Because of everybody in my family being ill, one at a time, since October (really fun! not...), I haven't been able to plan anything for my daughter's birthday yet. She turns 6 in about a week and a half.
I'm thinking of having a party at home, and inviting a few of her closest friends (boys & girls), but then do what? Have organized activities? Let them play whatever they want? I wish we had snow... then at least we could have a snow-themed party: sledding, snowmen building, snow forts. But it's just icky and really cold out, so the party will be indoors.
It's probably too late to hire someone (magician, puppeteer), though I've been looking; haven't found anything yet. And we can't spend too long away from home -- new puppy and no dogsitter -- so that, and the last minute aspect kind of rule out venues like park districts or Chuck-E-Cheese.
Anyone have any suggestions? Entertainers who may be available for a reasonable price? Fun games to play or activities to do? Thanks much!
Thank you all SO much for all the great ideas! I love the snow theme... perfect for a January birthday!
How about traditional party games----Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Relay races carrying something on a spoon and filling up a bucket, maybe they could frost and decorate their own cupcakes. How about making their own individual little pizzas?
Chinese New Year theme. Pin the tail on the (pig? snake? whatever this year is). Egg rolls? Build and decorate a dragon (for a parade) and then propel it together as a group? Make Chinese decorations? Paint Chinese symbols with watercolors?
Winter theme. Pin the parts on the snowman? Build a snowman in advance, and let them decorate it? Make snow cone snowmen inside? Hot chocolate? Blue and silver decorations? Make paper snowflakes? Make snowflake streamers to decorate? Easy to make snowman cake?
Polar theme. Come dressed as your favorite polar animal? Hares, bears, penguins, seals? Black and white decorations? Make an igloo with sugar cubes?
Or animals who live in the snow? Add in wolves, tigers, snow leopards, etc.
Get a magician's kit. The tricks seem easy to learn. Find a teen or an adult willing to learn them and to perform.
Get the babysitter to face paint. Mine have loved doing it.
Have the kids make their own puppets based on the theme. Let them make their own show.
Camping theme. Tell ghost stories. Eat hotdogs and beans and later, s'mores. Some kind of build a fire game. Have someone come wearing a bear costume to make things interesting.
This is fun stuff. Grab a glass of champagne and brainstorm.
Your daughter is old enough to begin to help with ideas. What does she want to do? What are her interests? I ended up with a Titanic b-day party with my kid's idea! We built a big boat out of cardboard, built small boats and went to see if they floated (we supplied cork), and I made merienge(?) for the iceberg on the cake.
Happy Birthday!
I always wanted to have a movie star themed party for our 6 year old. Have props on hand (beads, dresses, hats, glasses, old Halloween costumes, etc) let em all get dressed up and act saucy. Food would be easy. Have a photo booth and let all the kids take home some funny pics. Easy and fun. My kids would love it
Do a Mad Science party. If you can't book Mad Science, then do it yourself. There are lots of simple science experiments you can find on the net. It would be good for girls and boys.
My son had a BeyBlade party and we put twists on old games. You could totally do that with a winter theme.
*Pin the nose on Frosty
*Snowball on a spoon relay race (use a golfball or a Styrofoam ball)
*Drop the snowball in a bucket
*Hot snowball (hot potato)
I also made up a series of clues to lead them to the goodie bags at the end. I wrote out the clues on tagboard, cut them into pieces, then the kids found them, put them together, figured out the clue and it lead them to the next envelope. My son talked about that one for a LONG time. He said it was his favorite part (he had helped with the rest, but didn't know about that part beforehand.
You could also look at a craft store for some fun crafts, too!
Ooohhh... little girl stuff....
Princess theme! They can decorate a crown, make sparkly necklaces, royal jewels, stuff like that.... and you could probably make one of the longer tutu skirts fairly easily by looping the tulle over ribbon......
http://www.momaroo.com/733711626/princess-no-sew-tulle-sk...
This is an easy skirt to make... personally, I think it is a bit TOO poofy, but you could probably use less tulle.....
What about a Build A Bear party, you set the amount and you take the kids there and theres a person assigned to your party and the kids have a great time and get to take a bear with them.I had one of these partys for my daughter and it worked out perfect.
The best parties are usually home parties.
You can do a traditional party playing games - pin the tail on the donkey, keep a balloon up in the air, treasure hunt, etc.
Crafts - you can do one or more crafts and the kids can take home their project as their "goodie bag".
You should definitely have planned activities if you have more than 4 kids.
Get a copy of Chicago Parent. There are always a TON of ads in the back for magicians, face painters, etc. Face painters would be good for boys and girls. Sometimes you can find them advertised on craigslist as well. Get a pinata and some traditional games and the kids will have a blast.
We went to Morkes Chocolates and they do great birthday parties and they have an option of 60 or 90 minutes. 90 minutes is just lunch. It can be booked pretty last minute. If you live near one of their stores I'd totally suggest it.
Cute ideas so far! I like the idea of a winter themed party and I also really like the Chinese New Year party. That would be fun and different and pretty easy to plan. All the party stores have stuff for Chinese new year so you could get ideas there.
We went to a science party recently and it was really fun. It was a boy's birthday but there were girls there, including my daughter, and they did fun experiments, made Gak, etc. It was cute. You could probably find all you need on line, just Google it!
How about a Minute To Win It theme?
Snow and winter is a perfect theme for a coed six year old party! Maybe we will get some more snow by your party to make it more festive, but if not there are tons of theme ideas for indoors. Look at oriental trading for inexpensive crafts (or you may still be able to find I. The clearance areas of a craft store). Decorate a snowman or snowflake cookie or individual
Snowman/flake pizzas (cut dough with large cookie cutter). Googley re ideas. There's a million out there!
Remember to have more things planned than you think you need! Run the party kind of like school - break kids into a few smaller groups and rotate through the stations. You can easily make a fun, affordable party with this theme. Dollar Tree had snowman and snowflake plates, napkins and cups 50% off last week. May still have some. I just had a snowman cake order, for my little home business, and it turned out great. What a fun theme!
Kids that age also love cooking/baking theme parties too. Good luck! Happy new year!
