I recently hosted a party for 15 kids, ranging in age from 7-9. There was both boys and girls attending, and they seemed to all enjoy it. The mother wanted something a bit educational as well as fun, so I suggested a HOLIDAYS party. I made the invitations on the computer, they were simply clipart from all the various holidays, surrounding a poem 'Christmas comes just once a year, but not at [name of child]'s house, right now everything's stirring there, even the littlest mouse. So come along and join the fun, we have a reason to celebrate, we'll follow the holidays one by one, because [name of child] is turning eight!' then there was the party information below that. Kids were asked to come dressed as something from their favorite holiday. We had things from leprechaun, to snowmen, to bunnies. The children entered the living room, which was decorated with holiday clipart printed onto cardboard, cut out, stuck on string and hung from the ceiling. There was streamers and balloons in all sorts of 'festive' and 'birthday' colors. Larger versions of the clipart and other holiday-ish characters were hung on the wall, along with a typical happy birthday banner. A calendar (homemade and very large) was also hung up on the wall, with all the holidays we would be celebrating clearly marked (kids took turns in turning over the pages and saying what the next holiday we would celebrate would be.) When the kids arrived, they were all given bags (30cmx30cm) made from star material I had picked up for 99c a meter at a craft store. Inside was a small packet of crayons, a few lollies, a notebook and pencil covered in the star material, a name-tag, frame made from cardboard star material and a small homemade calico 'signature' teddy (can be a comfort for those spending their first night away from home.) They were asked to put their names on their bags straight away, to avoid any hassles later. As they waited for the other kids to arrive, they sat at the table and decorated cardboard hats with feathers, stickers, glitter, textas, magazine pictures and pompoms. When everyone had arrived and completed their hat, we celebrated the first holiday: NEW YEARS EVE/DAY - Kids put their hats on and counted down from 10 - 1. There was a balloon drop (designed from an old net hung from the ceiling). We drank apple juice from plastic champagne flutes, and then held hands and sang 'Auld Lang Syne'. Champagne flutes were (quickly!) washed and dried, sprayed gold, and the kids glued 'gemstones' and glitter on. When dried, these were put straight into their bags. AUSTRALIA DAY - Collected soda cans for months in advance, and used these to play 'Throw the can into the sky'. It was adorable to watch! First Prize was a plastic 'beer' mug with a tiny stuffed koala inside, Runners Up Prizes were butterfly masks. We had dinner at this point, a typical aussie bbq. Cheap, easy, and all kid love it :). Had little Aussie flags stuck in food, and drank Green and Gold (lime and lemon) cordial to help with the Aussie feeling. Tablecloth had handmade picture of Australia on it, with where we live shown. Placemats were 'Aussie Flags' made on computer, and rest of tableware was green and gold. VALENTINES DAY - Had dessert at this step, simply red jelly with whipped cream and heart sprinkles, in clear plastic cup. After dinner had settled, we played 'Heart Darts'. Attached pink and red hearts to a dartboard, and kids had 3 goes each to try and get the most points, trying to be like cupid and get it into the middle for the highest score! First Prize was a papermache box sprayed silver with plastic jewelry and conversation hearts inside. Runners up prizes were the same, without the box. ST PATRICK'S DAY - Kids went on a treasure hunt, all around the house and garden. At each step they found a different part to add to their Leprechaun costumes (shoes made from green felt imitation, green hats, black belts with 'gold' buckle, and mini lipstick (free Avon samples!) to color in their noses and cheeks. These were all homemade from fabric remnants and cardboard - very cheap :)) Second last step they found little 'bundles' of red and white checkered material on the ends of sticks. Inside was a miniature set of clothes - they loved them! The last clue led to a giant paper rainbow, at the end of which was black plastic 'pots' filled with foil chocolate coins, shamrock stickers, and little leprechaun sitting on the edge (made from wooden beads and velour). All this went straight into their bags. APRIL FOOLS DAY - Bubble-gum on plate, cover in whip cream, kids stick heads into cream to try and get bubble gum, first one to blow bubble wins (very hard!). All kids got a few 'magic tricks', ie rope trick and magic puzzles. EASTER - played 'hot potato' with a polystyrene Easter egg, last child in got largish Easter egg, all others got mini eggs. CHILD'S BIRTHDAY - This was the birthday part of the evening! Table had been redecorated with smiley face tablecloth, plates, cups, hats etc (all picked up very cheaply at a closing-down sale). Smiley face goody bag (with smiley face lollies, a few little trinkets and the 'Story of smiley land') were at each place setting. Cake was a smiley face (very simple!). On each plate there was a cupcake baked into an ice cream cone, decorated like a smiley, a few 'smiley' cookies, and a yellow scoop of ice-cream with a smile! When kids had sung happy birthday and eaten, they played 'Pin the smile on the face'. Winner got a light up smile pen, runners up got a toblerone covered in smile paper. MOTHERS DAY - Bean bag toss made from flower material. Kid got to keep bean bags. Had 3 goes to try and get the most points. Winner got 'Cook with Mum' apron, runners up got kettle and frying pan shaped magnets. All got homemade cookbooks with a few simple recipes in them. FRIENDSHIP DAY - Kids braided friendship bracelets, then picked a name out of a hat to give theirs too. This avoided any hurt feelings. They then passed around pieces of paper with each child's name at the top, and wrote down the thing they liked best about that person. This was stuck inside a plastic sleeve for safe keeping. This is a great self-confidence builder! I still have one my friends gave me 8 years ago :). Kids were then given a laminated sheet of paper with their name meaning and Date of Birth written on. Meanings to ANY name can be found on the web, and printed off on nice paper. A keepsake for life! FATHERS DAY - Went 'fishing' with paper fish w/ paper clips taped on. Rod was made out of a stick, string and a magnet. Fish had numbers written on them, child 'fished' for 3 fishes, numbers were added up, and child with highest score won a mini soccer game. Runners up got sport keyrings. MELBOURNE SHOW DAY - The Melbourne show is a statewide carnival that is the highlight in most kids year. We played 'the memory game'. Had a bag filled with various prizes (all the 'leftovers') Showed everyone what was inside, then took the bag away. Kids had to try and remember everything inside the bag, and write it down. Winner is the one who got the most right, and they won the contents! Everyone else got rooster whistles (the mascot for the Melbourne show is a rooster). HALLOWEEN - Piņata in the shape of a pumpkin, kids took turns bashing it until everything fell out. Prizes (plastic spiders, pumpkin shaped gumballs and lollipops with tissues tied around them to look like ghosts) were already divided up into ziplock bags, to avoid confusion and fights. GUY FAWKES NIGHT - Kids were given 'sparklers' to try - fun to write messages in the air with them! MELBOURNE CUP DAY - Collected 2L ice-cream containers for months in advance. Kids decorated these with balloons, streamers, feathers, and lots of other things, to see who could create the most outrageous hats (The Melbourne Cup is a famous horse race, and all the ladies dress up in funny (or sophisticated!) hats). All kids got 'windmills' and plastic mugs with their names on (the 'cups'). After this, we settled 15 very sleepy kids down for the night. Because they had been so busy, they were too tired out too make much noise. We did a few quiet puzzles for the ones not able to sleep, and had a few movies playing. When the kids arose, it was CHRISTMAS! They awoke to find a fully decorated tree, 'snow' on the windows (something very unusual for them, Christmas here is during summer :)) and felt stockings with their names on beside them. Inside the stockings were LOTS of Christmas lollies, chocolates and toys\*\*\* Underneath the tree was all the birthday child's presents from her friends and parents, which she delightedly opened. There was a very large present there, which the kids discovered to be pass the parcel. So when she had finished unwrapping her gifts, they all played this. I had wrapped a Christmas T-shirt in the very middle, in Christmas paper, and wrapped candy canes in every layer after that. I ended up with about 30 layers. We played this game to Christmas carols. When the kids had finished playing, they ate a breakfast of pancakes decorated to look like Santa (strawberry sauce, ice cream and lollies to decorate). By this time, parents were coming to pick up their kids. 15 very happy, exhausted kids left the house that day, taking with them a big bag of prizes and a whole lot of happy memories. WHEW! Although this sounds very expensive, it only cost around $150 Australian dollars, which is about $75 US. The tip is to make everything possible yourself, save things for ages in advance, and get all your prizes and lollies in the Christmas sales (just be sure to check the use-by-date, but most things don't expire till the following September or later!), or following Easter, etc. I picked up most things at a tenth of their usual cost, by waiting until mid-January. Most of the prizes I had gotten in 'Santa Stockings', $10 worth of stuff for 25c, and none of the prizes inside even had anything to do with Christmas! Make sure you give out bags at the start of the party, to help avoid any property disputes! Oh, I almost forgot. I made activity books for every holiday for all the kids, these had jokes, poems, games and FACTS! in them. The kids filled them in as they were settling down, a good way to teach kids about holidays. I hope this can help you in some way or another. Thank you :)
