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Entertaining kids at 1st birthday party
I posted this on the baby boards, but came across this board and thought I would try it here as well...
I have a restaurant booked for LOs 1st birthday party, but I've decided I'd really prefer to have it at our house. We have a pretty large home with a finished basement that has lots of entertaining space, but my DH is really nervous about all the kids trashing the place. I'm trying to come up with ways to keep them entertained so my DH will agree to this. There will be about 12 of them under the age of 8, about half boys and half girls. A couple of them do tend to get rambunctious, and there is a very low probablility that outside will be an option due to the lovely midwest weather in January. I was thinking of having a balloon guy come and maybe letting them play Wii games on the big tv. Any other ideas?? I think the theme will be Mickey Mouse.
I am also planning to host my DHs family on Christmas Eve, and my family on Christmas day, so I just may have to frequent this board more often.
Thanks!
Re: Entertaining kids at 1st birthday party
DS's 2nd birthday party will be in two weeks. There will be a few kids there, and I am planning on printing coloring sheets that go along with the circus theme and having crayons out as well. Your other ideas sound good too.
My only question is: where are the parents of these obnoxious kids?
Of all the kids, there are only 2 that I'm worried about. Once is my niece, and I think I will have a little control there. The other is my good friend's 5 year old boy and I'm pretty sure I'll see this kid on the news some day.
Wish me luck!
Have several different activites for backup just in case. Much better to be over prepared.
For the Wii, not everyone will be able to play at the same time, right? If they are rambunctious, then I don't think that this will be a good idea for keeping them entertained. Focus on games that everyone can be involved in. What about a simple scavenger hunt? A relay race in the basement? These activities will also let them burn off steam.
GL! Let us know how it goes!
Ugh, there's one in every bunch, right? Well, good luck. It's for this reason that I'm sort of glad that DH's step-sister can't come to DS's party in a couple of weeks. Her 2 boys are NOT well behaved.
My suggestion - have MORE than enough activities ready for the kiddos to participate in. Can they frost their own cupcakes - that will burn 15 minutes. Coloring sheets - but what may be cooler is a white paper table cloth covering the dessert table & they all can decorate their place setting before eating their cake. Or could they color a white paper bag and that's the bag they get to take home treats in? I personally would set boundaries really quickly - if you have an entertainment space for them, let that be the ONLY spot for them - remove any 'outdoor toys' like balls, etc that your children know how to appropriately play with indoors but others may not.
Other ideas: balloon games (who can keep the balloon in the air the longest, without using their hands only blowing, who can walk the farthest with it between their knees, whose hair stands up the tallest from the balloon static, who can draw the funniest face on their balloon, etc) if you think their into crafts can they make bracelets? Funny hats? Games with toilet paper are always SUPER fun for kids too - who can 'mummy' their teammate the fastest, who can guess how tall the bday kid is without looking & measure it in t.p. squares, for every t.p. square you take off the role you have to say something nice about the bday kiddo, etc.
These are all things that I've done in the past & hope they help. Most importantly, expect to be herding children from one activity to another quickly. The less downtime they have with nothing to keep them occupied the more likely they are to get crazy indoors and harder it is to corral them back for an organized activity. Hope you have a super day!