Birthday party help!?

We are having the boys first every real live birthday party (usually we do small family get-togethers). We have decided that we will have it at home to save some money and they have chosen a theme. They are each going to invite 5 kids from class and then we will invite the kids from our street that they play with and some close friends. When I think of it like that it doesnt sound like too many but then I added it up and we will have 24 kids including the birthday boys eek! plus some parents will stay I so my smallish party has somehow turned into a large party lol. And lucky me I get to plan every bit of it all by myself. I would like the majority of the party to be outdoors but of course you can never really tell what the weather is going to be like in the Spring so can anyone maybe give me some activity ideas to keep all these little ones from destroying the house and driving me crazy?!?

 

We set up an indoor basketball hoop (one of the nerf ones that hangs on a door) and put tape lines out for the boys to shoot from to count points. We used some of Timothy's indoor bowling sets and had a small bowling alley set-up. We also own quite a few nerf guns and you'd be amazed how much fun a bunch of boys can have with disposable cups (building them into something) and then shooting the creations apart. I had some foam sticker crafts for the kids to put together while we were waiting for everyone to show up.

And chances are, no where near that many boys are going to show.

Marissa

 

Plan a treasure hunt (have 1 version for indoor, 1 for outdoor)
Have some sort of EASY craft
Hide and seek
Pin the tail on the donkey (or a version relating to your theme)

Honestly, I wouldn't plan too many games but would have enough things to keep them active(Balls are good)

What are their themes?

 

The theme is Star Wars Clone Wars (their favorite cartoon)...I was thinking a treasure hunt would be fun but being not very creative I am having a hard time coming up with one.

 

We did a treasure hunt game for a Halloween party. Whe made a map and when they got to the locations there was a clue to the next location. At the end was a treasure box with a bunch of goodies in it.

 

I just helped out as "photographer" for my friend's sons' birthdays (born on the same day, two years apart) for their first ever friends birthday party. One turned 5, one 7. She had only her sister, mom, and myself stay to help out, asking everyone else to drop off, unless they wanted to stay. She set up three game stations-Zingo (like Bingo) at the kitchen table, musical chairs in the garage, and pin the tail on the bunny in the front entry way. So funny that the pin the tail game was the most popular with the 7 year olds. They decided to play it twice and skip Zingo.

She did piñatas outside on their covered patio, then cake, and presents. It all worked out awesome with kids playing with toys for about the first 20 minutes and at the end while parents picked up. Two hours total.

For my twins summer Pirate party last July, we did an outdoor treasure hunt and the kids all LOVED it. Clues taped under objects in the backyard that older 6 year olds (at the time) read aloud w/ some parent help since my husband wrote the clues in cursive. Ugh. Also pin the pirate on the treasure map & piñata. Everyone, parents included, said how much they liked that party.

Parties at home can be very stressful beforehand, but so rewarding for your kiddos. My favorite birthday party memories are fun games my mom set up at home. Enjoy and good luck!

Pin the tail twist: Pin the Light Saber on the Jedi. ??
Treasure Hunt: The search for Darth Vader. ?? Or the search for Princess Leah.

I'm not really familiar with The Clone Wars cartoon, just the movies.

 

That sounds like so much fun! Lol I wish I had a fraction of the creativity of some parents. Thank you all soooooooo much for the suggestions it was/is very much needed!

I think the treasure hunt is definitely going to happen but I have to of course plan one for inside and one for outside because we never know what the weather is going to be like out here. Also now my MIL is saying that she may not want to have ti at the house because of the chance of rain and she just had new wood floors put in ugh.....your very right about this being stressful but I know it will all be worth it.

 

Print off a bunch of Star Wars coloring pages along with some crayons or markers.

 

We have our girls in separate classes (kindergarten) so we knew this may come up. We explained to them this might happen and it was difficult the first time...a few tears but we took the other child to have ice cream as a treat. They were fine after this. If there is no specification on the invitation whether or not parents are to stay, and it is a "home party" I mention I can stay but will have her twin sister with us which leads to her being invited. But I don't mention this at the types that have additional fees for more children. I know how expensive parties can be and know that I'm usually not the only one with siblings.