What do 8 to 10 year olds do at birthday parties?

[PhotoGal]

Any ideas for games or activities? They seem too old for a lot of party games, but too young to entertain themselves. :)

[Alice]

The best parties my boys have had have involved just a massive relatively unsupervised (or at least unplanned on my part) Nerf gun fight in the backyard with snacks offered in the middle. They also like doing somewhat supervised outdoor games (things like What Time is It Mr. Fox? or basketball games or obstacle courses). The past two years for my oldest we have had a small group of kids over to watch a movie, eat pizza and sleepover and they also usually have a Nerf war somewhere in there. :) 

[ThatHomeschoolDad]

I had all the kids make wooden catapults that shot pompoms. Another year was a Harry Potter theme and they made wands at Olivander's, did little garden terrariums for herbology, and a bunch of other activities they rotated thru like classes. We've also done many diffefeng versions of pin-the-tail. Now that #13 is coming up this month, most of that won't be repeated, but it was awesome.

[Juliegmom]

My friend's son had a Minute to Win It party. We wearn't able to attend, but I hear it was tons of fun.

[Starr]

Games, crafts, food, presents :D

[Garga]

I have had three different kinds of parties, starting from when the kids turn 7. I do NOT do organized games from that point up, except for a pinata or an Easter Egg hunt, but I phase those out by 11.

 

1st party: Somewhere else. Like a bowling alley or laser tag place. No games prepped by me. We arrive, they play at the place (bowl, tag, etc.) they eat the food. Done.

 

2nd party: At home, 3-4 hours long.

The guests arrive and run around getting out the wiggles for a good half hour. They play with nerf guns, light sabers, swords, whatever.

We eat the pizza.

The guests run around getting out more wiggles for a good half hour. Expect lots of yelling and running and wildness. But embrace it. It's AWESOME. I love loud birthday parties.

We eat the cake and sing Happy Birthday as loudly as we can. My ears hurt.

The guests run around getting out more wiggles.

We open presents. Some people do not open presents in front of guests, but we do.

By now about 2 hours have gone by.

We hit the pinata until it breaks.

The boys run around like wild things OR they now play with electronics.

Sometimes I would have an Easter Egg Hunt. Best Idea Ever. It gets all the leftover Easter Eggs out of the house, the kids are occupied for a few minutes, and the eggs become their little take-home gift from the party.

The boys run around like wild things or play with electronics until their adults pick them up.

 

3rd party: The Overnight Party. 6:00 pm until 10:00 a.m.

It's the same as the above until after "we open presents."

After the presents are opened, the movie begins.

After the movie, it's sleep time.

Half the boys want to sleep, half want to giggle and stay up. I police it until the wiggle worms quiet down. If they don't, I may remove them to another room. Or if they all want to stay up and giggle except 1 or 2 guests, I'll remove the sleepy guests to another room to sleep.

In the morning they can play with electronics or run around like wild things until their adults get them.

Breakfast is donuts sometime between when they wake and when the adults come.

Some time is spent gathering their bed/clothes before 10:00.

[matrips]

For my 9yos bday a few weeks ago, they decorated gingerbread houses, played capture the flag, a version of pin the tail, piñata, cake, presents, and more capture the flag. I think we could have let them play capture the flag the entire time and they'd be happy.

[Plink]

What is the theme of the party?  Boy or girl?   I'd love to help you brainstorm!

 

We had a lot of fun at my daughter's Dolphin Rescue Party when she turned 9, and my son's Lego Party when he turned 8.  I always try to offer at least one craft.  The more timid kids really enjoy having a more focused moment within the chaos.

 

[PhotoGal]

Thanks so much for your input so far! They want to have a Pokémon party. They are having one party for the both of them since their birthdays are very close together (and almost all of their friends are the same). :)

 

We suggested pin the tail on the Pokémon, but they weren't interested. :)  I thought we could have some kind of game where the kids would "catch" a Pokémon somehow. Dd suggested a "draw Pokémon" station at our homeschool table. Not all of the guests are interested in Pokémon, so I don't want to get too specific, though. I'd like some just general fun things to do to keep them busy. I do not want to gather them for anything too structured - I'd rather have things set up for kids to wander around and do.

 

Hmm... maybe the kids could make Pokémon figures out of modeling clay. Then kids who aren't into Pokémon could make something else. I will also need some more active things to do because I know some of the kids are very active!

[LMV]

We have a rather large back garden with lots of paths through and around flower beds, rose bushes with trellises, some scattered benches and a few different table setups.  Our nine year old had a quite awesome old fashioned tea party back there for her 9th birthday last May.  The theme was actually her idea (although our oldest daughter had a somewhat similar style party when she was younger and she has seen some pictures) and it did surprise me a little because she is much more of hop on a horse and ride child than a play with dolls and dress up for hours child but a lot of her friends are still into dolls and dress up and I think she thought it would be fun with them.  In keeping with her theme, they played croquet (which our family still plays some but most of her friends had no idea), musical chairs, and pin the tail on the donkey.  We also did a piñata.