DS's birthday party in the house now not the garden. OOh heck!

[mckenzie]

DS is 4 tomorrow and is supposed to be having a few friends over in the afternoon for fun and games in the garden. (We had a big family/friends bash on sunday so this is very low key.)

I'm well organised in the garden, plenty of activities etc but now the forecast is for rain.

What can I do with about 12-15 children indoors? No entertainer coming, no pass the parcel (DS doesn't like it) and no party tea other than cake (DS said he didn't want a sit down tea thank you very much, he doesn't want to waste valuable playing time!)

And also I won't have much time tomorrow to get to the shops.
Any ideas please? I thought about a treasure hunt but don't really know how to go about it.

Now I know why we had a swimming pool party last year!! Much less hassle.

What about musical bumps? whats the time Mr wolf. Stick in the mud. pin the tail on the donkey.

You could be brave and have a face painting comp, pair them up and let them paint each other. Bit scary with 12 children though i must admit!

I remember going to a party when was young and we played a game where we were paired up and had to wrap our partner in toilet roll. The winner were the pair that managed to cover the most.(obviously only one of the pair gets covered!) I know it seems like a pointless game but we all loved it! Can 4 yr olds manage that? not sure.

I've just rememberd i have a little book of children's parties, but it's prob too late as i noticed you posted this lat nite! Let me know if you want me to give any moreideas from this book.

morning Fran

if you have time to give me any more ideas I'd be very grateful.
Dont think I can cope with face painting indoors and believe it or not, I cant remember what to do for musical bumps, what's the time mr Wolf or stick in the mud so more information would be very gratefully recieved pls. Like the toilet roll idea, some of the children and really into doctors and nurses (ie bandanging) so that will appeal to them i'm sure.

Ok Mrwolf

Choose one to be a wolf and stand at one end ofthe wall. All theothers line up at the otherend ofthe wall and shout whats the time Mr Wolf. Wolf says 3o'clock or whatever and children step forward 3 steps. this goes on until wolfsays its dinnertime and turns around. Thechildren run (warning loud screams will be present) back to their wall and the wolf has to catch one child who becomes wolf on the next turn.
Musical bumps, everyone dances to music. You stop the tape and the last one to sit down is out. this goes on until you have a winner. (you can play the non competive version, where you don't take children out, its just purely a game - no winner.

A few random games i see in this book.

Simon says

Squeaky piggy squeak - In this game the blindfolded player is given a scarf. All the other players sit randomly around the room. The blindfolded person walks around to find a player, then puts his scarf in the players lap. That player then has to make a squeaking sound and the blindfolded one has to guess who it is. then the squeaker becomes blindfolded.

Blind tasting- each take it inturns to be blindfolded and taste some food and guess what it is.

Pass the balloon - two rows and they have to pass balloon between each other withouttouching with their hands. Winningteamgets balloon to the end first.

Hunt the thimble - (can be any object.) one person leaves the room and the others decide where to hide an object. Then the player comes back and searches. The rest either shout hot or cold to help guide him to the hidden object. Or they can sing and get louder when he is close and quietly when he is farther away.

Chinese whispers

phew let meknow if you need more!

thanks Fran. Much appreciated. I remember the Mr Wolf one now, we'll just have to remove most of the furniture from the lounge to be able to play it!

I found this website has lots of good ideas, i've tried to do a link but can't get it to work.

Good luck

www.kids-party.com/ideas.shtml

Musical bumps - a great way for them to use energy without running round destroying the place . Just get them to dance on the spot!

Treasure hunt or a sweetie hunt? Latter would be easier to arrange - just drop sweets and chocs all over the house and let them find them. I did this once and it was great fun. Plus they keep looking even after they have all been found because they are hoping to find more! I set a limit though: you have to stop at a certain number to ensure that the slower, more timid children get their fair share.

Also, sardines is a great way to pass time. My ds2 played this game at his party and hid under his bed and nearly every child went in his room and looked under his bed and failed to see him!! Mind you, his birthday is on the shortest day of the year so it was a lot darker then. You could shut the curtains though....

well, how lucky were we!! Thanks everyone for all your ideas and tips but in the end, the sun came out and the children had a fantastic time playing in the garden as planned. We were so very lucky with the weather, I cant tell you how relieved I was when the sun started to come out. thanks for your replies though, I shall store them in my memory for next year in case we're not so lucky.