[chookpea]

We'll be having a sausage sizzle at the park. DS has a LOT of cousins varying in age...from 0 to 12.

There's a playground nearby and no doubt the older kids will be busy with their Nintendos and whatnot so that should keep them busy for a while.

I want to have a few activites to make the day a little more fun - I'll bring a cricket bat and a soccer ball. Maybe do pass the parcel as well (not sure about how to do the music outdoors though...do iPhones have speakers? I can probably ask someone who has one to play some music for it).

I saw an earlier thread about pinatas, but I've never seen them on sale before. Where can you get them from? Do you need to fill them up? What with? I'm not sure about the idea of bashing a toy around with a stick though...or am I being a prude?

Anything games or activities you can think of?

[FabCakes]

We'll be having a sausage sizzle at the park. DS has a LOT of cousins varying in age...from 0 to 12.

There's a playground nearby and no doubt the older kids will be busy with their Nintendos and whatnot so that should keep them busy for a while.

I want to have a few activites to make the day a little more fun - I'll bring a cricket bat and a soccer ball. Maybe do pass the parcel as well (not sure about how to do the music outdoors though...do iPhones have speakers? I can probably ask someone who has one to play some music for it).

I saw an earlier thread about pinatas, but I've never seen them on sale before. Where can you get them from? Do you need to fill them up? What with? I'm not sure about the idea of bashing a toy around with a stick though...or am I being a prude?

Anything games or activities you can think of?

I have two pinatas' here unused, i bought them when they were on sale..... whereabouts are you based?

[FabCakes]

musical chairs?

Don't worry about an iphone... do you have a small cd player with batteries you could take?

musical statues....

hide some treats in the park close by so they can find...

[Julie3Girls]

What's the time Mr Wolf?
Duck Duck Goose
Simon Says
Musical statues
Egg and spoon races

Bubble machine - bubble chasing always goes down well for the little ones.

Pinata - make sure there is somewhere to hang it. Yes, you buy them empty, then just buy a pack of wrapped lollies or packs of toys - the party aisle in the supermarkets or BigW often have the big pack with lots of novelties that are small enough to go into the pinata.
Haven't had one for our parties, but been to parties with them - the kids love them, but they can be really hard to break at times. With a big age mix, give the little ones a whack first, and then let the older kids have a go. Just makes sure the kids waiting stand way back

[blue xanadu]

I agree with Julie's suggestions. I think simple games are the bext for that age group.

Can you borrow a parachute from somewhere? That would be lots of fun.

[tkenhrb]

Potato and Spoon Race

[toadflax]

If you don't like the idea of whacking a pinata try Googling "DIY pull string pinata" - you can adapt a standard pinata so it's a lot gentler for the little ones. Pinatas are a lot more common in the shops now - I have seen them at the discount stores (GOLO) as well as Spartys (Spotlight).

Bubbles have always gone down well with my kids too - one year we made something like this with an old cotton shoelace, a keyring ring and two bamboo sticks and it was a hit (!) and the kids loved chasing the massive bubbles, although it is now difficult to find good bubblemix that is up to the task (I used to use "Fang Yang" from Big W, and once it was discontinued we mail-ordered Pustefix). Apparently you can make great bubblemix with the US dishwashing detergent "Dawn", so now that Costco is here with "Dawn" on the shelves I might just try it out. It must be a lot more potent than any of the Australian dishwashing detergents!

One year for my DS birthday we made kites from coloured a4 paper, skewers and decorated them with crepe paper/cellophane tails, textas and stickers. They were very popular. I precut the skewers at home and made basic spools (with cardboard and string) prior to the party. We used this template. Kids of all ages seemed to love it.

Last year we took a heap of crown templates that I cut out of cardboard to the park, and set up a little craft table with stickers, glue, textas, feathers, pom poms etc so the kids could make their own crowns. They enjoyed it but it would have been a nightmare on a windy day!