Kids Indoor birthday ideas

[Eastsider]

Hello, I could use some help.  My son will be turning 6 soon and we are having a birthday party for him.  He started kindergarten this fall and before he went, my husband and I were concerned about him making friends because he's a little shy and reserved.  Luckily he became friends with a group of boys in his class and they all hang out together at school.  Anyway since he's made several friends and we want to encourage this, his party is going to be larger than we had anticipated.  There will 9 kids (7 boys and 2 girls) plus DS plus our 2 year old twins.  If the weather is nice, we are planning on having a scavenger hunt in our neighborhood that will end up at the neighborhood park where we will play before going back to our house for cake.  However, we live in Wisconsin and the weather here is VERY unpredictable this time of year (ie yesterday the high was 56 and today it is 30) so we need an indoor backup plan.  Does anyone have good indoor games for this many kids of this age group that does not involve our house being destroyed?  We have a fairly large living room we could use but that's about it.  Oh, we are hiring some older (very responsible) boys to help us with crowd control.

[Shoo]

One of my favorite things for a kid's indoor birthday party is to make individual cupcakes, instead of a single cake, and then put out bowls of frosting, sprinkles, etc. and let each kid decorate his own cupcake.  Then, when they're all done decorating (and each kid has somehow marked which cupcake is his) you stack the cupcakes up like a pyramid and make a "cupcake cake", which you then stick birthday candles in (and get pictures of).  Then each kid retrieves his own cupcake and eats it!

It takes up time, and the kids have fun.

Simple is best.  A simple craft project around the table, like cutting out head bands from construction paper and then gluing on different decorations, like buttons and other little things, can be really fun for kids that age.

Avoid anything that involves the kids getting up from the table and running around your house. 

[hollasa]

The "Girlfriend's Guide to Parties and Playdates" has some great stuff in it for parties:
http://www.amazon.com/Girlfriends-Guide-Parties-Playdates-Guides/dp/0399528466/ref=pd_bbs_sr_8/102-3469762-2318551?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175698988&sr=8-8

Unfortunately, I'm house-sitting with the kids while my husband rips out our kitchen, so I don't have access to it. Some very realistic advice in it.

I would encourage you to stay away from websites like this:
http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/party_ideas.html

I was reading through ideas there last year, and just got completely intimidated by the effort some people put into birthday parties for small children. Honestly - our last birthday party was for my 6 year old, and some 14 children came (small kindergarten class, so had to invite all). It was at a local museum - dinosaur models, snakes, climbing on a model boat - lots of fun. However, possibly the most fun the kids had was in discovering that the balloons stuck to the big air vent... Who knew that was so much fun?

[SunkissableOne]

I'm a camp counselor that works with this age group....message me with your email and I can send you SEVERAL games!  I have themed games and non-themed games all saved on word.

[Eastsider]

Hi Sunkissableone,
How do I send you a message?  I've never done that before

[retreadbride]

Put out a Twister game and turn on some music. They will have a good time falling over each other and giggling. Always a winner

[SunkissableOne]

Hi Sunkissableone,
How do I send you a message?  I've never done that before

All you have to do is click on the word balloon by my name and type in a message and I'll be able to see it when I come on again.  Or...if you have AIM you can click the AIM icon and message me.