I love giving parties, do you need some ideas?

[ShirleyKnot]

Hello!

If you don't know me I'm Shirley and I'm a great lover of planning parties. I do a blog about it (which I'm not going to link here, but if you look on the bloggers network for PartySpanner you'll find me)

ANYWAY

If you're chucking a do, I might be able to help - I'm not a business, I don't charge for my ideas or owt, I just love to trawl the internet find good invite ideas, games and food.

Jump in and I'll see if I can help.

DS 's bear' 's

pinterest pinterest pinterest. I can send invites I think...

oh noooooo shirley I took a peek and now I can't stop...

Must resisit!

My poor kids!

Arf!

Man alive! It's more addictive than MN!

Hello, I'd like to pick your brains if I may?

I'm planning a party for eldest son, he will be 6 in November. Party is at the surf lifesaving club on the beach, and I thought I'd do a treasure hunt on the beach and get the children to fill an egg box. Only trouble is, I got as far as a feather, a shell, an interesting pebble....now what for the other three spaces?
Also could use some other good winter party ideas, outdoors and indoors...

I actually can't get off pinterest - it's becoming an illness I think :o

Should also add, it's loosely octonauts themed, although veering into seaside/under the sea...

Things what I've pinned for it so far are here

Please ignore ridiculous amounts of pins and boards, I do have a life off the internet, honest :o

some sand ?
a piece of seaweed?
and ?

nice idea btw

Berry you came to the right place, take a look at blathers profile she does a mean Kwaazi cake. To get more ideas, have the kids got use of the club and the beach or any other outside space? And I'm thinking its likely to be cold so they'll gravitate indoors?

How can I get a pinterest invite, i'm loving browsing everyone elses although i fear i will just repin all stealths christmas board!

Oooh Octonauts party! You must make some cupcakes, remove the wrapper, cut off the top so flat then serve them upside down with faces piped on - I reckon they'd look just like the kelp cakes that Tunip makes :)

Tunip and Kelp Cake for those not living with an octonaut obsessive in the know

:o at some sand :o It's going to be the shortest treasure hunt in the history of treasure hunts! I think I'm going to have to plant stuff on the beach for them to find at this rate.

The club house has a function room which we will be using, I just want them to run around like headless chickens outside to burn some energy first. Indoors I was thinking perhaps doughnuts on a string to eat without hands...apple bobbing??

Cupcakes, I have a cunning plan there - family member has cake company so I may twist her arm for kelp cakes. Now Blathers... any chance you fancy a trip to Cornwall to make a Kwaazi cake for me?! :o

Doctors wife - I can invite you to Pinterest if you give me your email?

I don't know anything about Octonauts.

I've had a re think about the treasure hunt. Going to make small shapes (fish? Stars?) and attach a chocolate coin, then bury in sand/ hide around the beach.

It's only loosely Octonauts, more under the sea sort of thing...I need nautical games :)

DD watches Octonauts, so I am vaguely aware of their existence, but am clearly a neglectful parent compared to Blathers as I neither watch with her nor listen when she recounts the entire plot at me - Kwaazi kitten cake looks good, though, and do-able (Blathers - I am in awe of the straight lines and right angles on your square cakes - my cakes don't seem to do straight...)

Berry if you are prepared for them all to get sandy, why not have a sand sculpture competition? My DS perfected sand iguanas on holiday and got very cross every time someone trod on one

Berry how many DC are we talking about? Some sort of relay race (load the boat, raise the sail, haul the anchor, dress the life boat man) would seem in order for "nautical" games?

DS hasn't watched Octonauts for ages. We do have a few of the books though and I think I've just taken it all in by osmosis :)

I love the shapes with the chocolate coin idea Berry. Sounds like fun. Chocolate coins are everywhere at the moment too as all the shops are in Christmas mode already.

The Christening cake was a fruitcake stealth so much easier to get square. The others are evened out with frosting which hides a multitude of sins

Agreed last night to have my whole family over on Sunday to celebrate my Mum's birthday so me and DD have been out to get the cake ingredients. Going to try the Hummingbird Bakery Spiced Apple cake. Mum loves fruitcakes but I really won't have time to spend 5 hours cooking one so this is my next best option. It looks delicious so I hope it comes out OK. Will make some Vanilla cupcakes for the children too. Present is all sorted and we're going out for lunch as I can't get 10 of us around my little table so all I have to do is make a cake and make sure the house is relatively tidy.

I ask to the general opinion on timings, as I'm worried the boys will be bored at Halloween party, and that I haven't organized enough.

2 hours 4pm-6pm 10 4year old boys

Games -

Dressing each other as mummies
Pass the pumpkin or parcel
Pin the clothes on the skeleton
Touchy feely boxes
Doughnuts on strings

Doing picnic boxes also.

Just concerned that these games aren't going to take very long/they will get bored quickly and I will strtuggle to entertain them

We have fireworks, but am not sur whether some of the children may be frightened.

THought about turfing them into the garden with torches for a pumpkin hunt but the chances are it will be freezing/pissing down, so they will come back in covered in mud and frozen solid

Any advice?

Geordie I think I would be prepared to play a few games of musical statues / bumps to fill some time if you need to (pull scary faces as you freeze into a statue?) - and the other good time-filler if you have room is grandfather's footsteps - especially if you have a big cloak and a torch - DH did it very successfully by turning round and shining the torch on the offending child - they would quite happily have played for hours. 7

Generally a few games which require minimal preparation are good to have up your sleeve - and if by chance it is not pissing down, just give them balloons (punch-ball ones are good ) and turf them outside instead.

What pray tell is Grandfathers steps??????

OK, so maybe it's supposed to be Grandmother's footsteps - it's explained quite well here with another variant here

Thank you!

Well I've included on the invitation to bring waterproofs and wellies, so sandy is absolutely fine. Falling in the sea very much not fine though :o

I think the sandier the better really, I want them to have exhausting fun so they sleep all night.

Like the ideas of relay races/sand sculptures. In total there will be around 20 children, quite varied ages and both sexes.

I did punch ball balloons at one of DS1s birthdays, and had the idea (via the internet) that putting a few lentils in them would make them even more fun. The reality was that something either in them, or the heat of the hall made them all explode half way through the party and terrify the living daylights out of all the children (especially our balloon phobic niece ) and they shot tiny lentil shrapnel all over the room. It was utter carnage! I always have a calamity at parties...

exploding punch balls not good - even without lentils, we found it is very easy to overinflate them.

Depending on age range, you could do team sand sculptures, or different age ranges of individual ones? If the sand is not wet enough then I guess you would need some big buckets which adults can fill otherwise you will have 20 of them going into the sea...