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By stayhomemom from Canada
When my son was in grade one, we had a large party, although not as large as this. One thing they loved was playing dressup, as we had a large selection of dressup clothing. My older son (grade 4) organized this. Then we took a photo.
When they first arrived, we did a small craft. Easy coloring and gluing of wooden pieces bought at the dollar store. Made frig magnets or something like that.
I think group games would be good -- like the Red rover idea, also Flying Dutchman, musical chairs, also non-elimination musical chairs (chairs are taken away, but everyone has to sit on the remaining chairs/laps till you are down to only 1 or 2 chairs-- no standing on the sidelines, and good for a lot of giggles). If you don't know how to play such stuff, you can likely google for info.
For such a large group, I would suggest you get some help. I would suggest a couple of bigger kids, like grade 5 or 6, to help with the party. If you have bigger children of your own, they could help, or neighbours, or other kids from the school. Friends of the family would likely be thrilled to help, but even if you have to pay them a bit, it will be worth it, as big girls, especially, will love to organize this crowd into group games like Red Rover. If you don't know any 10 & 11 year olds, contact your child's teacher, as the school will know who would be good at this type of activity.
With such a large crowd, you could even take them to a park to play Tee-ball. Again, help is a must, I think.
Be firm about beginning and end times. I usually started my party right after school, and took them home after they had "supper" -- I'll go with hot dogs and carrot sticks with chip dip-- and the cake. Two hours is plenty, really. You will have to allow quite a bit of time for the present opening, but it might not hurt to have them doing that after they have been totally tuckered out doing something or while they are eating carrot sticks and dip. They enjoy present opening, but after their gift is opened , they may lose interest. ha ha I hope it is possible for the kids to be picked up, when you have so many, but you have more control over party end time if you deliver them home.
Don't feel that you have to go overboard with the treat bags that they take home. My boys are all in their twenties, now,and so I might be out of touch, but it seems to me that some small toy from the dollar store and some candy treats would be sufficient. I'd go for Kinder Eggs for the candy, as it combines the treat with the toy.
You could make maps for a treasure hunt. You could get some large marshmallows and play "Chubby Bunny". Each child puts one Marshmallow in their mouth and has to say Chubby Bunny. Then you keep adding more marshmallows until you can no longer say Chubby Bunny. The one who can cram the most in their mouth and still talk wins. If you have room in your yard you could have them play Red Rover. That game is fun when there are lots of kids.
How about a carnival theme? You could make little game booths, (throw the ball through the ring, pop balloons, etc). You could have a concession stand with chips and punch, hot dogs, whatever you can think of.
I needed ideas for my 2 year old son's birthday party which is on the 20th of March. Since I live in London, the weather is not something I can depend on. I am fortunate to have a reasonable sized drawing room. I want to call about 20 children ranging from the age group of 1 year to 8 years. The reason for this is since all the kids are our friend's kids, the age group varies tremendously. Please can you suggest some ideas for a party at home. I will also be inviting the parents.
Gaytri from London
I had a party for 2 of my girls (turned 3 and 6) and had both boys and girls of various ages come to the party. We had a "color party". I picked 6 colors (blue, red, yellow, green, purple, and pink which was originally suppose to be orange, but I had a lot of little girls wanting pink). I used this for the theme. Got solid color napkins, plates, streamers, balloons. The invitation asked the child to wear their favorite color. I had cupcakes in all the colors, I added food coloring to Sprite to match, for drinks and I put matching colored sprinkles on vanilla ice cream.
For games, I got the oldest daughter's Twister to play with the bigger kids and had coloring pages for the younger kids. If you're having gift bags, you can get by very cheaply with plain white or clear bags and just tie them off in the appropriate ribbon color. You can also take just about any standard party game and put a "color" twist on it. (02/24/2005)
By Nancy
By M H
By party planner pro
I have boy/girl twins (now 8) that have a June 19 birthday. The challenge has been trying to let them each have a big party, inviting 6-7 kids each. My house is not so big! They also have a brother, 3 yrs older, who likes to be there. I have hit upon an idea that is just genius (well I think so):
We go to the city pool during the evening, when it is half price to get in after 6pm. First, before going in to the pool, we open gifts and have (homemade) cake under the pavilion. Then, my husband and I stash all of the gifts in the back of the truck. Next, we go into the pool, which is open until 8pm. The kids have a great time, swimming with all of their friends. Plus, there are lifeguards to help me. My older son even invites a friend or 2. Many of the kids have summer pool passes, so I don't have to pay for them. I pay maybe $17.00 for all of these kids (last year there were 18 of them). I also give each kid a treat bag with candy (much cheaper than the concession stand) with their name on it.
This idea has worked out great every year, except this past year, when it was so cold that the pool closed (I did not even know that could happen!). Well, we were all stuck there, since the parents had left their kids with us and gone on home. We didn't quite know what to do - but then the girls started playing on the park equipment and the boys played with a football, that we just happened to have in our truck. It didn't turn out like we had planned - but then again it DID turn out, and the kids all said they had fun anyway. I will keep doing this, since it has become an annual event that the kids look forward to so much. (10/15/2008)
By thiftymom
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Toddler Birthday Party Ideas