How to keep a dozen kindergarteners happy for a coupla hours

I'm trying to remember the sozlet stories I've read... Let's see, she's going to be a rocker for Halloween? How about an invitation to "Rock Out w/Sozlet at her 5th birthday party!" Have some beads and bangles and cool tattooes for the kids to do as their first activity when they come... Then their "Pin the rocker." (That would be pin a guitar shaped piece of construction paper to somebody famous instead of a donkey.) There could be the air guitar contest, a freeze/dance contest, musical chairs...

That's one theme...

Another easy one is princess/prince party; make crowns and jewelry or scepters, play "Princess Sozlet sez," "Pin the crown on the princess," and you can go w/a blown up picture of Sozlet or any disney princess she likes...

Do you have a Children's Museum close by? They have great projects
for kids, and it's a fun place to be - plus fairly reasonable (you can
bring the Pizza and cake).

On sale halloween costumes , cheap dollar make up, rubber bands and face paint.

Each person designes thier own "look" and you have a contest to see who wins


Early easter-
Hide little trinkets and toys all over the house. Things they can take with them of course

If it is not too cold, shaving cream and food coloring outside in several bins..

let em go nuts with it

Both my brother and I have birthdays in February. My mom was spectacular when it came to coming up with party themes and ideas for a dozen or more kids. Maybe these will give you some ideas to springboard from.

Here are just a few of the ones I remember off the top of my head from our childhood:

For my brother:

It was a magic show with a hired magician providing the entertainment. The only thing about it that stands out in my memory was the fake guillotine finger slicer. It scared me to death until we figured out that it was an old shriveled up carrot and not a finger.

Another year was Happy the Clown. The hired entertainer wore a clown costume and had a small merry-go-round he towed to the house on the back of his car.

For my birthday:

One year it was a Japanese theme with a cake decorated as a pagoda and lots of Asian goodies. We wore kimonos and went to the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park.

Another year was Puff the Magic Dragon. I remember a large green dragon on a sheet cake for the birthday cake.

Yet another had to do with Swan Lake I think. I have a photo of the cake and decorations she did for that year. I think we went to a local ballet recital

Really quickly, do something that allows them to make a mess...... kids need to get down and dirty sometimes.

I love Princesspupules idea.

Above all else, from someone who has to entertain a dozen kids one night per month for 4 hours (Kids Night Out at the Clubhouse)... Be organized!

If it will be in your home, have stations set up for them to move through in an organized way such as with three different craft tables where only 4 at a time can be at that table, then rotate. Then have them come together for the musical chairs, pin the guitar games. Then cake and ice cream. Then a physical activity since they've been sitting for 20 minutes, like the having them put on their "rocker" stuff they made earlier and doing air guitar/dancing. Just before the parents start to arrive, calm them back down a bit by having them sit in a circle to recieve their goody bags.

Two words: silly string.

I like DRewdad's idea. I dunno if kindergarten boys want to play prince. Pirates? Yes. Dragon slayer? Yes. Prince? Not so sure. How about princesses and pirates?

My neice, who lives in Columbus, had a rroller skating party at a local roller rink for her daughter. I think she was 5 or 6 that year. It was a big hit. I could find out the location if you're interested.

That would be great, Swimpy! I was thinking briefly of an ice skating party -- saw an ad in a local paper -- but the only glitch is that um sozlet has never ice skated before in her life (yet, she does have skates). I remember a lot of flopping around and sore ankles when I was learning to skate, not sure how fun it would be. Roller skating sounds like a similar idea but a lot more managable.

Great picture, Butrflynet! What an imaginitive mom you have.

Shewolf, it was in the 30's today, and it's mid-October -- it can be COOOOLD at the end of November. Also a lot of cold rain/ sleet. Really can't plan on anything outside, I don't think. (It's annoyingly in-between, if there was snow we could go sledding and stuff...)

Same for down and dirty, though I approve of the concept. It'd have to be inside, and I'm not sure I have anyplace that could really survive that -- possible, though.

CJ, COSI is the local children's museum -- very cool, quite expensive. (Actually I haven't found out how much yet, they have a "contact us to ask..." thing, will do that I guess. Heard from other people that it's pricey.)

I love the stations idea, Squinney, great for handling 12 at a time. If we have it at home, that's probably how we'll do it.

Shewolf, dress-up parties is what she's done the last several years, (they were dress-up tea parties, first to her room to select dress-up clothes, then activities, then the "tea party" part [cake +]), I think she wants to do something else. A possibility though.

Princesspupule, some kind of rock star thing could definitely work if I decide I want to brave it at home. I have to say, when I look at the amount of preparation I've put into her previous parties for far fewer kids, the idea of just plonking down the $50 or $75 or whatever and being done with it sounds tempting. Most of these places have a room that you can decorate however you want, so I could still exercise some creativity there in terms of decorations/ themes and goody bags.

Ooh, I just had another idea!! There is a pool party package at the place I work out -- that could totally work. Just checked and it's $100. Hmm. Wait, that's for 10 kids, with 12 it'd be $110. Not great, not awful.

Tell me more about silly string, DrewDad.

What's to tell? Shoot silly string. Clean it up. Shoot some more....

Skating party sounds good; I remember having one of them as a kid.

Well, the clean it up part. Safe for indoors?

It is much easier to clean up than you'd think. It is safe. You're going to have to clean up anyway.

As long as there are no open flames.

If I have it at home.

Ugh, we just don't have an obvious staging area. This room is most obvious -- with my computer (I can't imagine that I'd want silly string on my computer), and carpet, and... It's just not a very big room either.

I could move my computer if I have to.

I definitely seem to be moving towards having it OUT of the house if it's that many kids. Plus just the simplicity factor.

But I dislike the conformity aspect of doing the same sort of thing as everyone else, the outside venue turn-em-loose party. (I LIKED that we were the only ones who had a plain ol' old-fashioned party at our house, and the kids always raved afterwards.)

This has definitely given me a bunch of great ideas, thanks and keep 'em coming.

Ice skating?
tumble gym?

Duckie just went to a very cool "magic and mystery" party. They rented a party space at their local church (it was a cool little log cabin), everyone got capes. They decorated little plastic magic hats and wands with glow in the dark stickers. A real magician came. I thought it was a very cool party. They invited pretty much his whole class, girls and boys, and everyone had a good time.

But when duckie's birthday comes around, we're thinking of a bowling party.

We've done at home parties and out of the house parties. The home parties tend to be in summer and the away parties were in March until M was older and wanted to invite fewer kids to a special event such as dinner/movie/sleepover.

Out-of-the-house ideas ~~ Bowling or skating parties are good for mixed groups. Chuckie-Cheese type places were big when the kids were sozlet's age. Some of the kids did laser tag parties but I sorta frowned on having kids shoot at each other. Our movie theatres hold birthday parties with reserved seating for a group of kids and provide a room afterwards for cake and/or pizza. The local gymnastics/dance company has birthday party packages. Many of the kids had parties at a game arcade. Good luck, I'll keep thinking....

Is there a My Gym in your parts, soz? Duckie went to a partie at one here last year and it was fantastic. It was another mixed group. The did a lot of cool obstacle-course type things and just had a ball.