Birthday Party - Carol Stream,IL

Hi T.,

We always used to play a variation on hot potato: Buy enough small, inexpensive prizes for the number of children who will be attending the party (these could be in lieu of party favors). Put the "best" prize in the middle of a piece of newspaper and wrap it up. Then put another prize on top and wrap more newspaper around it. Keep doing this until you've made a large "ball" with many layers of prizes inside. Then, the kids play hot potato, and when the music stops whoever has the potato gets to unwrap a layer and get a prize before being "out."

We've also done face painting and had older siblings or their friends do some magic tricks (these might have been for kids older than 3, though). The hokey pokey and London Bridge are some other games you can do (old classics). Let me know if you'd like more specifics.

Best,
R.

Check out US Toys/Constructive Playthings in Skokie, near Gross Point and Lincoln. They have a ton of art supplies, party supplies, etc. which are very cheap. You could have the kids decorate a visor or a hat, do a plastic frame decoration, etc. They also have great stuff you can buy in bulk for the goodie bags, and cheap party decorations, too.

At Joanne fabrics they have really cute wooden stick masks, that are pirate, princess and animals and they are really cute for the kids to color with markers, paint, and decorate. If the kids can understand the directions, musical chairs is hilarious.

Check out orientaltrading.com. I use it for all the kids school parties. You can get good bag fillers as well there. Be sure to read any feedback, they are usually right on. Good luck!

I love Dollar Tree. Great cheap stuff! Don't forget Daddy Duck Duck goose and Mommy Musical Chairs, to keep the parents involved. You can even get parent/kid prizes at the dollar store for those who win- they have really cheap hats/gloves for $1.00- you could be really silly and make them a matching set for the team that wins.
Good luck. Hope this helped.

We had a pinata at our halloween party, and the 3 and 4 year olds LOVED IT. We did it inside, too.

Yesterday, I brought out some pipe cleaner and beads, and my son concentrated on making crafts with them for about an hour on his own. I was thrilled and surprised that he would sit for this. This is highly unusual in our home. =) So if you need a craft to calm down the crowd, maybe that would work. You can have stations with playdoh and stamps/paper, too.

If you have access to a big light and large paper (i.e. flipchart), you can draw the kids' profiles. You tape the paper on the wall, the child stands in front of it, and you cast a shadow of his profile with the big light. Then you trace it. The kids can color the profile, put clothes on it with construction paper, etc.

If you don't already have a cd or something with toddler tunes, you can check one out from the library. My son and his friends love to stand in a half circle and sing/move. They do songs like "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes," "If You're Happy and You Know It," "Where is Thumbkin?" and "Take the Beanbag, Put it on Your Shoulder."

If you have space for the kids to run, give them balloons. Nonstop, cheap fun!!!!

Have a great time!