9yr old birthday party tips?

[echoesofspring]

Seems sort of silly to ask this, like I missed a parenting 101 class at some point but we've never really hosted bday parties for the kids friends but now we're doing (and outside) one for DD 9th on Sunday and I'm feeling a bit anxious about pulling it off. Her actual bday falls falling 3 days after xmas and I've never had it together enough to pull it off before xmas - (in the past I've been out of town this week in Dec for work and we usually visit my family over the break. And we haven't done many for DS (often falls on around easter/spring break) so we're not well versed in how to do this. Fortunately my kids have low expectations haven't seemed to care, but this year she does care and I'd love any advice/suggestions you have. Here's what I've got planned, less than a dozen kids include mine:

- Harry Potter theme, I've got themed invites, cupcakes, balloons, etc. but not really over the top. I'm going to make punch (Polyjuice potion) and pumpkin juice (warmed cider with some pumpkin puree in it) and we'll have pizza, etc.

- I feel like I need to have a few games, structured activities to make sure it doesn't descend into chaos or cliqueness (everyone will know at least 1 person besides DD and most kids are from her school but a couple are from swim). I sent some 'printables' off to Staples last night -> little fortune telling fold up thing (can't remember what they are called) you do with a partner, couple fun worksheets like things - match the spell to what it does, name scramble, etc., printable pixies to cut out and hide in the yard. I think we can do a pretend quidditch toss the ball through the hoop think like you see all over pinterest, etc. I was thinking we could make dowel wands ahead of time and play a game with them (try to catch the glow stick bracelet, etc.), maybe even have the kids decorate them.

Do you think that's ~enough planned activities for a 3 hour party - anything super easy to add? DD said I probably have enough HP when I told her what I have so far. We don't have family nearby so it'll just be DH & I and whatever parents stick around (& maybe my MIL but she's in a lot of pain atm with her hip) so whatever we do needs to be easy (and with the exception of a couple of activities like quidditch I'd love for them to be things the kids can just do on their own and we don't have to lead.). We have a good size yard with a climbing structure and basketball hoop.

I'll have some time to get ready Saturday but probably not enough to embark on a big craft project, DH will be out of down and I'm still decorating for Christmas! Thanks for any recs!!!

[carolinamama]

Sounds like your DD is going to have a great party! Parties always depend on the dynamics of the group whether the kids need more or less structured activity. My DD is 10 and it seems that most birthday parties she attends have craft projects of some sort. For parties that are more free form, it's common to have a table set up with a paint project or something the kids can wander over and complete. I think having the kids make or decorate wands sounds good and it gives them a party favor to take home. Minute to win it games are also a hit at parties and easy to plan. The one where kids place a cookie on their forehead and try to eat it without using their hands is a hit here. Google/Pinterest have more ideas and I'm sure you could adapt one to your HP theme.

[carolinacool]

I think it sounds great! You're braver and more creative than me. For DS' parties, I paid $200 to whatever venue he wanted (trampoline park, bowling, bounce house) so that I didn't have to deal with it.

I will say that for home parties DS attended, planned activities don't always take as long as you would think. And there are always one or two kids who aren't into doing them. I would guess that over the course of the three hours, a couple of kids might want to shoot basketball and others will jump on the play structure. And that's OK. I would suggest putting the activities your daughter really wants to do at the beginning and just see how it goes from there.

I'm sure she'll have a great party!

[Liziz]

It'll be a great party! You have some good activities planned. The parties my DD (also 9) has liked most recently have had time for just socializing/hanging out, music playing, and minute to win it style games. The games are nice because there's tons that are pretty simple to plan/require almost no prep, so it's easy to have a list of them and use what you need and not worry about missing some.

I agree with the person who said games tend to take less time than expected. If you want something else simple but want to have more structured time, I agree adding a craft of some sort would work too -- honestly I'd just go run to Michaels and get a couple "paint your own ornament" crafts -- or even grab some rocks and paint and let the kids paint rocks. DD and her friends always love painting projects (and a bonus to an outside party is it's so much less stressful to have paint!!!).

Have fun!

[echoesofspring]

Thank you all!

I paid $200 to whatever venue he wanted (trampoline park, bowling, bounce house) so that I didn't have to deal with it.

Yes this is generally my speed (we did her last party when she was like 2 or 3 at the children's museum) but between covid and just being in a smaller community I struck out. I even thought I had it made hiring an entertainment group that did harry potter themed parties but then they called a couple days ago and said it wasn't going to work out.

Thank you for all the support! I have a 'paint your own wand' activity planned but grabbing some extra small crafts at michaels is a great idea!