Who should win pass the parcel?

[rubles]

I am trying to decide what the main present at the end should be, and don't know if it should be a boy or girl present as I don't know who will win it.

How do you choose who wins it?

the music stops

Pass the parcel is a flipping nightmare!!

I usually make sure each child gets to open one layer - and there's a sweet/chocolate bar in each layer.

Then the birthday child gets the final present which is usually a bit bigger, but not too much!

Very stressful indeed

The parties I have been to after each child has had a turn at opening a layer the mum in charge of the music covers her eyes and just stops it randomly. so it would have to be a pressie suitable for either a boy or a girl.

cAN YOU DO 2 SEPERATE CIRCLES GOING AT ONCE SEPERATING BOYS AND GIRLS?

I don't think the birthday child should get it tbh

Oops caps wrong way round, sorry!

I got DH to do the music with his back turned while I trod carefully on his toe to let him know when to stop the music.
The most important thing is EVERYONE must get to unwrap a layer each and get a sweet.
DD once got NO goes at unwrapping and one girl (a little bitch) got THREE goes and three sweets. DD was distraught, they agreed to rig musical statues for her (actually she won it fair and square!).
They mostly go for the sweets and no one ever seems that thrilled when they win the main prize.
When she was 2 ,DD got the main prize but cried as everyone else got sweets!!!!
So make sure they all unwrap a layer with sweets.
I knew a girl whoose parents were skint and she had very little so I always arranged for her to get a prize. Otherwise I looked to see which child was the most generous/sharing while the parcel was going round and chose them.
If you can't decide make it random by turning your back.
It's also easier if you feel one of them deifinitely shound NOT get it!!!!

not the birthday child!

we didn't do parce the parcel
we did pass the balloon then if the music stopped they got to take a lucky dip from my bucket of pressies.

the other way I have seen it done recently was that each child got a little thing each time the music stopped then it was properly random who won. (really no peeking)

ds has only ever invited boys to his parties!
Personally I wouldn't let the birthday child win - they are getting enough stuff.

Hav a uni se present.

Just make sure it isn't the birthday girl/boy ideally though.

Put something small between each layer.

I don't think birthday child should get the main prize either - they are no doubt swamped by presents already. Everyone should get a wrapper to do and then the present at the end should be "unisex" IYSWIM. What age?

Message withdrawn

Never the birthday child. I usually buy something unisex. And I make the winner the child I deem most deserving - ie the one who tends to get trampled underfoot by the more, er confident children.

its random - you dont look

a little present l=like plastic toy or ring or something alternate boy and girl - inbetween each wrapper

they will do swapsies and sort themselves out so all will have something

does that make sense

so one little toy between every sheet of wrapping

then a big toy

dont look when stopping music

have a unisex present and then do it randomly, that's what I did.
just close your eyes and press the button

jingleyjen Love the pass the balloon idea. Did every one get something out the lucky dip? What sort of things did they get? (DD1's party in 2 weeks!)

The way I do it is to have one wrapper per child with a mini choc bar in. Then the final prize is random. If you get something like crayons/colouring book/craft set it can be unisex.

yup they each got something, it was a pirate party so there were cannon balls, pop up pirates, pirate notebooks, wrapped up.. each child got a go.

At the last party I went to the kids started objecting if one person got more than one turn to unwrap. They were only 3 and 4 yo and they didn't understand the concept of it being random as they were so accustomed to it being staged. They were shouting 'no, Jacks mum, X has had a turn, its only Y and Z who haven't. You need to stop the music on Y or Z'. I thought it was really sad.

Its very looked down upon for the birthday child to win. Especially if birthday childs parents are controling the music.

lol at the kids telling you who to stop it at.
At ds's 5th no one wanted to play it

Dd's was at a friend's party when they were 6. The birthday boy was cheating and won "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" Everybody said "But he peeped!" His mother said"Oh well, it's his birthday!"

6 years on she still remembers the injustice!

Oooh birthday child gets present eh?

No never here. It's usually last game so I make it someone who hasn't won anything yet but has played the games nicely.

Plus it has to be right sex present (unisex gift so hard esp if party has theme) so for DS2's it was Playmobil knight (knight party) which had to go to a boy really...tricky as there was a lovely girl who had been so good yet won nothing - she didn't mind tho.

Rang her mum afterwards and said how super she had been instead

Usually I let the quiet one who has made a supreme effort to join every one else win. Then they play all the other games with gusto and I don't get stuck with a teary kid all afternoon.

Thank you.

I don't think birthday child should win. I remember a party of mine when I was little and I kept winning all the games but then mysteriously the prize went to another child each time. I had a horrible time as it seemed so unfair!

I am off to buy things now. I am tempted by the pass the balloon and lucky dip idea as that means minimum wrapping up, but then again a unisex present like colouring things would be good.

Oh, and I have a favourite little boy so I think he might win, but I'll make sure he gets a sweet too.