Party games for 4th birthday at home - only a few children

[willsandnoodle]

I’m holding a party at home for my child’s bday. It will be family, and his cousins will be there ranging in age from 3 to 9.
I am thinking 2pm arrive, play independently for a while with each other and party blowers/balloons or similar. Then entertain them for a bit, then food and independent play again.

I am looking for suggestions to entertain them. I’m happy getting silly, I work in childcare so I’m comfortable with it.
What sounds better, some craft activities or some dancing around - maybe to sticky kids, some musical statues/ bumps.

Any suggestions for games/activities/dances greatly appreciated. I’m shattered and have no thinking left in the tank at the moment.

Also any ideas for resources to have available for them to entertain themselves.

I am going to make homemade decorations that I can reuse, and would rather not buy balloons but will if the children will be expecting them.

If you’ve got this far into my rambling post, thank you.

Pass the parcel, musical statues, musical
bumps…

Decorate biscuits with some icing and sprinkles?

Get them all to decorate their own mini pizza.
I have a mini parachute which I have used at parties in the past.

We generally have some craft when kids come in. We’ve done make a butterfly collage, decorate your party bag, cat craft and stickers, cupcake decorating etc. I think balloons are a must. The kids absolutely love them and it sets the party (rather than play date) mood. Older kids will probably expect games like musical statues and pass the parcel (with a layer for each kid). Pin the tail on the donkey or some variation that fits your theme is easy to make at home. Treasure hunts also work well. Then a tea and cake and some more dancing. Good luck!

Oh and party bags of some sort! The older kids will definitely ask!

Crafts to start off, food, create own pizza is a great idea, traditional games such as pass the parcel, musical bumps, quack quack goose if you have space or outdoors, kerplunk if space tight, giant Jenga, And sleeping lions game at end to calm them down again. No balloons needed. Party badges definitely though.

You could have a bubble machine instead of balloons.

Parachute games were a hit when mine were that age.

At DS's 4th birthday we made fossils by pressing mini dinosaur figures into air drying clay. Played pin the tail on the donkey and decorated cup cakes. Oh - and made necklaces with beads and cord.

www.bakerross.co.uk

Lots of craft stuff & items you can use for party bags. Good quality & not stupidly expensive.

www.onlinescoutmanager.co.uk/programme.php?action=view&id=8006#:~:text=Description,all%20the%20chocolate%20is%20gone!

We used to have craft activities plus games at that age. Activities included “make your own crown”, decorate a cake/biscuit, decorate party bag etc, plus temp tattoos. Everything from Baker Ross, Amazon or hobby craft.

games as suggested above plus Grandma’s footsteps which they seem to love!!!

We’d use Sleeping Lions to quiet things down before the food.

Last gathering I did for a craft I bought some golden crowns off Amazon and some jewels/stickers- all the children enjoyed creating their own crowns.

These are great suggestions- thank you everyone!

Musical bumps? I always thought it was musical bums (where they sit down instead of stand still?)

That works too but definitely bumps in my day. Or musical statues if cramped. Musical chairs too but usually played with cushions on the floor. 😂 as who had loads of chairs unless in church hall?