Shirley's party advice part 5 - Here to Help - come and say Hi

[Blatherskite]

Didn't notice we'd gotten to the end of the thread!

stealth that blog is ace!! How gorgeous is her party?!! Lovely cake.

Here is run down of mine so far.....Bearing in mind, we live in a 2 up, 2 down so may have to put a gazebo up in the garden... and 3 hours allocated....

decor halloween decor- pumpkins, bat and spider garlands, LED balloons, MIL is making streamers at the doors using bin bags (like in a ghost train?)

cake rainbow cake from ASDA plus halloween themed cupcakes.

party bags the pamper lady is bringing goody bags plus I'm going to get bags of retro sweets to hand out.

play list lots of girly pop with a bit of time warp etc thrown in.

menu cheeseburgers!! Easy peasy.

activities Ok- this is the hard bit. Lounge and kitchen diner downstairs. Pamper lady in the living room with the music doing nail art and face paints ( its fancy dress but told them to come with 'clean faces and complete your freaky look at the party!') I want to set up a bit of craft in the kitchen but not sure what?? Lip blam making seems fun but messy?? DD hates bracelet making- we are drowning in bead sets that she never uses. Wondered about some FIMO to make your own scary character and then I could bake them all while they eat and pop the figurine in a their party bag?? What do you think?

Then in the gazebo, we were going to have a fruit juice cocktail bar (with DH manning) and a table with bowls on, in bags with goo etc in them and they have to put their hands in. peeled grapes, mushed up jelly with lychees in, jelly snakes in water. any other ideas?

Then, i'm thinking after an hour and a half of chilling, exploring the different stuff, having make up and nails done, dancing- I'll get the food on and do the cake- that should take me up to 2.15hrs?? Then 45 mins of games= the mummy wrapping game, musical gargoyles??, still a bit stuck here.....

What do you all think? Any other ideas??

Last time 'the mean girls' came to a party, we ended up playing a dressing up game with my clothes. Don't ask felt pressured into it when I had already prepared a pass the parcel. But as soon as I said thats what we were doing they said it was babyish and came up with that game. I'm going to be more in control this time. And get my MIL here

xxxx

How about using sugar dough instead of fimo, and they can plonk their monsters on top of cupcakes and take them home (after a group photo) - would save you the hassle of cooking fimo at the same time as producing food.

Are you /DH/MIL up for supervising 'fearleading practice' (Simon says)? That and musical statues monsters could fill some time.

You will be fine with the mean girls now that you are forewarned. I did once pay the teenage sister of one of DS's friends to be an extra helper at a party, having seen her in action at another party singlehandedly keeping all the most 'challenging' DC in the class engaged and happy. She is at university now and planning to go into teaching .

Tametortir the party sounds excellent. But Im sorry i do have to ask...what game using your clothes???

Blathers did you hashtag me? I think dd2 will def be due CP again shes got six spots its a pitiful attempt really! And whats worse is having to stay in for six spots but i am.

No one needs our party madness advice any more . This thread can't disappear though - I have less than no idea what to do for my DC this year.

Nooo, it cannot disappear. I'll need you in August November when I'm planning DD's 4th!

Maybe we should just call the next thread "Stealth, DW and Blathers chat thread with more than a little party planning" though as that's pretty much what this has turned into :)

It has. I think we may have scared off a few people .

DD test-baked her bake off entry, and insisted on taking it to school to get her friends' verdict without us even tasting it. Surprisingly enough, 22 5 and 6yo's gave a big thumbs up to chocolate cake covered in chocolate ganache .

But we have to sit here chatting to keep our premises open!

Dd1 asked me to get The Little Mermaid dvd off my friend " cos i really think i'd like a mermaid party next". And i had had angst over her not forming friendships as she'll be so new to big school but i think about 12 of 22 are coming from her playschool. ( i'm not doing whole class i refuse!!)

So who wants to play imaginary mermaid party? Or i can tell you ive been decorating a dolls house and im now working on teeny cushions and roman blinds!

I want choc cake now!

I went to a party today. It wasnt good. I think ive spent too long on here and building parties of legends!

LOL - DD went to one yesterday, but I didn't stay - they had a guy who brought animals (mostly snakes and spiders as far as I can gather). My total involvement was to make a gecko - themed bag for birthday boy.

DD says she wants a science party.

This one was four year olds. About ten of them in a big echoey hall. It intimidated dd being like a pea in a drum. Then they had games: pass the parcel but with forfeits(obviously kids dont wanna do it so parents end up doing it!) then playing games like passing balloons between knees and four year olds just didnt have the coordination. I could go on but i wont.

I really had to fight the urge to go right kids...lets do...

And they gave the option of leaving the kids so the parents of the two peskiest obviously scarpered leaving us to keep reprimanding them. Sigh.

Science party i would love to do. Im keeping that in reserve for about 7/8. Dh reminded dd that she liked the sound of the blathers pizzaexpress job. Im hoping i could steer her into that. I am loving the animal party though dh is scared of snakes i'd die laughing to bring a reptile man in a surprise.

shockingly enough, DD will be 7 next birthday [sniff]. The party she is most looking forward to as a guest is a climbing one, because she knows the numbers are limited (I had to explain after she was not invited to the last one) so she is happy to have been chosen . Animal parties are quite popular round here, although this is only the second one DD has been to, IIRC.

Making games too old for the target audience is an easy mistake to make, I guess.

Thats the thing isnt it it is easy mistakes to make unless your one if us three in which case my mind was going wheres the crafts?!!!

I told you i'm spoilt on here now.

Oh yes, we are the worst ever party guests now! I forget that not everyone spends months planning parties

I've been away all weekend and I'm knackered now. First thing I did when I got back was order the pattern for a reversible caterpillar/butterfly that I think DD will love though and I'm busy planning a castle tower hanging toy holder for when we redecorate her room too

Are you officially over the dragon-related trauma now then, Blathers?

Must be. I think the fact that Roary is her absolute favourite toy has helped heal the wounds

Hi, just wondering if anyone has any ideas for 4 year olds party please? Its at my (small) house, limited outside space, 7 children. I am doing a bit of food and a cake and I was going to just leave them to play but now I am thinking we should have some games or something to make it more than just a playdate. Any suggestions or am I overthinking? Thanks!

Just dont give them forfeits!

Does your dc have a favourite toy/prog? Not a theme as such but something you could work with to tie it together? What cake for instance would you be doing?

Games that four year olds like, i've found pass the parcel is ok but they love musical statues and bumps. Sleeping lions is also quite good.

I dont think your over thinking, i have a four year old and i think yhey do need a bit of steering.

I do think games make it a party but they don't have to be complex things. 4 year olds in my experience can cope with and enjoy games like pass the parcel and musical statues/bumps the best.

A parcel for 7 would be quick to do, cheap to make and not take up much space. Musical bumps/statues only requires some music and maybe a small prize for the 'winner' if you want.

If you can contain/face the mess, littlerabbits, and if you have a table big enough to get them round, I would do something food-based (decorating cupcakes, or biscuits), then leave someone else to de-ice the kitchen and go and play pass the parcel with them in another room/outside, then maybe balloons or bubbles (if it's sunny, an ELC bubble machine would make a great birthday present) and then let them back in for tea, including the cakes they made (or serve birthday cake and put the ones they decorated into party bags instead).

Does that sound do-able?

In my experience Billion Bubble machines are better than the ELC ones - and half the price too!

Fair enough . Bubbles in the sunshine never fail to amuse, however generated, though.

Thank you!!

Ok I am making a list -
They arrive
Decorating biscuits
Food (itll be over lunchtime so theyll need food early)
musical statues
pass the parcel
Bubbles outside (i have a bubble machine!), music too?
Home with party bags

Have I got that right? DoctorsWife, she likes Peppa so the cake will be peppa-shaped...hopefully.

Thank you again. I am so busy and my brain isnt working enough to d this without help!

Ahhh good ole peppa. My dd is 15 months old and yesterday i put a dvd in thinking i'll try to steer her towards the pig rather than the squeaking craziness of the night garden.

Was gonna see if we could theme your games around peppa but doesnt sound like you need that, your sorted.

Blathers - we had that bubble machine as a 1st birthday gift but it never worked. i feel like we've missed out