My son's birthday is in March. He wants to have it at this great park. There is a really big playground, and I rented out the ramada right near the playground. We will be serving lunch and cake. My question is do you think I need to bring something else to the park for the kids to do or just let them play on the playground? We had his party at the same park the last 2 years and brought in a petting zoo and pony rides. He doesn't want to do that again (neither do I) Thanks
I would be prepared with footballs, kick balls, basketballs, etc. And also think about what you will do if it is too cold or raining!!
sack races are fun too!
At that age (also cuz they were boys and lots of them) i brought in a PE teacher. It worked out great, as PE wasn't an everyday thing at that my son's school and they love it . Also, the teacher could use the extra cash and getting to know the boys outside of classroom is a good perk. Obstacle course was the favorite.
Note: this was a dozen years ago and 70-80 kids and $50 for the teacher. The teacher tended to the kids while I set up the cake and socialized with the adults. Best money spent. Although when my husband popped by the park/party (which i didn't think he'd do) he was floored that i had so many kids that i had to have much much smaller ones to follow!
Another party that was fun for boys was karate. I hired the karate teacher and made these silver cardboard bracelets (they would wear them on the left wrist to learn/enforce the difference between right and left) (younger siblings made bracelets of fruit loops and red shoelace licorice to keep them from bothering the older ones) and he gave a little karate lesson. I encorporated a pirate theme so there was a teasure hunt too.
I Always loved doing birthday parties. The key was always in organization though. I usually had individual bags(containers...) of everything premade/labeled with each child's name on it.
Have fun!
I purchased a craft and we did a craft- self sticking foam pieces- for the kids to make and take home with them. Good Luck!
I would maybe do some sort of relay race game or scavenger hunt. Check out FamilyFun.com. They have lots of great games ideas on there for parties as well as craft ideas (not just girly ones), cool cupcakes and cakes too. You could get some wooden picture frames (Michael's or JoAnn's) for the kids to paint. Then take a group pictue and either have someone go back to the house to print it off to put in the frames or enclose it in with the thank yous.
If you wanted to bring something in, maybe a bounce house. But if it's really a great park, just a few organized games like water ballon toss, egg race, etc. would be fun. Is there a reason you can't do cake at the park too?
I would have a few organized activities and some time for free play. Giant bubbles? An art table to create something related to a theme? A scavenger hunt? Three-legged race? I find that kids with too much unstructured time try progressively more daring things. But that's just the teacher in me.
What about baseball bats, gloves and balls?
Or set up a volleyball net?
I don't think you need to bring anything in, but plan to have some games for them to play if they do seem to be getting bored or out of control. Simple things are fun at this age - Red Light Green Light, Simon Says, Musical Chairs, etc. Don't plan too much and don't spend extra money on entertainment.
K.
http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/karenchao - need a gift? I've got great stuff for 6 year olds and a big sale this month!
