Activities for 4th birthday

[LetsPlayBamboozled]

Before I pay the deposit for DDs birthday venue please can someone reassure me I can keep 10 kids occupied if it rains?!

The venue is a community hall with great outdoor space, DD loves to play on the climbing frames there so that's really my plan. Very basic but I figured they'd be too young for 'proper' party games and happy to tear about on the slides and balance beams. Followed by lunch and cake. We have the space for 2 hours though I wonder if 1.5 hours will be enough? Any thoughts on that hugely appreciated.

Anyway, the only thing is the party will be in October so what if the weather is awful and I have to entertain them all the hall? How long can I have them making crowns or decorating cakes before they get fed up? I did wonder about those pottery things you can get at Hobbycraft to paint but they won't dry in time to take home..

Any ideas really welcome because I am getting a bit fretty and it's stopping me paying the deposit!! I probably sound riciulous but I am out of my comfort zone and groups of kids make me nervous!

I got a hall for dd that age. Got a clown for about an hour.
Then kids just ran around screaming and playing catch. .
At that age. That’s all they want really. So if the weather is good it’s an added bonus of the outdoors. 2 hours is good.

90mins to 2hours is standard for 4 year old parties in my area. Climbing frames etc sound ideal.

Bouncy castles are always winners if it's rainy. Playdoh, making crowns etc sound great too. I'd save yourself the hassle of paint though...it's just messy and stuff won't be quite dry by home time. Traditional party games like musical statues, pass the parcel etc have gone down well with my 4 year old and her peers.

Thank you for your help. So glad to hear of kids running around screaming!

Playdoh! Thanks for that great idea.

I picked up a pack of 12 colour in animal masks in the pound shop yesterday so that's another rainy day option.

The reason I'm unsure about games is mainly because of the nursery Sports Day. The kids could not follow the simplest 'run and then go to the back of the line' games. But I've now heard there will be at least one party before ours so hoping they will have games and I can see if the kids manage to understand then copy, or not!

This is my list from DD’s 4th. The ones with the x were a success. We had a couple of older ones (6 ish) who were helpful for little ones to copy.

Birthday party ideas

Fish for corks
Egg and spoon race x
Relay races
Musical bumps with cushions x
Musical statues x
Sleeping lions x
Pass the parcel x
Pin the tail on donkey
Temp tattoos x
Decorating party bags
Kim's game
Donuts on strings x
Under/over balloon race
Simon says x
Draw round each other and decorate

And dances I did and they copied:

Macarena
Birdy song
Conga
Saturday night

Wow Orange Daisy thank you for posting.

Do you eat 'donuts on string'?! That sounds quite amusing.

Tattoos sound good.

I will be the last person you will find doing the Macarena!! Hats off to you!

Yes, just bought mini donuts and tied each one onto a longish bit of string dangling off another bit of string between two chair backs. Idea is they ate them with no hands but we didn’t stick to the rules too harshly. They loved it, particularly as I had it set up when they arrived and it looked fun!

We also didn’t really have winners for anything, just a prize box that the last few standing got to pick through (party bag tat and charity shop Playmobil bits).