party games for 4yr olds

[Katherine]

Suddenly realised DD's birthday is only 2 weeks away. Have hurridly booked the village hall and need to get the invites out. There will be 20-25 kids from 2.5 to 5 (mostly 3-4). Trying to think about what to do with them for 2 hours. Don't want the expense of an entertainer etc. Have come up with pass the parcel and musical hats (plus the usual variations) - anyone got any other suggestions for this age group or I'm going to be wrapping a lot of parcels!

re quiet sleepy lions and "really falling asleep" - at DS2's 5th or 6th birthday (forget which) one little boy did really fall asleep and when we woke him up he was terribly upset and had to be taken away and cuddled!

Pass the parcel but with a little prize in each layer - we used sheets of stickers that cost 5p each in each layer so everyone won something.

Wills - I love your party games, and instructions, and am planning on using loads for ds2's party soon.

Btw how many guests did you have?

Just realised I never updated on how it went. Well it was chaos. Party was at 2.30 and at 11am a tree blocked our driveway so DH was out there with a chainsaw trying to clear the way. He came back at 1.30 so quickly cleaned up and then had to dash off. Meant that we were much later getting there than I had planned so didn't have proper time to set up and brief everyone on the plans.

I left DH to do the hats while I set up the food but when I came back it was chaos. We did PTP to get their attention which was great (but too many layers!) and then when we went onto the hat games I just couldn't get them to co-operate. Was starting to panic but then decided to do food and spin that out. Food went really well despit someone giving the vegan a sausage roll but he fortunatly didn't eat it.

Afterwards another round of PTP and then another mum (star!) came up with a game were we gave a few of the mums a hat and when the music stopped the kids had to go and get a hat. If they got one they got a prize. Of course they got them off their mum the first time but it got everyone in the swing of it, even the parents with silly hats on and that kept us going till the end.

So a bit chaotic really but everyone said it was great (maybe they were just being nice!). Also the box of fancydress in the corner went down well as there was always something to do even when they weren't doing what I wanted them too. Oh and we palyed musical bumps too.

Lessons learned:
Allow plenty of time to set up.
I had loads of helpers but didn't have time to tell them what I wanted them all to do. Would have been better if they'd had specific jobs.
Not too many kids. I had 30 - that was why it was so mad.
If you feel panic coming on - food!
Don't forget to allow time for the cake and candles, espcecially if some are leaving early.
If all else fails then just get them dancing!