Help! Need Game Ideas!

I must be a bad mama.
I just bought a bunch of balls, some water guns, had a sprinkler, and kicked all the kids outside. There were snacks and a bbq and the kids had a BLAST! My boys didn't want me to plan games, they just wanted to play with their friends.
They are 8 and 11.
L.

Does your son, per his party, want to play games?
Ask him.
If not, then don't bother trying to come up with games.
I say this because, when my daughter was that age, and per her b-day parties, well she and the girls didn't want to play "games." They just pretty much did their own thing and had fun.

You can do a scavenger hunt, which would probably be really fun if you hid little items in trees and pots, in the eaves, etc.

You can do a ping pong ball or plastic egg on a spoon race.

Sack races. Big fun. Three legged races.
If it's warm, a water balloon fight would be fun.

bocce ball. frisbee golf. red rover.
but really, with boys that age i would NOT over-manage. they'll take care of playing just fine.
khairete
S.

One of the best parties we did for my son was a top shot party. You could do it just a little bit different. Have an area where you knock off coke cans with a bean bag. (We put sand in empty water bottles for target practice because of west Texas wind). You could use slingshots for target practice or use Nerf balls to knock stuff down.

My son and his friends had a ball and my daughter who had invited a friend over to keep her company wound up joining in and having as much fun as her brother. (She's 4 years older). We set ours up as 5 stations of target practice with plenty of adult supervision. It was a ball!

Enjoy!
L.

Honestly, the easiest thing is to go down the public library, and get a book of vintage games! Stuff for "around the campfire" will have a campy theme, and back in the 50s and 60s everyone had outdoor parties anyway. No bouncy houses, no hired ponies or reptile experts, definitely no Chuck E. Cheese venues for 30 kids! I did this for our kids and the books have the "rules" and supply lists, which are pretty easy. So I commend you for having a small manageable party at home! (Sack races using old pillow cases are good, so are potato races and bean & spoon races. They aren't about the fastest and biggest kids winning anyway - they're about patience and balance, so it's a pretty even playing field. But only do that if competition is a healthy thing for this mixed group, and not if it's going to get too pushy!

We did a lot of outside treasure hunts too - you can get plenty of plastic eggs on sale now anyway, but they are always at party stores. We put small candies, small dinosaur-type toys (like those foam things you put in water), plastic bugs, and so on in the eggs and then hid them. You can sort them by color, giving each child a color to search for so everyone gets something. If you have more kids than colors, put a sticker (either something related to the theme, or just a colored dot sticker from the office supply store) and then give each kid a plastic or paper bag with his sticker color on it. (That helps the little kids who don't read so well). Big kids can help little kids - make the goal to find all the eggs, not to be first. What's in the eggs replaces the goody bags - no added expense. You can use nature-themed goodies too like little magnifiers for examining bugs and other finds.

You could also do a scavenger hunt for things like a pine cone, a maple leaf (draw an outline so they know what's what), a 2-pronged twig, 3 rocks of different sizes, some moss, a seed or pod of some sort, anything else that's native to your area. You can be general like "something green" or "something brown" and you can also include general categories like "something man-made" (they'll find a bottle cap, a penny or an old toy, anything). You can also put stuff out there ahead of time if you need to.

You can also make some sort of tent out of clotheslines (or ropes & bungee cords) and old sheets, serve cake in there. Better yet, provide the materials and a little adult supervision, and let them create their own - they'll have a blast and that will be the activity! Use a tarp for sitting on if the ground is damp. Take photos and email a few pics to every kid's parents.

If you have a grill or fire pit, make marshmallows and/or s'mores. The kids can collect their own sticks or you can buy long sticks in most craft or outdoor stores.

What about a fishing game, like this:
http://www.carnivalsavers.com/fishingbooth.html

Or maybe some classic summer camp crafts, like these:
http://www.designsponge.com/2008/06/diy-project-camp-craf...

It really depends on your kids and their maturity level. You can get some glow in the dark paint and use it for a washer toss, fiisbee, or bean bags. My kids LOVE spooky stuff. So we had a spooky story with an in person appearance from Jason (with a chinless chainsaw-dad). There are a bunch of ghost hunting apps so they can ghost hunt-if you trust them with your device. Donut eating-donuts hung from a string-no hands (they thought this was hilarious.
You could have them make their own glow in the dark jars.
My fav when I wax a kid was archery and campfires. Sometimes it good to go with the basics.

S'mores!!!!

Human foosball is fun. Boys hold PVC pipes in rows and they play soccer.

You and/or the boys can create an obstacle course - jump over a log, put out a candle with a water gun while running or going down a slide or on a zip line, climb a tree, jump out of a tree, swing on a rope over a pool of water or ice, start a fire with sticks or 2 rocks etc etc.

Blind golf - one boy closes his eyes while holding a stone or rock or marble, and his partner stands in front of a can or bucket and calls out directions to his partner (take 2 steps to the right, take a small step forward, move your hand 2 inches to the left/right etc etc) so that the partner eventually drops the rock in the bucket but with his eyes closed. So much fun!

Hanging donuts from a string and eating them without hands was always very popular when I was little!

I would do something they can participate in then stop. Let them play what they want and do what they want. Sorry, kids don't want mom or dad to manage their parties at this age. They want to play, eat cake, play, open presents, play, play some more, go home.

Found this...

http://www.crunchyfrugalista.com/camping-games-for-kids/