raeoflyte
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Post by raeoflyte on May 31, 2015 17:42:50 GMT -5
Ds is turning 6 at the end of June and I'm trying to decide what to do. We did a big waterpark party last year which was good but I don't want to spend that much again. At most we have 8 kids to invite, but our families will come so its pretty easy to get to 20-30 people.
I'm leaning towards an at home birthday party, maybe do a carnival style theme, grill some food for adults, have snacky food for the kids. Obviously there is more time involved in an at home party, but we always spend a lot of time/money on food even when we're having it somewhere else.
What have your most successful birthday parties been? If you do the at home parties, do you structure them and if so can you give me an idea of how?
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milee
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Post by milee on May 31, 2015 17:56:46 GMT -5
Never have them at your house. Too much mess.
Our best was my son's 6th where we did the Messy Olympics. Reserved a covered area at a local park that also had a small splash play area, but would work at any local park. We made homemade "medals" that looked like they'd been splattered and played cheesy theme music. The competitive games were things like running in obstacle course while wearing wellington boots filled with spaghetti, "bobbing" for lifesavers in a pie tin filled with powdered sugar, things like that.
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Happy prose
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Post by Happy prose on May 31, 2015 18:00:59 GMT -5
raeoflyte I like your idea. I did one with my friend in her yard, and everyone had a blast. We did face painting, washable tattoos, and games. Food was simple bbq.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2015 18:15:20 GMT -5
We do at home parties every year, but they aren't "kid parties". I mean there are lots of kids there, but they are cousins and maybe a few friends they invite. Basically we just have big family barbeques and a lot of people bring dishes to pass. I provide the meat and drinks and ex does the grilling and we have it all in the garage and outside. We have a playground and I set up a bounce house and some water stuff if it's hot.
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on May 31, 2015 18:46:56 GMT -5
We always do separate family/friend parties. Because I like our extended family too much to subject them to burp and fart jokes. And, really, I like to be focused on the kids.
At Ds's 6th party, we had kids hiding because they didn't want to leave.
We live within walking distance (2 minutes) to a city park. So I had a coloring station and the sandbox open until everyone arrived. Then it was off to the park to play for 30-40 minutes. Then we came back to our house, got snackums (fruit salad, cheese, crackers, and salami) and drink, ate cake,etc. Then we had a pinata. Then all the kids changed into swimsuits for water play, including a water balloon fight.
For DD's 6th...I turned our kitchen into an art station. When the kids arrived, they decorated their goodie bags and guessed how many scooby treats were in a container. Then when everyone arrived, everyone got to decorate a christmas ornament. Then, we had a contest to see who could find the most bones hidden around the house. While the girls were running around, DH and I cleaned up the kitchen so it was ready for cake, etc. Then we played a few more games, bingo and pin the tire on the mystery machine (I made that up myself), had cake, opened presents, and played musical chairs until the parents came.
We didn't plan quite enough activity for DD's party. But, it still turned out OK.
And, our house has been quite OK after said events. But our house still has to be baby-proofed, so there really isn't a whole lot that can be damaged...We've had 5 home birthday parties in 5 years since we've moved into our places. We've never had an issue of kids going off into a room they weren't supposed to or anything.
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Malarky
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Post by Malarky on May 31, 2015 20:17:24 GMT -5
For one of DS's parties we did a scavenger hunt at a local playground after the kids decorated their own goody bags.
They got a list with pictures of each item they were to find. One of each item on the list for each child. I think there were twelve items on the list.
I got everything from Oriental Trading Company.
Cake and ice cream. Call it a day.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2015 22:31:31 GMT -5
Also, I live on a farm. So goats and chickens and ponies and cats to play with. Corn to get lost in and we normally have a hay ride. Bocce ball for the adults. Not much entertainment planning necessary.
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raeoflyte
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Post by raeoflyte on Jun 1, 2015 8:15:37 GMT -5
Now that Monday morning has kicked in, I'm feeling my motivation for the home party waning. Might have to check out what the pools have to offer.
There's the person I want to be, and then there's the person who does a mediocre job of earning the money and keeping the house in minimum running order. The latter person seems to be winning out on almost everything these days.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Jun 1, 2015 8:47:45 GMT -5
My son has always liked activities - but I only take his friends. If I have to invite his grandparents and aunts and adults cousins - we just have dinner in the house. With my son we have gone bowling, the trampoline park, laser tag, goofy golf, etc. Keeps the hassle and mess out of my house, and the boys love it.
My daughter has always liked sleep overs - cheaper, but more effort. 6-8 girls for 18 hours.
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on Jun 1, 2015 10:32:53 GMT -5
We attended a kids birthday party for a 5 year old yesterday. It was family and friends, there were a lot of young kids there, idk if it was (school) friends of the kids + family or just family/friends.
This is a college roommate of DH. We did not have kids until we were close to 30 and our kids are 18 and 21. His kids are 5 and 3. His SIL complained to me that his kids are wild and the wife does not control them. I wondered if this was true or if we just don't remember what it is like to have kids that age.
I do know that I was always extra vigilant in this group to try to keep my kids well behaved and I was the same around our family. My MIL was our regular babysitter and DD always talks about shopping with my MIL and how it was always "Do not Touch" and if they misbehaved she put pepper in their mouth (or that was the threat). My friend who was complaining lived next door to her MIL, and her MIL and her DH's aunt always were their babysitters. I imagine she did have to work really hard to make sure her kids behaved in front of family, but they also probably minded her MIL and the Aunt very well too.
So anyways at this kids party, they always hire a clown to come in, the clown did face painting and they do those balloon animals and they have a bounce house and a piñata. They cater the food - for adults it was tacos and for the kids it was Little Cesar's Pizzas that a cousin went to pick up.
When my kids were younger, it was usually a kid party at the roller skating rink, the bowling alley etc. and the relatives party separate at my house. My Son's birthday fell at the end of October and conflicted with Halloween and my Dauther is at the end of April and runs up against Easter, so when they got a little older, we took them to a waterpark for a family mini-holiday and stopped doing kid birthday parties - they were offered waterpark or party initially and it was their choice to do the family holiday.
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Jun 1, 2015 10:36:21 GMT -5
DS is turning 4 at the end of July and I'd like to do something. I think I'll just invite a couple of the boys he's friends with at preschool to the park for a birthday play date (no gifts) and provide pizza, snacks, water/milk, and cupcakes (and some adult beverages of course). I thought about having it at the town pool/water park, but that would require the parents to purchase park tickets - not to mention the cost to rent the area. I might have to invest in some cheap water guns to bring to the park.
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steph08
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Post by steph08 on Jun 1, 2015 10:45:33 GMT -5
DD is turning 1 this month (egads!!) - we're just having a BBQ type party at home with just family and a few friends. Games will involve trying not to get licked by our dogs and keeping an eye on the crazy kid.
I'm not inviting all the kids from daycare - she's 1.
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Jun 1, 2015 10:48:17 GMT -5
DD is turning 1 this month (egads!!) - we're just having a BBQ type party at home with just family and a few friends. Games will involve trying not to get licked by our dogs and keeping an eye on the crazy kid. I'm not inviting all the kids from daycare - she's 1. we did that for DS's first birthday... Never. again. But that was mostly because X's family is a bunch of asses (have I mentioned that I'm happy I don't have to deal with them anymore? lol).
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Jun 1, 2015 11:44:40 GMT -5
never mind - no adult beverages allowed at the parks.
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yogiii
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Post by yogiii on Jun 1, 2015 12:18:39 GMT -5
I'm bad, we haven't done a kids party yet just family ones. DS kind of hinted at wanting on this year but didn't actually ask for one, so I lazed out. I'm thinking next year he'll ask for real and we'll do it.
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Wisconsin Beth
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Post by Wisconsin Beth on Jun 1, 2015 12:30:31 GMT -5
WE did our first kid-friend party in May for Keira's 7th b-day. We looked around at her favorite places and just didn't want to spend the money (this was going to be about 3 weeks after returning from WDW) and I finally decided we'd do a cupcake decorating party at our house for all the girls in her classroom plus 3 more friends. So a max of 15, counting Keira. We had about 10 total I think.
My Mom baked 45+ cupcakes (my oven sucks) for me and the kids and I hit Target for 3 cans of frosting and a bunch of sprinkles. Then I hit the party store for cupcake topper stuff (rings mainly) and we bought a bunch of hats and napkins, etc. too.
The kids had fun. We didn't plan any activities. Party was 2 hours total. Waiting for everyone was almost 30 minutes. Girls came and were directed to Keira's room.Opening presents and decorating the cupcakes was probably 30 minutes of it. The rest of the time they crammed themselves into Keira's room and did dress up stuff or were in the backyard playing on the gear there. The last 3 girls played Twister.
DH was done sick so 1 mom stayed and my Mom stayed (I volunteered her to return 2 of the girls home, they live across the street from her anyway.) Having 3 adults was perfect because we could divide and conquer. One outside, one in the kitchen and one in the living room/eyeballing the girls in Keira's room.
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Wisconsin Beth
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Post by Wisconsin Beth on Jun 1, 2015 12:32:17 GMT -5
I'm bad, we haven't done a kids party yet just family ones. DS kind of hinted at wanting on this year but didn't actually ask for one, so I lazed out. I'm thinking next year he'll ask for real and we'll do it. That's been my stance - you want a friend party, you need to tell me you want one. We'll figure something out after that.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jun 1, 2015 12:46:20 GMT -5
DD is turning 1 this month (egads!!) - we're just having a BBQ type party at home with just family and a few friends. Games will involve trying not to get licked by our dogs and keeping an eye on the crazy kid. I'm not inviting all the kids from daycare - she's 1. C turns three this month and we're still not inviting kids from daycare. It'll be grandparents, aunts/uncles and cousins, and a couple of my cousins and their kids. It'll be at our house so the kids can all run around and play, and we're going to grill out and have dinner and cake and ice cream. Easy peasy.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Jun 1, 2015 15:20:49 GMT -5
I did a sleep"bro"ver for DS's 9th birthday this year.
Taco bar, make your own sundae, games outside like relay races, scavenger hunt, egg toss, toilet paper toss. One game was a golf ball driving contest, I used foam golf balls. I ended up hitting some and the boys were having a great time shagging the fly balls. That kept them amused for a half hour.
When it was time to go on, the wii kept them occupied.
The party was actually cheap except for the gift bags. That's was DH's job, he went nuts. Got them mini tools.
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Jun 1, 2015 16:48:12 GMT -5
For Pop Tart's 10th, we had a former foster siblings and a few close friends at a small play gym. Used a Groupon, so it wasn't expensive. For her 11th, we got a couple picnic tables at a local park (that is on a lake and has a swimming area) and grilled. Kids had a great time.
For Cupcake's 7th birthday, we had to put everything together last minute. We had just a few kids at a local ice cream parlor that had pin ball machines. Each of the kids got ice cream and we brought in our own pizza. Ended up not being very expensive at all.
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busymom
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Post by busymom on Jun 1, 2015 18:49:29 GMT -5
We've done both "at home" parties & off-site for birthdays. The parties away from our house that got the most compliments were the ones at the bowling alley, & one year we took DS & his friends to one of those places with the huge inflatables to jump on. Sleepovers are popular, but are hard on Mom & Dad. (You REALLY think those kids sleep?)
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shelby
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Post by shelby on Jun 1, 2015 20:13:44 GMT -5
My DS is turning 7 we are having his party Saturday at the house. The theme is mad science, they will be making slime we will have a mentos geyser, science experiments like inflating a balloon with vinegar and baking soda, exploding film canisters and a few more. My husband will dress like a mad scientist and do some science demonstrations. Each kid will have a bag with safety goggles and all the stuff to do the individual experiments then BBQ and cake. It should be fun....better be I have been crazy with the planning.
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on Jun 1, 2015 20:31:32 GMT -5
. Sleepovers are popular, but are hard on Mom & Dad. (You REALLY think those kids sleep?) DS had a sleepover party this year. The boys were asleep between 10:30 and 11. They ratted each other out if they were on electronics. They were up at about 6:30. I got twice as much sleep then if I did with night duty with the peanut when she was an infant. And, thanks to the peanut, I still wake up when I hear anything that might need my attention, no matter how quiet. We ran the boys ragged. They played bb for about 45 minutes before dinner, and then ran around outside for another 75 minutes after dinner. We also played "high stakes" apples to apples. We played three rounds, timed. Winner got an iTunes card. That was a huge hit. They even worked out "rules" amongst themselves. Whoever won was the next judge, and therefore unable to collect on another prize. Last year, we didn't do a sleepover, just a long party (boys were picked up at 9pm). They played 2 games of laser tag, and then came over to our house and ran around for another hour+. Some of them were struggling to stay awake until their parents picked them up.
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