by Leslie Lyons on January 27th, 2012  Funny Bones is a very silly birthday party game that will have them pretzeling and laughing and having fun. Works with most any age (including adults) if they can follow instructions. No need to go out and buy that game of Twister.
Pair the kids up in two’s – even make a game out of creating the pairs. Write one body part on each of two little pieces of paper, one paper for each child, and have them draw the papers out of a hat and keep the information to themselves. Then you as host(ess) call out various body parts, including many that you didn’t include in the drawing. The two with the same body part become a pair. Continue until everybody’s paired up.
Now, you call out two body parts, for example knee and ear, and each pair has to figure out how to put those two body parts in contact. Once everybody’s gotten it, call out two more body parts, except this time the kids need to try to keep all 4 body part in contact- if possible. Keep going until it becomes impossible, then start them over. You might want to orchestrate this ahead of time so it’s actually possible to go more than 2 rounds, For example- shoulder and elbow, followed by finger and nose, followed by wrist and knee, followed by foot and thigh…
It’s probably best to play this kids birthday party game on a softer surface like a rug rather than concrete as they will be falling down, laughing and having a good old time.
by Leslie Lyons on January 26th, 2012  Here’s an ‘Angry Birds’ birthday party craft that they’ll have good fun doing and then attaching to their backpacks to show the world. Not too difficult but requires enough focus to keep them happily busy for a while. Like most birthday party crafts, it’s perfect for the beginning of your Angry Birds themed party while people are arriving.
A ‘Thank You’ shout-out to the crafting folks over at makeandtakes.com for coming up with this little fellow.
All you need is the yarn, goggly eyes and fabric glue from the craft store, craft paper, a sharpie and scissors for the beaks and pig noses. I’d recommend having other colors besides red and green so they can design their own Angry Birds and make more than one if they want. Black with grey, medium blue, and white with black seem to be the colors used in the game. And here’s a link to a complete tutorial with templates for making the pom poms that will become your angry birds or little pigs. Just be sure to leave that center yarn tie long enough for the kids to attach their finished pom poms wherever they want, like their backpacks.
You’ll want to have made both an angry bird and a green pig for the kids to model when making their own. You can even have the tutorial up on your laptop for the kids to refer to as they make their pom poms.
Once all made, get out the paper cups to make the tower over the green piggies and let the kids play a few games of angry birds with their new toys. You can see this on the makeandtakes.com page.
These Angry Birds are pretty cute and pretty easy for your party kids to make, and, like all good birthday party crafts, gives the kids a take-home so you don’t have to worry it.
by Leslie Lyons on January 25th, 2012  A dance party is a great theme for preteens and that first boy-girl party, but you do need some back up birthday party games to keep things moving and under your control (as opposed to under their control). And I found some help with dance party game ideas on the website dance.net. Thanks!!
Dance Game #1: Divide the kids into pairs: boy-girl or not, let the kids organize themselves into the pairs as they choose. With some pretty fast paced music for them to work with, have each pair ‘shadow dance’, where one of the pair shadows the others every move. It’s not so easy- especially when they’re moving quickly.
Dance Game #2: This allows every party guest their moment in the spotlight. Play some silly game to determine who goes first- such as choose a number between 1 and 20 in your head, and have each kid take a guess- the closest guess starts the game. Then get the kids in a big circle and put on the music. Starting with #1, each kid gets 1 minute in the center of the circle to show off their best dance moves – silly, crazy, whatever they want to do.
Dance Game #3 (my favorite): Get the kids again in a circle, all holding hands such that no one has any hands they can use. Have them again choose the game starter- perhaps the best dancer from game #2 above. The kids have to pass a hula hoop all the way around the circle without ever letting go of each others hands. This is a challenge, and very silly.
If you own or can get your hands on a Wii, there are numerous videos/games that you can have for the kids to get them dancing and competing as they play the games.
The key to a successful and in-control preteen party is keeping things structured while keeping the kids busy. Having a few birthday party games to bring the kids’ focus onto a group wide activity is a good way to retain control of the group.
by Leslie Lyons on January 24th, 2012 You’ll be amazed at how hard they’ll work to get the right answer when the puzzle they’ve been given is a team challenge structured as a birthday party game [...]
by Leslie Lyons on January 23rd, 2012 Get One by Kathryn Otoshi on your bookshelf and consider giving it as a birthday party gift to other young children, and you’ll be giving way more than just a bed time story [...]
by Leslie Lyons on January 20th, 2012 If your child and friends are into the Angry Birds games, it will make a great birthday party theme for him or her [...]
by Leslie Lyons on January 19th, 2012 These are nice Do-It-Yourself birthday party decorations that look great and cost very little [...]
by Leslie Lyons on January 18th, 2012 This is a simple, undemanding artistic birthday party craft activity suitable for the little ones [...]
by Leslie Lyons on January 17th, 2012 This is just too funny and if you’ve got the app on your iPad you’ve got a kids activity on call anytime you need it that will keep you child AND your cat busy for a bit and having fun [...]
by Leslie Lyons on January 16th, 2012 A simple, creative and fun birthday party craft and game- what more could you ask for the price of some balloons, some rubber bands and some rice [...]
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