3 hour kids party, small house, no garden, what do I do with them?

[Rhubarb]

Arranging an early birthday party and leaving party for dd on Saturday. She wants to invite around 10 friends. So I'm having them from 11am - 2pm for a birthday lunch. So I reckon that eating will only take around half an hour, what do I do with them for the other 2 and a half hours? We have a small house, no garden but a cobbled place outside our front door they can play on. Any ideas?

How old are they?

How old are they? Can you do something crafty with them? So they'll have something to take home and they'll sit and be occupied making it. Or is that totally unfeasible?

Stories? Can you make up a few puppets (ie draw characters on card and stick them to straws) and give each child one to hold and waggle about when it's their character involved? Have done this with much success from age 4 to 8 - held them rapt for over 30 mins.

You're very brave! How about getting a cardboard box for each child (big enough to sit in so it can be a boat/car/seat/whatever) and letting them decorate as they wish.
Whatever you do, don't let them upstairs!

They are all about 6. I have done the crafty thing before, but we have a very small table! There will be a couple of young tots there too so doing anything crafty on the floor is a no-no. They all have lots of energy and most are boys so they will have difficulty sitting still!

Hmmm, boxes made into cars and then played with outside on the place! Not a bad idea!

Is there a park or field nearby? Could you take them there to play games/run around and then bring them home for lunch?

DDs love decorating our patio with chalk. We had hammer head sharks drawn all over it the other day. Very creative. Could they do that on the cobbles? Washes away very easily too.

Scavenger hunt?

How about cooking - make their own pizzas - add toppings to pizza bases, not too much mess, saves you preparing too much beforehand, and they eat what they make? Could do making in shifts on your table while others decorate their boxes?

Don't fancy letting them all cook! But getting some great ideas here! We have a wall that runs around the place, I could get a load of coloured chalks and give them all a patch of wall to decorate - best one gets a prize!

Sounds good.

Ok, so first I let them loose with the chalk when they arrive, that'll take us to 11.30/11.45, drag out the prize giving and make it to 12pm! Then birthday lunch, cake, happy birthday etc. 12.30 - decorate boxes. 1pm race boxes and do obstacle courses outside, prize for the winner - 1.30. I need one more activity please! Possibly two just in case the little buggers get through everything within 5 minutes flat!

Make sure you've got plenty of different music tapes then you can play musical statues, bumps,general best dancing competition, these can go on for ever- see how many different types of animals can you think of them to dance like! When I get on to dance like a worm i know I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel!

I'd have a wild game followed by a quiet game ie how many different flowers can you draw on one piece of paper, followed by another ild game etc- works for me-good luck

Aw! That's lovely! Trouble is the place outside our house is cobbled and I can't let them onto the road/parking street. I could get round circles of card though and get them to draw themselves using glue, paper, felt, wool, etc! Great idea! Thanks everyone!

golden oldies - musical bumps/statues/islands (same as chairs but with pieces of paper) Mass photo taking as mementoes if it is a leaving party too. Team races - over and under with a balloon - over head to person behind, then under legsto next person, one at back runs to front and repeat ad nauseum until everyone been at the front, oranges passed down the line under the chin, memory game - 10 objects on tray, take away one, who can remeber what is gone. None of the above take much preparation, and can kill time at the end of a party
hth

Ok, plan is:

11am/11.15 (they'll be late!) chalk on wall, each child gets a patch and the best design gets a prize.
12pm birthday lunch.
12.30 decorate boxes.
1pm race boxes and do obstacle course, prizes for winners.
1.15pm - musical animals! Prizes for best.
1.30pm - decorate circle to look like them.

Any time left over filled with musical statues, chairs and so on!

Thanks very much you guys! I would never have thought of all of these ideas! It's dd last time she'll see most of her friends and I want to make it a party she'll remember, which I am sure she will now! Bless you all!

Oooh, yes, I'll have loads of balloons! I'll add a balloon game to the list too!

There's always the old favourte where you place lots of small items on a tray. Tell them to close their eyes while you remove one. They need to guess which one is missing. Person who gets most guesses right wins a prize.

my dd has a couple of Spanish friends and at their parties they have played something called 'pinata'. Does involve mess and a stick though - Whizz explained what it was, will try and find the link she provided.

What about older style games like pin the tail on the donkey. Have a look at the parties board, you might get some ideas there.

Just beware of the inevitable child - usually a boy for some reason - who says, "This is boring. I don't want to." in a loud voice and discourages others...