time filler for birthday party before entertainer arrives!

[Rory786]

Hi everyone, party virgin here!

6th birthday party here, entertainer to do a show at 1pm and children to arrive at 12.30. What should I do with the 20 kids from 12.30 to 1 while the entertainer is setting up?!
Cant afford a bouncy castle.....I thought to set up some arty crafty things in the garden. Any ideas....

Jumping vegetables.
Sleeping lions
Musical statues
Pass the parcel
Over and under balloons
Piñata

I’d personally go controlled rather than free flow art and crafts that could get very messy.

Eating donoughts without licking your lips .

Have lots of balloons! It's amazing how long children can run around playing with balloons for!

Some.will.be lste, so you won't have that long. Perhaps a game of pass the parcel / musical statues etc as well? Although it does depend what the entertainer is going to do with them.

You won't have time for games by the time the chatty parents drop off and you've made them tea!

Balloons are good
Add some music
Let them burn off some excitement before they need to sit still

The best time consuming game I found was pairing them off then getting them to make a mummy out of their partner using toilet paper
Once they are wrapped up you go around taking photographs then they unwrap
Put all the paper in a bin bag and swop partners
Then you photograph again. Unwrap, clean up and decide who has the best mummy
It takes ages and they love it

Balloons and music is all you need. They love it.

Balloons! Cheap, easy and entertains tj for hours.

Don't forget they won't all arrive at the same time, so a game where they all start together is out. Plus some of them might be shy at the start, so something informal where they can gradually join in is good.

Thank you everyone, I thought we can start off in the garden. DH and my teen boys to supervise and I greet at the gate. (We live in the sticks!)

Thats a great idea to have a good runaround before the entertainer is ready.

A game of tig as then they will run around and when the entertainment starts they will sit still, as more children arrive they can easily join in. Give jelly babies as prizes for being tigged 😜

What are you doing about food? As a parent I would assume that you would be starting with food at 12.30 and especially if travelling a fair distance into the sticks wouldn't necessarily feed at 11.30 before we left. They are much better now, but there was a time when by the time the entertainer finished at 2 my dc would have started to gnaw on the entertainer. Maybe a few healthy snacks/ drinks available while they run around if you plan to feed them later.

Ooh, a treasure hunt is great if you live in the sticks. Good icebreaker, make the clues pictorial for 6 year olds, one clue leads to another and so on. Good to divide the kids into two or three teams all reaching the one treasure (to be shared out) , make the last clue lead to a key for one team , and a locked box containing the treasure for the other.

Balloon games are fab too, you could have clues on paper inside each one, or a sweet, or something else.

Bubbles are great too, very party like and cheap fun if you're having an outside party.

Love, love, love organising kids parties. DD is now 17 and Does. Not. Want. Any. Adult interaction from me at all!

Musical statues gets the party going, or musical bumps

I'd feed them first.

Next time have entertainer first.

Festering carbuncle it's a great game! Just make sure you don't have a miserable Mil in tow though. Ours finished off being the most miserable guest at a party by breaking down over the mess of it 😂😂😂

they cant eat in half an hour, if my experience is anythign to go by

Get some plain white paper bags (Amazon), our them out with some felt pens and things. Get everyone to write their name on one and decorate it as they arrive. Use the bags for them to hold their prizes etc they win throughout the party, then for cake and party bag presents. tat

the kids will be too excited and running around to sit and concentrate on anything.

Ballons on the floor for them kick and burst?

It was the only time the entertainer could do, but I will have nibbles out and then a hearty meal!
All of the children are local, from the village so not travelling far.

Love the idea of the balloon games and tig. Thank you.

Morethanthisprovincial life,How do you play festering carbuncle?! I googled it and got some disgusting videos

Spoon people art activity.

Buy a load of wooden spoons (20p from discount shop), stick on googlie eyes, pipe cleaners, felt, foam shapes etc.

Rhymes with oranges, that is so cute. Love it. Definitely doing that, thank you!!

Balloons, music. No harm to have some coloring available in a corner too for the shy quiet kids that take a while to feel comfortable.

Ooo festering I love that !!!

Big roll of bubble wrap to jump on.

At that age I would expect anything other than feeding time and organised entertainer is out. The will just run round like animals screaming and jumping on each other with excitement