Movie party for 8 year old boy - ideas gratefully received

[sky44]

I wondered if anyone could help me work out if my "movie party" idea is likely to work or be a disaster? I plan to have around 12 kids in total for my son's 8th birthday in November, mostly boys, and plan for a party length of about 2.5 hours say 3pm-5.30pm. The plan would be for the kids to watch a film in our living room with popcorn, haribo etc, then have hot dogs etc and perhaps a couple of games like a treasure hunt for wrapped chcolates using torches in the garden.......
I wondered about chooings 2 films and getting them to vote which one they want? Has anyone got any ideas re what films ? Has anyone done any party like this, did it work? Am i mad? We are about 25 mins drive from the nearest town with a cinema and then here is the cost of eating out so I thought about this party idea instead. Thanks

In my honest opinion they will not sit and watch the movie. The watching the movie bit will turn into running around your living room, wrestling each other and generally being hyper active. If it has to be at home try and set up activities in your garden such as a bouncy castle if it's big enough or some football goals or nerf guns. Or alternatively hire a hall and do something in there. At that age even a couple of kids over to watch a movie will descend into chaos never mind 12!

I think you're being a bit over optimistic about how long 8 year old boys will sit down for. In my experience, at least one of them will be jiggering about at any time. At least 1.

If you do want to pursue the movie idea though, the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series is great. V popular with DS (just 9) and his mates.

We did this for my DS's 8th birthday. He had about 8 friends back.
He chose the Diary Of A Wimpy Kid film that had just come out on DVD and we sent out invites saying that that was what we were watching. I decided that if we gave them all a choice, half would end up moaning that they weren't watching their choice of film...
I set up a mini pick your own station for sweets and popcorn and gave each boy a smallish cup to fill (with plenty left for refills) then did hot dogs and chips when the film was over.
All went well. They did chatter a bit through the film (a few of them had seen it at the cinema and did the whole ‘I LOVE this bit') but everyone had a good time. I liked it because I didn't really have to entertain them all (we've done many a hall party with games etc) and I could pop the food on to cook near the end of the film so it was ready when they'd finished.
We played a few wimpy kid themed games that I found on Pinterest after food and job done!
Good luck - I'm sure it will be great.

Pick your own? I meant pick 'n' mix!!

Keep sugary treats to a minimum if you expect them to sit still for any amount of time!
You could watch half of the film, pause to make pizzas, resume the second half while pizzas are cooking and then eat afterwards.
We once had a Scooby Doo party where we watched 3 separate episodes with games and eating inbetween. Worked well

Home alone is good.

We did this for DS one year, we watched Home Alone. Lots of them had never seen it and loved it!

Agree that with those numbers some won't sit still and will be disruptive. I took a smaller group of 8 yo girls to the cinema and for a pizza after - I was surprised how a couple of the "high spirited ones" couldn't sit still and basically changed the dynamic for everyone.

Sounds like a good idea,my 8 year old would like it.Agree with minimal sweets though..maybe just popcorn.Choose the film beforehand to avoid argument.
Get a takeaway pizza to avoid cooking /mess/cutlery.
And definitely have something to do after all that sitting still.Maybe some glow sticks /light up balls so they can just throw them around in the garden as it gets dark?

Agree with all here. Boys would not be just sitting and watching the movie like a bunch of girls would!! For 8 year olds Jumanji would be my best choice but Home alone Or Kung Fu Panda 3, How to Train Your Dragon, Harry Potter, Marmaduke, Free Willy, Flipper could also be options.

Thank you all so much for your replies, SO full of helpful advice. Lots of ideas for films as well as what not to do in terms of food! Love the idea of slow sticks in the garden after...

Sorry to revive an d thread, we're thinking of doing this too. After reading this am wondering if we're being a bit optimistic