NEED MORE PARTY TIPS...HELP!

Hello folks!

My boys are turning 3 on October 31st....yes that's Halloween...and the
inevitable b'day theme is Halloween. What are some of your experiences with
entertaining 3-year olds on such a double event? I'm relatively clueless
but have figured out the need for an entertainer.

HELP!

Thank you.

Nausheen H. Anwar
Mum to Aleem & Suleyman (31-10-00)

BTW, we live in London and the Halloween stuff is not quite as exciting here
as in the US where its celebrated with much more commercial gusto.

Pin the nose on the pumpkin would be a good game for this age. That's what
we did at Eva's last bday.

A piñata is always brave at this age if you have the room for it. What we do
is tie it to a string and run the string up through an eyehole in the
ceiling, then hold the end of the string. This way we can pull it up between
each hitter and thus have a little more control. We can also raise and lower
it according to the height of the hitter. One hit per child has always been
our rule and then we rotate back around if it doesn't open. For Halloween
you could make a ghost piñata by just draping cloth over a balloon you
papier-mâché yourself.

If I think of any more I will let you know.
--
Erin
Morgan and Megan 2/15/97
Evan 5/14/00

"NHA" wrote in message
.. .
Hello folks!

My boys are turning 3 on October 31st....yes that's Halloween...and the
inevitable b'day theme is Halloween. What are some of your experiences
with
entertaining 3-year olds on such a double event? I'm relatively clueless
but have figured out the need for an entertainer.

HELP!

Thank you.

Nausheen H. Anwar
Mum to Aleem & Suleyman (31-10-00)

BTW, we live in London and the Halloween stuff is not quite as exciting
here
as in the US where its celebrated with much more commercial gusto.

Pin the nose on the pumpkin would be a good game for this age. That's what
we did at Eva's last bday.

A piñata is always brave at this age if you have the room for it. What we do
is tie it to a string and run the string up through an eyehole in the
ceiling, then hold the end of the string. This way we can pull it up between
each hitter and thus have a little more control. We can also raise and lower
it according to the height of the hitter. One hit per child has always been
our rule and then we rotate back around if it doesn't open. For Halloween
you could make a ghost piñata by just draping cloth over a balloon you
papier-mâché yourself.

If I think of any more I will let you know.
--
Erin
Morgan and Megan 2/15/97
Evan 5/14/00

"NHA" wrote in message
.. .
Hello folks!

My boys are turning 3 on October 31st....yes that's Halloween...and the
inevitable b'day theme is Halloween. What are some of your experiences
with
entertaining 3-year olds on such a double event? I'm relatively clueless
but have figured out the need for an entertainer.

HELP!

Thank you.

Nausheen H. Anwar
Mum to Aleem & Suleyman (31-10-00)

BTW, we live in London and the Halloween stuff is not quite as exciting
here
as in the US where its celebrated with much more commercial gusto.

For Riley and James 2nd I also did a pinata, but I opted for the pull string
kind. I was able to hold it myself and give each child a string to pull at the
same time. I had little cellophane bags with twist ties for them to stash
their winnings in and hand over to mom or dad.

A Halloween craft might be good for kids that age. you could buy precut
pumkins and ghost etc. foam cut outs at the craft store and have the kids glue
them onto a larger piece of foam. They even sell these neat foam thingamabobs
to put over a door knob that you could have them glue their names onto and
embellish with other things. No cutting, not too much mess and a neat craft
favor that they can take home.

Good luck!

Michelle
Mommy to Riley Claire & James Michael

For Riley and James 2nd I also did a pinata, but I opted for the pull string
kind. I was able to hold it myself and give each child a string to pull at the
same time. I had little cellophane bags with twist ties for them to stash
their winnings in and hand over to mom or dad.

A Halloween craft might be good for kids that age. you could buy precut
pumkins and ghost etc. foam cut outs at the craft store and have the kids glue
them onto a larger piece of foam. They even sell these neat foam thingamabobs
to put over a door knob that you could have them glue their names onto and
embellish with other things. No cutting, not too much mess and a neat craft
favor that they can take home.

Good luck!

Michelle
Mommy to Riley Claire & James Michael

A Halloween craft might be good for kids that age. you could buy precut
pumkins and ghost etc. foam cut outs at the craft store and have the kids
glue
them onto a larger piece of foam.

To piggyback this idea.....If you don't want to mess with the glue, I've seen
the foam cut outs with the peel back on them....just peel and stick. Don't
know how available they would be in Halloween shapes though.

Andrea
twin girls-Madison & Jordan
3 yrs. old

A Halloween craft might be good for kids that age. you could buy precut
pumkins and ghost etc. foam cut outs at the craft store and have the kids
glue
them onto a larger piece of foam.

To piggyback this idea.....If you don't want to mess with the glue, I've seen
the foam cut outs with the peel back on them....just peel and stick. Don't
know how available they would be in Halloween shapes though.

Andrea
twin girls-Madison & Jordan
3 yrs. old

Thank you all for your very helpful tips!!

Great ideas.

Nausheen H. Anwar
Mum to Aleem & Suleyman (31-10-00)

"Kender" wrote in message
news:EaYib.128598$%h1.131298@sccrnsc02...
Pin the nose on the pumpkin would be a good game for this age. That's what
we did at Eva's last bday.

A piñata is always brave at this age if you have the room for it. What we
do
is tie it to a string and run the string up through an eyehole in the
ceiling, then hold the end of the string. This way we can pull it up
between
each hitter and thus have a little more control. We can also raise and
lower
it according to the height of the hitter. One hit per child has always
been
our rule and then we rotate back around if it doesn't open. For Halloween
you could make a ghost piñata by just draping cloth over a balloon you
papier-mâché yourself.

If I think of any more I will let you know.
--
Erin
Morgan and Megan 2/15/97
Evan 5/14/00

"NHA" wrote in message
.. .
Hello folks!

My boys are turning 3 on October 31st....yes that's Halloween...and the
inevitable b'day theme is Halloween. What are some of your experiences
with
entertaining 3-year olds on such a double event? I'm relatively
clueless
but have figured out the need for an entertainer.

HELP!

Thank you.

Nausheen H. Anwar
Mum to Aleem & Suleyman (31-10-00)

BTW, we live in London and the Halloween stuff is not quite as exciting
here
as in the US where its celebrated with much more commercial gusto.

Thank you all for your very helpful tips!!

Great ideas.

Nausheen H. Anwar
Mum to Aleem & Suleyman (31-10-00)

"Kender" wrote in message
news:EaYib.128598$%h1.131298@sccrnsc02...
Pin the nose on the pumpkin would be a good game for this age. That's what
we did at Eva's last bday.

A piñata is always brave at this age if you have the room for it. What we
do
is tie it to a string and run the string up through an eyehole in the
ceiling, then hold the end of the string. This way we can pull it up
between
each hitter and thus have a little more control. We can also raise and
lower
it according to the height of the hitter. One hit per child has always
been
our rule and then we rotate back around if it doesn't open. For Halloween
you could make a ghost piñata by just draping cloth over a balloon you
papier-mâché yourself.

If I think of any more I will let you know.
--
Erin
Morgan and Megan 2/15/97
Evan 5/14/00

"NHA" wrote in message
.. .
Hello folks!

My boys are turning 3 on October 31st....yes that's Halloween...and the
inevitable b'day theme is Halloween. What are some of your experiences
with
entertaining 3-year olds on such a double event? I'm relatively
clueless
but have figured out the need for an entertainer.

HELP!

Thank you.

Nausheen H. Anwar
Mum to Aleem & Suleyman (31-10-00)

BTW, we live in London and the Halloween stuff is not quite as exciting
here
as in the US where its celebrated with much more commercial gusto.

A great and fairly easy and inexpensive thing to do is to find a BIG piece
of cardboard or styrofoam, say about 3' x 2' and to draw a BIG monster or
clown face on it...one with a WIDE, GAPING mouth. Be as colorful and
creative as you can be. It doesn't necessarily have to be a scary
monster...there are "cute" monsters out there too. Anyhow, with a box
cutter or other appropriate cutting tool, cut the outline of the WIDE,
GAPING mouth out. Next, fill 3-4 old socks (NOT ones with holes in them,
though!) with some beans and tie knots on them. The game can be called
"Feed the Sock Monster" or something similar. Prop the "monster" up against
a wall, a chair, a post of some kind, etc., (I did use the styrofoam, which
I bought at a crafts store and was an inch thick and easy to prop up, as
opposed to what a piece of cardboard might be...you'll just have to get more
nifty with that) and then line the little ones up and let them have turns at
trying to feed the monster. When we did this at my triplets 4th birthday,
it was a HUGE hit! We had a big plate of small, homemade peanut butter
cookies, and every time the children fed the monster, they got fed a cookie
regardless of whether they actually "fed" the monster or not!

That's just one idea...there are countless ideas on the net if you just do a
search for "party games for kids" or "inexpensive ways to host a child's
party" or something like that. Good luck and Happy 3rd Birthday to your
Aleem & Suleyman! Oh, and by the way, I have a cousin who lives in
London...he's in the US Navy there!

Roland, Tammy, Zachary, Chase, Evan (9yo), and our 4L'd kids, Mingo & Buddy
(4yo & 2yo Keeshonden)
Chesapeake, VA

"NHA" wrote in message
.. .
Hello folks!

My boys are turning 3 on October 31st....yes that's Halloween...and the
inevitable b'day theme is Halloween. What are some of your experiences
with
entertaining 3-year olds on such a double event? I'm relatively clueless
but have figured out the need for an entertainer.

HELP!

Thank you.

Nausheen H. Anwar
Mum to Aleem & Suleyman (31-10-00)

BTW, we live in London and the Halloween stuff is not quite as exciting
here
as in the US where its celebrated with much more commercial gusto.