Hi everybody. My daughter's 3rd birthday party is this Saturday, and I am looking for ideas for play activities (indoor). Most of the guests are adults or teenagers, but i will also be having a 4 year old, a couple of 5 year olds and 9 year old. I don't think my daughter is old enough for lots of organized games or activities, but i would love to have a simple game or craft project that the kids can drift in and out of. The older kids might be willing to help the younger ones, but if it's too elaborate I don't think they'll be interested. What sort of thing would engage such a varied age group? By the way it is a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme. I thought about leaving out coloring pages with crayons, but that seems kind of lame. Any advice would be appreciated because i am really clueless about kid crafts. Thank you!
Just had a playdate yesterday. Mom had plain white gift bags and a whole bunch of foam stickers, stamps, glue/glitter, etc. to decorate bags for christmas. the kids loved them! Even though they did one bag at first, they came back to them a little later.
Hi D.,
I love doing party games/crafts. I think the kids have fun when they have something organized. I usually start our parties with a craft while people are arriving. Last party I got a bunch of fabric markers & plain white pillow cases (actually they were off-white because it was cheaper) and the kids decorated pillow cases. They uses stencils & free hand. We had a variety of ages & they all loved it. Then they had something cool to take home. You can also use white t-shirts. You can buy them at the dollar store or get packs of mens' shirts in assorted sizes. You will want to put cardboard inside the shirt or pillowcase to keep it firm enough to write on & to prevent the colors from bleeding through to the other side. I have also done the fabric paints but they take too long to dry. The markers are the best & they come in variety packs.
The party game that went over well was more active. I got a square box & wrote different directions on the sides (do a jumping jack, arm circles, touch your toes, etc). We put it on a parachute (you can use a sheet) & the kids held the edges & bounced the box up & down. When the box fell off the kids had to do the activity that was on top. They really had fun & got in some exercise.
Good Luck & have fun!
C.
Hi D.,
If you go to Michael's or other craft store, the staff can direct to you appropriate crafts for this age. I would suggest putting out foam shapes, pipe cleaners, googlie eyes, glue and markers and letting the kids create their own things. When my daughter was young, I bought flower pots and let the kids all paint them. It served as a craft and a party favor. For my son when he was about 4, I bought plastic explorer hats and the kids decorated them with markers and stickers. They might also enjoy decorating cupcakes or cookies with icing and sprinkles.
As for fun activities, your kiddie guests are all the right age for a limbo contest!
Enjoy the special day.
I just had a birthday party for my 2 year old son this past weekend. 20 kids were present and the ages were 22 months to 13 years old. I ordered christmas crafts from http://www.currentcatalog.com/~Current+Kids.html
One was a christmas tree ornament with stickers, another was a christmas ball ornament puzzle that they could color, and gingerbread man picture ornament. Most of the kids tried these crafts but really they seem to just like stickers and coloring the best. I also put out some christmas coloring books and lined the craft table with white paper they could color on. Once they got bored with the crafts, we did musical chairs and then limbo line. The older kids helped out the younger ones who didn't know. My son and his cousin ended up sitting on the chair the whole time and the older kids didn't mind - it was cute. I got an elmo pinata with the pull strings (so each kid pulls a string and there is no bat involved). I also put out some push toys, walkers, toy strollers and the younger kids (even 3 year olds) pushed them around. The toys were good for the younger kids who weren't as involved in the crafts. hope these help! have a great party!
Since it's close to the holidays, if your friends and family celebrate, maybe a Christmas craft would be appropriate. You can get plain stockings for the kids to decorate at the dollar store. Fabric glue is cheap at the craft stores to glue felt shapes or googly eyes and the like. You can also get fabric pens for them to write their names, etc.
At craft stores they have different colored sand that they can pour in different molds (a bear, a baseball..etc), my girlfriend did this at her 3 year olds b-day party and it was a hit. They have all diferent shapes that they can layer the different colored sand in and they can take it home. Have a good time!
Felting is always fun. With smaller kids, I would not needle-felt, but use the soapy water method. It is easy and kids of all ages can try it. All you need are different colored wools and soapy water. The kids can make balls of different layered wool with a stone or gem at the center, then cut them open at home when dry to expose the layers. They make wonderful Christmas tree decorations. Or you can do a ziploc bag felting project, see http://kleas.typepad.com/kleas/2007/05/tutorialfelting.html for an example. My kids have always enjoyed it.
Hi D.
When my son turned 3 I had the kids decorate picture frames. Granted - all the kids were 3 (or just under) through 5, but I think that might work for a varied age group, too. I went to the craft store to get the decorating-able frames, bought stickers and 3-d paints and let the kids have at it. For all the kids, one of the parents helped, but in your case, the older ones could have some fun with a frame of their own as well as help the younger ones!
Good luck and have fun!
C. :)
I just had my son's birthday party. We had a Disney Cars theme party. The kids loved Pin a Tire on the Car (a takeoff from pin the tail on the donkey). They also enjoyed musical chairs - the older kids controlled the chairs and music. Also, I made a treasure hunt for the kids. I placed clues around the house that they had to find in order (i.e. You watch the movie cars on this - then the kids would find the next clue at the TV). In the end, there was a treat bag for each child.
One idea that I didn't end up doing, but I thought was cute, was to make a large card (poster size) such as a large Mickey Mouse. You could have the kids decorate the card and write birthday wishes on it, and then you have an activity and a keepsake too.
I hope your party is a success!
I get most of my ideas from Birthdayparties.com ! They have all kind of themes on there. I usually have the kids decorate there own Goodie bag with markers, stickers and so on, when they first come in so that they have something to do while we wait for the other kids. The other thing that i do is i make them work for there treats! I do the games so that they either find there treat or win it (not recomended for 3 year olds, let them find it) I also make my own piniatas know, which might cut it close to the party. Familyfun.com is where i got that idea! Anyway, that's it, enjoy and have fun reading all the different ideas. N.
Hi D.,
My daughter has her 3rd birthday party on Saturday too! Actually, her birthday is today.
There is a company called Creative Hands and they have really cute stuff.
I got the foam Christmas stickers a couple of weeks ago at Michael's Crafts in Danbury. daughter and her cousin (5 years)just stuck them on construction paper. They loved it.
Cheers,
G.
Hi D.,check this out
http://www.parentingtoddlers.com/toddlercraft.html
http://www.craftideas.info/html/k-winter.html
some ideas seem very interesting to me, good luck,O.
it is close enough to christmas..why not get crafts to make christmas decorations for the tree or walls or table tops..you could get glass bulbs or i thinkg they make clear plastic bulbs and colored glitter glue and take top off bulb and drip the glitter glue inside and roll it around and make designs inside..you can mix colors..and recap to dry then hang..or get foam pieces to make picture frames for the holiday or for the members to take home with them... have a digital camera ready for taking and print the pictures to send home as end of the day...age range is great for these projects because anyone can do it..get window paints and have the family and friends write or paint christmas designs or wording on the windows as a decoration also..either way have an excellent time with the family and friends around...
