Hostesses With The Mostest > Entertaining and Hospitality
Help with my party planning - please?
Ceallach:
--- Quote from: workerbee on May 02, 2012, 02:55:04 PM ---For favors, I picked up a bunch of sand/water/outdoor play toys in the dollar section at Target - I have them all in a big bin and was thinking the kids could each pick one.
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These sound great, but I'd think very carefully beforehand about how this is going to work so that it's organised on the day. What order do they get to pick in? Is it a free-for-all? Do they get them at the start or the end of the party? Will there be a kid who gets to pick last and is stuck with whatever is left, or is there plenty that there will be leftover?
It doesn't need to be over-engineered, my concern is just around preventing any tears and tantrums. ;) As adults we forget how important these small things are to kids! (I was always the anxious kid who worried that there won't be enough for everybody!)
cicero:
sounds fine, a few thoughts:
i would have *some* activities planned, or at the very least - have a schedule planned. you are having a lot of kids and you should have some kind of structure, otherwise at that age they tend to get a bit wild. (which is fine, when you have one or two kids running wild, but you don't want to have to deal with 13 of 'em)
simple schedule like:
*arrival (give them a 15-30 min window) - free play while everyone is arriving, music.
*~ 30 minutes: simple games like pin the tail, blind man's bluff, duck duck goose. or maybe even a small treasure hunt if you can get it set up.
*cake, food, more music. if you do gift opening -now would be the time. if not - a cool israeli custom is that every guest "blesses" the birthday kid. you need to keep an eye/ear open to make sure it doesn't get out of hand (and if it does -simple redirecting works "ok johnny that was lovely, now it's tricia's turn") but it's really cool what some of these kids come up with.
*gift for guests - i would wrap them or at least "hide" them in a big sack and let the kids choose blindly.
*Food - i would also add more substance. even mini sandwiches (like PB&J or cheese etc cut into quarters).
MacadamiaNut:
--- Quote from: cicero on May 03, 2012, 02:51:01 AM ---sounds fine, a few thoughts:
i would have *some* activities planned, or at the very least - have a schedule planned. you are having a lot of kids and you should have some kind of structure, otherwise at that age they tend to get a bit wild. (which is fine, when you have one or two kids running wild, but you don't want to have to deal with 13 of 'em)
simple schedule like:
*arrival (give them a 15-30 min window) - free play while everyone is arriving, music.
*~ 30 minutes: simple games like pin the tail, blind man's bluff, duck duck goose. or maybe even a small treasure hunt if you can get it set up.
*cake, food, more music. if you do gift opening -now would be the time. if not - a cool israeli custom is that every guest "blesses" the birthday kid. you need to keep an eye/ear open to make sure it doesn't get out of hand (and if it does -simple redirecting works "ok johnny that was lovely, now it's tricia's turn") but it's really cool what some of these kids come up with.
*gift for guests - i would wrap them or at least "hide" them in a big sack and let the kids choose blindly.
*Food - i would also add more substance. even mini sandwiches (like PB&J or cheese etc cut into quarters).
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POD to all of of this along with the other suggestions made by previous posters. It's only two hours but that can seem like a long time if it's not structured at least a little.
Roe:
--- Quote from: jpcher on May 02, 2012, 07:22:55 PM ---
--- Quote from: Roe on May 02, 2012, 06:29:59 PM ---I think the activity is the playground area.
As for menu, it does sound a bit "light" to me but then in my culture, it's not a party without a big spread so take that into account. ;)
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I'm thinking that it's "light" because the party is planned between lunch and dinner so all that is needed is snacks.
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I'm sure that's why but in my family, it's not a party without a full meal. (culture) LOL. ;) To be honest, I've never gone to a party with only snacks. If we know we have a party to attend, we skip meals so as not to cause offense at the party by not eating. (again, culture)
It's interesting to see how others do it.
workerbee:
Thanks for the responses - and I didn't mean to "abandon" the thread! :) Yesterday was a busy one.
Yes, I deliberately planned the party from 3-5 so as to be "between meals," but I totally get how the food might seem...sparse. I was a bit worried about that.....I'm living in the U.S. south, and am used to my in-laws putting out massive amounts of food for the smallest gathering. To be honest, it sometimes bothers me how much goes to waste.
There are going to be a LOT of people there, though. We're up to 19 kids, each with (at least!) one parent, and a smattering of little sibs as well. I will definitely pick up some string cheese, and will provide another few bowls of chips, etc. I try to keep things reasonably healthy (like not offering candy at all), just b/c that's important to me, but I'm also aware that nobody wants "healthy" cupcakes. LOL :) I was trying to think of another 'snacky' thing....maybe those yogurt squeezers?
And I appreciate the comments about having some sort of structure.....this was in the back of my mind, so it helps to have it validated. I'm thinking something like:
3-3:30ish - arrival and playtime
3:30ish - some kind of game......any suggestions??
4:00- cupcakes
4:45 - pick favors and prepare for departure
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