Aunt with no idea - party ideas most welcome

[Auntwithnoidea]

Hi

I am the aunt of a soon to be 4 year old boy (no children myself). I have agreed to host his birthday party. There is going to be a mixture of family and children (ages 1-12) and I would be grateful to receive party game and food ideas. I am thinking of pass the parcel and pin the tail on the donkey. Old school I know but with such an age variation I thought these would work.

Food I'm thinking nuggets, chips, pizza slices, ice cream and jelly. Standard I know but this is my first children's party! I'll do different food for the adults.

The party will be indoors as it will be winter. There will be between 8-10 children and 10-15 adults.

I look forward to hearing from you.

For the foodi would keep it simple and as much as possible could be prepared in advance. I would do some carrots and cucumber slices. Maybe some grapes for pudding, as well as your ice cream. I found ice cream in cones then dipped in sprinkles was popular and no washing up.

I love nothing more than a "proper" party, so to me one that I had as a child. Traditional games pass the parcel, musical bumps/statues, Kim's game, pin the tail etc. I would keep the food the same for kids and adults, sandwiches, pizza, party ring biscuits, cheese, pickles, pineapples. My friend used plastic glasses for the jelly, and then popped a scoop of ice cream on top. Can I come?

Don't bother with cooked food.
Individual food boxes saves waste.
Not too many games where people are out, prize when out eg sweets
Party bags
Whoever is doing the games, someone else does food/drinks/entertains adults
Max 2 hours party
Send invitations well in advance

I second musical statues. It's lots of fun and the kids get to dance around. older children can control the music and hand out prizes for silliest statue, scariest, stillest etc.

How about a piñata filled with lollies? Start with the youngest child blindfolded hitting it with a stick then work your way through all the kids

There's some good info about party food here:

www.mumsnet.com/food-content/childrens-party

Yes to musical statues.

I would do one lot of food for all - pizza slices, cucumber & carrot sticks, cherry toms. Maybe add some quiche and salad for adults, but don't do 2 separate meals. Ice cream with sauces and sprinkles, and fairy cakes/cup cakes/slices of birthday cake, party rings. I tend to keep it all veggie for simplicity.

Stuff like giving a sticker as people get 'out', or musical statues with a Simon Says type action instead of statues, and no one getting out. DC round here are used to getting something in their pass the parcel layers - mini bag of haribo or funsize mars bar kind of thing usually. I do 5p lollies.
Treasure hunt
Yy to Party bags.
Have fun!

All good advice so far!
Are there going to be many younger kids, or are most older? Only because it came as a slight surprise to me that 4/5 yr olds don't necessarily know how to play party games - unable to sit in a circle without lots of direction! - so you may want to get an older child to be your special helper and/or think carefully about your instructions.
Also, I'm not sure I'd bother with pass the parcel - it is quite a lot of preparation and expense- but, depending on how many kids you have, gets a bit dull for the kids. If you do do it, always have a couple of spare prizes in case you forget a layer or do an empty layer by accident. Alternate wrapping papers (or newspaper!) so it is easy to see when it has gone and do the final layer in something very noticeable so you know when it's about to finish.

Finally, big smiles, lots of stickers and more enthusiasm than a CBeebies presenter and your nephew will have a great time!

There are loads of great ideas here. I would recommend individual food boxes and chip scoops for chicken nuggets and chips (good deals on amazon for these), shot glasses with ketchup and a little toy in the food box as well. I did a quiz with a treasure hunt and Lego building challenges for my last party and it kept all of the kids entertained for two hours (don't go over two hours!). Have a great party x

Where do people get their food boxes from? I like this idea to minimise waste.

I get mine from Amazon. They sometimes have them in pound land but not very often