a craft for "gathering activity" at a party - what will 5 year old boys like?

[tassisssss]

I'd like there to be gathering activities at ds' 5th birthday...

Have iced biscuits before, and decorated party crowns (though I suspect some of the bigger boys might be too cool for that!). Any other suggestions? Ds would love tatoos!!

decorate your own party bag?

decorate a cheapo picture frame (then take digital camera, laptop and printer and print pics of the party to go in frame as party bag present)

Decorate their own t-shirts? Loads of ideas on the Hobbycraft website that you can use or adapt for your own use.

man, you're on the ball! his party is yonks away!

pandag - love your ideas! can i come to your party?

Buy plain bags from ebay to decorate.

Or cheap tshirts

Alternatively, there's always pizza parties or design a superhero with a prize for originality.

Or how about get in some face paints and pair kids up and do tattoos on each other's arms.

Again prizes for all participants and an extra one voted for by them.

def not all the ball

can't decide venue (hence crafty question, might just go for expensive venue option and not need to do anything...)

and realised last night in bed that dh has something on on the day in question...

lots of good ideas here now and i've remembered the decorate a pot and plant a sunflower idea that i already had

just looking for something quick that would appeal to 5 year old boys?

(slur - ds adores the tatoo idea (I'm guessing most of MN is shuddering at the thought!) I wondered if i might have issues with sensitive skin? can't be bothered having to ask parents in advance if face paint/tatoos are ok...IME decent face painters can take ages...)

I would have thought face paints are ok, if you get from somewhere like elc. They are selling snazzaro atm. link to snazzaro saftey statement - this suggest allergic reaction is very very small.

You could get them to do each other, cheaper than professional and quicker and probably more fun.

Alternatively, you could get them to design tats on strips of paper for a friend and tape them on.

I think face painting is a bit of a hassle. At ds's joint 4 and 6 birthday party we had crowns and animal masks to colour in (from yellow moon) - I was a bit worried that the cooler/older boys from ds1's class would be above it all but they all got stuck in and enjoyed it. I stuck to felt tips and stickers to keep mess at bay.

We did t shirt painting (well fabric pens) at DS1's fifth birthday party and it went down really well. I had lots of dinosaur stencils etc. I got the t shirts from Asda - I think they were 75p each.

HTH

you could fold some paper plated in half then add eyes to make paper plate monsters, then add card legs and arms.

keep them coming!

and good to hear from mums of bigger boys!

think i'm going to bite the bullet and book wee hall for traditional party...no excuse now i've got such fab ideas!

ja9 - I like doing crafty parties, had 10 Y1's plus asorted siblings at mine for an Easter craft event yesterday...if you are happy to help ice buns and make Esater BAskets then you would be very welcome to the next one!