Party Games
Find Your Match
Write down charades for half the guests. Duplicate the list for the other half of the guests. (Zebra/Zebra, Lion/Lion…) It can be random characters or they can have a theme (ie: animals, TV characters…).
Have each child draw a paper out of a jar with one of the names. Then tell the kids to start acting out their characters. The goal is for each child to find their match. Kids are not aloud to talk -they can just do actions. When kids think they have found their match – they sit down in a cirlce and everyone goes around and says what they were. (This game can be fun for adults too.)
Themes
There are some great ideas for themes for kids of all ages on www.birthdaypartyideas.com.
Throw a Pizza Party
Invitation ideas: Pizza shaped invite or an invite that is structured like a menu.
Games: Pin the pepperoni on the pizza.
Pick up pizza dough (or Boboli crust), mozarella, tomato sauce and other fun toppings. Purchase take-out aluminum foil pans, and red-checked plastic/paper tablecloths. Fun party favors could be aprons, chefs hat, pot holders or pizza boxes. You can fill the pizza boxes with party favors as well.
The kids each make their own mini pizza. After the kids arrive, have them roll out their dough, spread on the sauce, sprinkle the cheese and then the toppings. You could hire someone from a pizza parlor to come teach the kids how to make a real pizza. If you have adults attending, consider doing 1 large salad and a large pizza. For younger kids, you could make this process easier by doing mini english muffin pizzas.
Princess Party
Activities: Kids can come dressed up or you can have a trunk of dress-up clothes for them to change into at the party.
Have activity stations with an adult or teenager facilitiating: paint nails, make-up station, tattoos for any boys, hair station. Set up an art station where they can decorate their own crowns with fake jewels.
Have the birthday girl pose with each of her guests. You can use these photos for the thank you notes.
Instead of birthday cake, consider doing cupcakes that they can decorate themselves. This is always a huge hit with kids. Supply frosting, sprinkles and small candy to put on top.
Food & Cake Ideas
Cookie Decorating is a fun activity for kids.
Also cupcakes are a blast to decorate too!
I recently saw Sandra Paventi of the California Cupcake Company – she has a cart at UTC in La Jolla, and her cupcakes were works of art!
Boys & Girls alike love to create… just give them the materials and then they can eat thier creations!
