Funnest Party Games

Princess Mia had her 8th birthday party on the weekend.

It would have to be one of the best and FUNNEST (if that's not a word it should be) we've had - maybe even topping last year's bash.

Mia had her heart set on a sleepover - so with 6 little friends to amuse for 20 hours I made sure I had PLENTY of games and activities up my sleeve.

Here's a mere snippet of what we did (and not a Passing Parcel or Musical Chair in sight!):

DRESS UP RELAY

 2 even teams...

2 similar piles of dress-up items (the sillier the better)...

Put on all the items, run to the end, take off all the items...

Next team mate gets dressed, runs, etc, etc....

Even the boys got a kick out of this one....(what is it with boys and dresses???)

FRUIT SALAD

So simple yet this was the one they played over and over...even the big brothers and sisters joined in.

Place markers in a circle - one less than the number of children

(we used the circular mats from Twister Scram)....

Divide group into fruits (we had just 2: Strawberries and Kiwifruit - more types are recommended for a larger group)....

One person stands in the middle of the circle and shouts out a fruit....

Everyone belonging to that fruit must move off their marker and dash to another - including the person in the middle....

Someone will miss out - they then become the person in the middle who calls out the fruit for the next round.

If "Fruit Salad" is called, EVERYBODY has to run to a new marker....

So much giggling....

So much chaos.....

So much fun!

THREAD THE NEEDLE

2 teams....

2 hoops....

Team members hold hands and must pass a hula hoop along the line WITHOUT letting go hands....

Teamwork and concentration required!

CATERPILLAR RACE

2 teams....

Members of the team stand close behind each another with a blown up balloon pressed between their bodies.....

Must run to the finish line as one unit....

Without bursting or losing any balloons!

Pretty hilarious (in all the excitement I forgot to take pics).

LOO ROLL UNRAVEL
Non-stop hysterical laughter alert!

Thread 2 toilet rolls on a broom handle....

First person to unravel their roll wins!

Even the clean-up was fun!

(Activity not recommended for a windy day, however....!)

SUNSET ACTIVITIES

We turned up the music LOUD....

Broke out the glow sticks....

And the sparklers....

And let the mob run wild.....

Before coming inside.

DINNER & BEDTIME

Pyjamas were apparently the appropriate attire to dine in - by the time I had unplugged the stereo and lugged everything into the house they were all enthusiasically comparing characters on their flanelettes.

SO CUTE!

Party pies, sausage rolls, spring rolls, mini hotdogs, potato gems and salad for dinner...

Birthday cake for dessert....

Then a DVD ("Baby's Day Out" - a classic fave and guaranteed giggle-fest) on wall-to-wall mattresses.....before lights out.

Quite a few of our little guests had never had sleepovers before

so you can imagine their excitement (and my slight trepidation.....)

After a fair amount of wiggling and squirming and whispering and shushing......

they slept.

No tears, no I-want-my-mummy dramas.....

they were a complete joy!

THE MORNING AFTER

A lovely early start (.....groan....) at 6.30 - with a crunchy frost still on the ground.

Pancakes, yogurt and fresh strawberries all round.

Big sisters sent out to hide the Treasure Hunt goodies around the garden.....

while I kept the children occupied by helping them roll up their sleeping bags and pack up their things.

Treasure Hunt conducted....and to make sure nobody got more than their share, the winner was the first back with 6 different items.

A few games of What's The Time Mr Wolf.

Quiet time before the mum's arrived for pick up -

involving a fun little drawing game I remembered from my childhood, I'm calling....

CRAZY CHARACTERS

Everyone sits at the table with some coloured markers and a sheet of paper each....

Everyone is instructed to write a name at the top and draw a head on a neck....

The top of the page folded back, hiding the head but revealing the neck, and the drawings are passed along to the left....

The body is then drawn, connected to the neck that was drawn by the previous artist....

Fold back the paper once again, leaving the end of the body - or hips - showing....

Pass the drawings to the left....

Next the legs and feet are drawn....

The completed drawings are passed to the left one more time then opened out to reveal some very unique characters!

A final group photo on the trampoline....

A pick from the Pick-A-Box
(gotta love the $1 toy section at BigW)....
then home time.

Apparently all too soon for Mia: "Why does my party have to end?"
When a two-day-long party is still not enough - I reckon it must have been pretty darn good!