Kids birthday party ideas...

[KarenCee 3]

She is going to be 8 in a couple weeks. Everyone does the usual bowling or skating parties here and quite frankly it's gotten old. We don't have a whole lot to put into this...we have to spend another $170-$180 on Joel's EAD renewal in a couple weeks so we need some creative ideas. She wants to have invites so that means I will need to invite the whole class...around 16 kids. So....do any of you moms out there have some ideas? *looks hopefully*

[D & K 0]

She is going to be 8 in a couple weeks. Everyone does the usual bowling or skating parties here and quite frankly it's gotten old. We don't have a whole lot to put into this...we have to spend another $170-$180 on Joel's EAD renewal in a couple weeks so we need some creative ideas. She wants to have invites so that means I will need to invite the whole class...around 16 kids. So....do any of you moms out there have some ideas? *looks hopefully*

We did a treasure hunt one year with the kids from my sons class....it was inexpensive and the kids had a great time . just used stuff around the house and outside like leaves and left little notes along the way..the kids had fun and it kept them busy...

[KarenCee 3]

*bump*

come on y'all...i know there are some ideas out there. can't y'all help me out a bit?

[MichelleandCraig 1]

The above sounds really fun! I love that idea... (Corey's bday is June 5th..so watching this thread. He will be 14 though, so a bit different!!)

We've done the bowling thing a couple of times too, but that's out for you...and we also did the pool party once but that can get expensive...it was like 100 bucks, but we could have as many kids as we wanted (within reason, of course.) We had the pool for 3/4 hours...it was in a hotel. Good luck finding something, Karen! M.

[Aymerlu 3]

Is there a local park with a shelter nearby you can rent for a couple hours? We do that a lot here, costs only $25.00 and the kids can run and play.

[patiently_waiting 0]

What part of GA are u in? I'm up in N. GA and what I did last year was have all kinds of "old fashioned" stuff. We bobbed for apples, had coke out of bottles, wax candy...stuff like that. They kids, 5th grafers, loved it. I think the game they loved the most was there were two teams. They each had to race down to the chair, put on a pair of gardening gloves, open a pack of gum, get a piece of gun out and unwrap it, then race back for the next person to go. Not so easy and they laughed a ton. We also had horseshoes out for the to play. If your near a lake, have a party at the lake so the kids can run and play.

[govols 1]

My daughter celebrated her 8th birthday in October and she wanted to have a "craft party". We reserved a room at our local bank (free of charge) and I purchased several crafts for them to make from Oriental Trading Company. She wanted a luau theme and in October they had lots of summer crafts at a great price!

Also, instead of the usual "goodie bag" that you give out at the end of the party, they took home the crafts they had made. We didn't really spend a lot of money and they all had a good time! ( including me!!!)

Just an idea...

Karen

[Michaela_Hassan 1]

She is going to be 8 in a couple weeks. Everyone does the usual bowling or skating parties here and quite frankly it's gotten old. We don't have a whole lot to put into this...we have to spend another $170-$180 on Joel's EAD renewal in a couple weeks so we need some creative ideas. She wants to have invites so that means I will need to invite the whole class...around 16 kids. So....do any of you moms out there have some ideas? *looks hopefully*

My 8 year old just went to a kids birthday party, all girls, and they made "fairy chairs" together with the mom. She had collected a bunch of twigs and glued them together like a chair outline, then had feathers, flowers, leaves, grasses, grains and nuts to decorate. The girls had a blast and the chairs turned out great! Something creative to do with them. Then they played games outside and had a pinata. A wonderful birthday party. If you have boys at the party as well you can give them an option of making some kind of Robin Hood hat, and let them decorate it. I always did the skating/bowling/chuck e cheeses parties too, but I thought this one was really cool and different.

Michaela

[Amby 490]

we had a safari for my neice's brithday. her mom is a volunteer at the zoo so they let her bring some of the animals for free. we got safari hats and plastic binoculars. made worms in dirt (chocolate pudding with crushed oreos & gummy worms). we also made trail mix and put stuff like teddy grahams & animal crackers in it. we then took the kids on a "safari hike" we set up different things in the yard and ooohed and ahhhed at them haha. was very cute and they had lots of fun. we also rented a big bouncy castle (that was $150 for 8hrs) that had monkeys and palm trees and slides and stuff.

[JoeMama 0]

KarenCee, I have a DJ business which I occasionally get hired for an outrageous amount to work at birthday parties for kids. I have to lead the entertainment. The parents are usually off getting drunk. So, I will use anything I can find to keep the kids entertained. That's why they hire me. More often than not, most parents don't accompany their children at these parties. I try to concentrate mainly on the kids. There's a lot of things you can do you can easily find on the internet. The trick is to keep the kid's mind and time occupied on doing things. 3 hours is about average for the length of a kid's party. Try finding things to work within that time frame. Offer small, inexpensive prizes for contests. A $5 gift card to Jamba Juice is like gold to a kid. The more simplistic you do things, the better. It's easier for kids to understand and they have a better time. Keep in mind they're only 8. No one says you have to spend a lot of money on a kid's party. Unless, you and the other parents want to to get drunk!

Edited May 7, 2007 by altimixdj

[Sinergy 3]

Buy a blowup pool, throw out the sprinkler and grill some hamburgers and dogs and you have yourself a pool party

I know how you feel Karen, shonna will be 12 this year and IM CLUELESS

[ivona 0]

We just had my sons 8th Bday party last December.... We had it at home and had a budget of 200$...

We had a combination of stuff and it turned out pretty good.... they LOVED the treasure hunt: we made little packages with a bunch of trinkets in them, and candy and they had to find them around the garden.

We only made one map that was located on the porch, so they had to run back and forth...it was really fun...

After they were done with the pinata and got more candy, we separated them into teams by colour and gave them each several cans of silly string... it was really a lot of fun, and they didn't even mind cleaning up afterwards....

they also had baloon fights and we made it a sleepover so they ended the night by watching cartoons....

Edited May 7, 2007 by ivona

[KarenCee 3]

What part of GA are u in? I'm up in N. GA and what I did last year was have all kinds of "old fashioned" stuff. We bobbed for apples, had coke out of bottles, wax candy...stuff like that. They kids, 5th grafers, loved it. I think the game they loved the most was there were two teams. They each had to race down to the chair, put on a pair of gardening gloves, open a pack of gum, get a piece of gun out and unwrap it, then race back for the next person to go. Not so easy and they laughed a ton. We also had horseshoes out for the to play. If your near a lake, have a party at the lake so the kids can run and play.

We're in North Georgia too...in Cleveland - home of the Cabbage Patch Dolls and Babyland General Hospital. It's hard coming up with ideas that are different and not boring. I've gotten some good ideas so we'll mull a few of them around and see what comes up. Keep the ideas coming...the more the better!

[Dixie_Peach 1]

When Dev turned 8, he wanted a pool party... but we didn't have a POOL... and I could not afford to get even an above ground pool. So, what I did was to get a slip & slide... and also lots of cheap water guns that I kept in a basket on the front porch. The kids (and adults) had a SOAKING good time! He still says that was the best birthday ever!

I also got a white tableclothe, and let the guests sign their names, date and to put comments on there for Dev so that he could wax nostalgic at some point in time. He says he would like to use it on the table at his wedding reception (when that day arrives *gak*, wayyyyyyyyy into the future).

Keep me posted to the date and time!

Love ya'll!

Lynne

[Oath 0]

"Congratulations on your birthday son/dear, I've enrolled you in Bootcamp, please gather your things and be ready in 40, thank you"

Ah if only..