bag

Kids also love to create junk art. Collect cans (no sharp edges), boxes, toilet paper rolls, craft paper, buttons, pipe cleaners, etc. Have extra amounts of supplies in your theme color but introduce other colors for this activity. I use a non toxic craft glue that does not drip. You can get this at major craft stores. Let the kids loose! Just be sure to cover the craft area with plastic table cloths or newspaper.

GAMES:

Kids love treasure hunts. Give them rhyming clues at each stop that will lead them to the final treasure which will house their party favors (coordinating with the theme, of course). This way, they work as a team and they are all equally rewarded. Again, the Dollar Tree is great for favors. They usually have boxes or bags that you can get in red or other color.

I hope this helps. Feel free to email me if you already have a theme in mind and I can probably help with coordinating games and crafts specific to that theme.

Hi, while my kids are much older, my daughter always liked to do crafts at parties. Scrapbooking is one idea. Maybe you can ask some of her friends to bring a few of their favorite pictures and go to Michaels and load up on scrapbooking papers and stuff. The other thing you can do is decorate picture frames. You can pick up some unfinished ones at Michaels and I think even the dollar store. Take pictures of the girls at the party, with a digital or even polaroids. The girls can paint and decorate their own frames. I hope this has been somewhat helpful. I hope you have a great party and Happy Birthday to your daughter.
S.

Check out the website of Oriental Trading, www.orientaltrading.com. They have a few different catalogs, one with arts and crafts for kids, one for party themes, including goodie bag stuff, one for weddings and many more! I work at an elementary school and our staff and PTA use their ideas all the time! Very inexpensive too! Have fun!

Hi K.,

I have done lots of little girl birthday parties, I am a Creative Memories consultant and would love to help you with your daughter's party, I've got some fun and easy ideas. Give me a call ###-###-####, you can also check out my website www.mycmsite.com/LisaBreheney. I look forward to hearing from you.

L.

I always find it easier to plan a party with a theme. Some themes that a 7 year old might like: butterflies, beach party, undersea, tropical luau, Hollywood. I like "www.birthdaypartyideas.com" for lots of homemade ideas. 7 year olds might like making necklaces or bracelets, decorating treasure boxes and going on a treasure hunt, having a dance contest.
Have fun!

first happy birthday to your little girl, you can get a clown tha that comes to your house, she does tricks and she has build a bear toys to stuff it is real fun good luck have fun K. stockton,ca mom of four

I id an overnight party for my niece when she was 7 & 8(big one though) The kids had a great time going on a scavenger hunt.and thought it was a lot of fun.
Also, we did a party in December for my grand-daughter.She is very into crafts(she turned 8), and jewelry, so she wanted a "beading birthday bash". The girls had a lot of fun, making their own jewelry and taking it home. We got items for making earrings, bracelets, necklaces, etc. along with a wide variety of lovely beads. At her 7th b'day, her mother had just grad. spa school, so 12 girls got the spa treatment: A real facial with cucumber, and a foot bathe and pedicure. Then we did a fashion show, and mom played the announcer, it was hysterical! Just little fun girly things, but it was a really good time.(PS-and yeah, this was all at gramma's too)

Check out Family Fun magazine --- they always have age-appropriate craft projects.

I personally love Oriental Trading Company's website. The often offer free shipping too and tons of craft kits. Just make sure you order about 2 weeks ahead of time. They don't always get you your stuff within a week.

One year I took the slide down from our swing set and put it across some chairs in the yeard. Then I hardboiled a lot of eggs, and let them dye the eggs on the slide. The sides of the slide kept the eggs from falling on the ground, and the length of the slide made it possible for all of the kids to work side by side or across from each other with enough room for everyone. I didn't worry about spills since the whole thing was over the grass in the yard. I had plenty of dye colors, stickers, etc. Each child could take home their eggs. They loved it adn it was easy!

L.

http://www.scrapnstampstore.com/
They put together card making kits for birthday parties...they have some really cute cards. They are in Elk Grove.

K.,

Familyfun.com is a great site with wonderful ideas. You could get foam princess tiara's and some gems for them to decorate them with. There are so many foam things out there, there are wands and door hangers. I did that at my daughter's party and the girls loved it. I also just let them dance around to princess music. We also painted their nails and they loved. Hope your party goes great.

I like orientaltrading .com they have loads of crafts for kids. Michael's also has a lot good ideas, I especially like the foam craft kits. You can see and print craft activities from Parents.com and nickjr.com. I hope this helps.

Hi K., I'm a 71 yr old 'hip grandma. I always like the "old" games. "Dropping clothes pins in the bottle". "Pin the tail on Donkey" or hat on a rock-star or whatever! It was a milk bottle so if you have one 'antigue', it's fun an educational. I think it's also fun to have them make their lunch...pizza..have cheeses already with other foods...salami etc. sauce. Make their own dessert also..Have vanilla ice cream and all kinds of 'stuff' to put on..bananas, strawberries, choc chip etc. Put candle on top and have everyone make a wish for your dtr...and then she's the last one. All wishes are secret...that's the fun. Great for a working mother, cause you just have to shop, not get a cake!Alex

K.,
How about musical chairs?
Or maybe you can have them make beaded bracelets w/ their names so they have a keepsake from the occasion.
Making Bobali individual pizzas.

T.

Family Fun website and magazine are great resources. There is also a website called birthdayparties.com (I think) that lists all sorts of birthday party ideas from simple to over the top.
Best wishes
L.

A good place to look for craft ideas is Oriental Trading Company. They have loads of craft supplies and packages for very cheap but the downside is usually you have to buy in bulk which works well for groups of 10 or so but I still find great things there. There's also party decor and things like that.

Try "Foamies Activity Sets" you can pick up for a few bucks at Michaels crafts or Joanns Fabrics. Usually the kit includes enough fun things to put together for at least five kids. You will need to pick up more glue for the project, but overall the cost is very inexpensive and it will keep the kids busy for a long time.

Also, you can have them make papermache masks, which is very inexpensive.

Another idea is having them make their own personalized pizza. Have them sit at the table and give them the dough to roll out. Have all the stuff on the table so they can make their own pizza by choosing their own toppings. You can follow up the activity with having them make their own sugar cookies with food color and toppings.

Michaels crafts is a great place to find inexpensive fun activities for kids.

Have fun and enjoy! Good luck too!
J. (mom of one 3 1/2 year old girl)

I have done small at home parties for my girls for that age range. Keep in mind that they love to visit with each other and often only want to do one or two activities. Much of the fun for them is just being together at a party. Keep the crafts simple and if you order from Oriental Trading, try it out before the party. Have glue dots or a glue gun handy. White/school glue doesn't often due the trick when there's a time restraint or isn't strong enough to hold the project together. There will be varying skills and attention span within the group, make sure you have one or two helpers to help the girls who need it to finish their projects. You will also want an activity (and a helper to monitor that activity), ie twister, hullaballoo, for those who finish early. Kids who are not kept busy tend to wander into places they don't belong. Seven year olds still love pin the tail.., freeze dance, doggy doggy where's you bone, and singing together. Good luck with your party. Have fun, keep it simple and don't stress.

All the ideas suggested so far sound fun. I'm not sure when your party is planned and this would be weather contingent but I rent for residential use only a large commercial castle jumphouse if you are interested. It would need to be set up on a flat dry surface. I rent it for $125 for the day. Depending on where you live a small delivery charge would be added. I can send pictures demensions or whatever you need if interested, just email me at ____@____.com

N.

Bake little heart-shaped cakes and have each girl decorate one to take home to her family. Buy frosting tubs and pull out all those half-empty sprinkle bottles you accumulate through out the years. Red hots and other candies also make great decorations. You cake get the cake pans, pink bakery boxes, doilies and cardboard cake boards at a craft store.

Hey K.,
I had my son's first birthday party today and had a very large age range so had to find creative ideas all the kids could do. The big hit of the day was the "make your own piggy bank" table, I baught piggy banks at michaels (they were on clearence 3 for $5.00) and set up old shirts for them to protect their clothes and they painted their banks and were able to take them home, it was a lot of fun and everyone loved it! I also had a make your own cupcake table which was fun but some of the kids thought it would be funner just to eat the iceing.
we also played freeze dance, pin the tail on the donkey and I bought a ski ball blow up game from party city.
while I was shopping for ideas I had found a dancing game at party city similiar to the one at arcades that you play on the DVD player and has a mat for the ground for only $13.00.

good luck and happy birthday!
Kryssi

Fuse beads are great! They come with all sorts of fun shaped trays and then the children will put all the beads into the tray, you would than iron (them with some wax paper). Plus if you get a needle through one of the pieces with a string you can make a necklace.

Try logging onto familyfun.com they always have fun ideas and you can type in your theme for even better crafts, games, and decoration ideas

My second grade son loves Pin the Tail on the Donkey (so much he made his own for at home). You can pick up a cheap version in the birthday section of Walmart.

Also an activity that is good for any age is to decorate their own goodie bag. My nephew at 14 enjoyed this activity, as well as his four year old sister. Purchase some paper bags (I prefer white). Gather markers, stickers, crayons, and any odds and ends that you may have (like leftover ribbon from Christmas) and they will spend as much time as you let them decorating their own bag. No fighting over whose bag is whose and you can set up for the next stage at the party!

Happy birthday to your daughter... sounds like you got some great response. www.kidsdomain.com

Have fun.
R.

Hi, although all of my children a grown up now I attended a party for my nephew last year. His mom had a person come who did science experiements. I don't remember the name of the company butthe kids had a ball. She really held their attention and they loved participating and making all kinds of stuff. She also left them with "goodie bags" with NO CANDY and they were thrilled. These kids were between 1st and 5th grades.
I would google Science Parties for Kids and seeif you can get some local information.

Best regards
S.
Princess House

One year we had a variation on "pin the tail on the donkey" where we made an outline of my child by having her lie down on a big piece of paper and traced her, then made articles of clothing out of paper.(She and I did this ahead of time.) We put double-sided tape on the back of the clothes, then blindfolded the kids. We put the tracing up on the wall and had the kids try to put the clothes where they belong on the kid. They thought it was hilarious when the clothes were stuck in the wrong places. We did it outside and hung the paper child on the fence, but if you have an inside wall with some room in front of it, that would work too!

I did a flip flop craft project. I got the stuff at Michaels. Each kid decorates thier own Flip Flops. They loved it.

Hi K..

Do you have a theme yet? One year I did Knights and Ladies. Each child made their own costume out of old sheets or cheap materials from a fabric store (girls made those pointy hats with ribbons coming off the tip, boys made vests and swords out of cardboard.) I also ordered things from Oriental Trading Company. I got gobblets, a cardboard castle that the kids could color and put together, then they played in it. I also got flags from them with fabric markers so they could each make their own crest. You can get lots of jewels from them for dress-up, and all kinds of other cheap things for almost any theme. If the weather is good, you can BBQ and have a "feast fit for a king (or queen)". We had about 6 kids and about 20 adults and we all had a blast. Hope you have fun.

Make the eating part of the party become part of the party. They could decorate cookies or cupcakes for themselves instead of a cake. If you need a birthday cake, make a small one for your daughter to decorate, do candles and eat.

Another fun idea is English muffin pizzas - muffins, grated cheese (or let them grate it), tomato sauce and toppings. Bake in the oven and eat. With as small a group as you are having (good for you!), you can gather them around the table or even on a sheet or drop cloth on the floor to make their snacks. Other snack ideas will show up on the various websites suggested in other responses.

Word Search games are fun, too, and these kids should be old enough to find simple birthday words in the puzzles (some will be on websites mentioned. Or print a large one on a big piece of paper or posterboard(some come with grids on them) - write in the birthday words, and then fill in with other letters. Let the kids take large markers and find the words.
HAVE FUN!

Hi K.!

When I was in 1st grade my mom threw me my favorite birthday party ever! She invited about a dozen girls over to our house where we got make-overs! She had gone to the fabric store and bought fake fur. Each girl was given a strip of fabric to create a shall, and we had pins and jewels to decorate the shawls. My mom also had a beauty table set up, and the girls were allowed to put on make-up (with the help of other mothers). Then, once we were all done up, we went to high-tea, which is a special "snack" time between lunch and dinner. So we all drank tea and had little finger-foods and felt very high class and sophisticated. It was tons of fun for little girls! :-)