I miss hosting birthday parties for my kids. Our daughter is almost 20 and our son is 17 1/2. Needless to say it’s been a long time since we hosted a “kiddie” party for them.
When I had birthday parties for our children I used to go all out and make it fun for everyone – both young and old. I used to also love to send everyone home with a goody bag filled with great goodies.
At the end of May, the organization I work for is hosting an end of the year party. The actual end of the year (school year) is the end of June. With prom, graduation and vacations, the organization I work for plans their end of the year party a month early.
I worked the end of the year party last year. It actually fell on my birthday, so I only worked a couple of hours before my boss told me to go home and enjoy my birthday. This year my birthday is the day after the party, so I’ll be working the whole day.
The organization I work for loves to go all out and show the kids a great time. There is a bouncy house, cotton candy, water balloon games, crafts, organized sports/games, and even a slide show featuring photos taken throughout the year.
We had a meeting about the party a few weeks ago and discussed some ideas. This year, instead of face painting (which “melts” when the kids sweat running around), there will be hand painting and temporary tattoos. We also wanted to feature a few more fun games to the kids to enjoy. That gave me some ideas.
Oriental Trading Company has always been my “go to” site for crafts, holiday decor, goody bag items and party supplies. I knew they would have a lot of fun things we could utilize at our end of the year party.
Here are some of the ideas I came up with, thanks to some great items I was able to get from Oriental Trading Company.
Rubber Ducky Game
I am going to mark the bottom of 2 or 3 of these adorable little Rubber Duckies from Oriental Trading with a star on the bottom of them. I am then going to put them in a big tub of water. The kids can take turns picking one of the duckies from the tub. If they pick one of the ones with the star on the bottom they will win a prize (we plan on giving EVERYONE a prize regardless, but the ones who pick the stared duckies will win a larger prize.
I haven’t found a good size tub yet. I have one in mind, I just don’t know where to get it. I think I might need to swing by Home Depot or Lowes. They might have what I’m looking for.
Bean Bag Toss
I found colorful (and very well made) bean bags on the Oriental Trading website. I also picked up some inexpensive plastic bowls at a local dollar store.
I’m going to label the bowls with number (10, 25, 50, 100, 500 – or something similar). I am going to place them back to back at the end of the year party (lowest amount first, higher amount in the back). I’ll then mark the gymnasium floor with painters tape (easy to remove). To play the kids will have to stand on the tape (younger kids can move up closer) and toss 3 bean bags into the bowls. The prize they win depends on how many points they get (we’ll have to work on the prizes for this game).
Ping Pong Toss
I was gong to set up this game similar to the Bean Bag Toss game mentioned above. I was going to use some of the ping pong balls I got from Oriental Trading along with inexpensive, colorful planters from a local dollar store.
I have to give this game a test drive first to make sure the ping pong balls don’t bounce out of the containers. I might have to put something in the bottom of the containers/planters to stop them from bouncing out.
The scoring has yet to be determined.
Goldfish Game
This game is one that I am most excited about. We see this game at the local county fair and have played it in the past. The Goldfish Game where you toss ping pong balls into glass bowls. If you get one in you win a goldfish. In fact, one year we won seven Goldfish. All of them died within a few days except one. He’s 7+ years old now and as big as a Koi Fish (he’s about 8″ long!).
Since we don’t want to use live fish, I thought it would be fun to use clear plastic cups filled with water (a few of them could have a little “Goldfish” in them). If a child gets a ping pong ball into one of the cups they win a “Goldfish.”
We’ll be using some of the ping pong balls (pictured above) a well as some little plastic “Goldfish” from Oriental Trading.
I love this idea!
Oriental Trading Company has an adorable, inflatable Alligator that comes with rings that you can use to toss on his nose or tail.
Currently the game is still in the box it came in. I haven’t blown it up yet because I know I’ll never get it back in the box. I also don’t want to take a chance of popping it. I plan on blowing it up the day of the party.
At only $7.49 for the set I thought it was a great deal and it looks like a lot of fun, especially for the little ones (our kids range in age from 5-13).
In addition to games we are going to have hand painting and temporary tattoos for the kids to enjoy. Oriental Trading has A LOT of great temporary tattoos to choose from including the popular Shopkins brand. I ordered Shopkins, pirates, sport, hearts, emojis and other popular designs for the kids.
The temporary tattoos from Oriental Trading were inexpensive and you get A LOT in each pack (most have 72 in each pack).
As I mentioned earlier in this post, instead of face painting we are going to offer hand painting and the temporary tattoos.
I have white poster board and a huge piece of flat cardboard. I am thinking about putting the tattoos on the poster board (using water – the same way as if you applied it to your skin) to show the kids the available designs. I haven’t made it yet, but that is my “game plan.” I also plan on putting the tattoos in baggies with sticker on them so the co-workers doing the tattoos and hand painting can easily find the designs they are looking for.
Lastly I picked up a lot of magnetic crafts for the kids to do. I love the ones from Oriental Trading because most of them are individually packaged so you don’t have to worry about missing pieces or kids taking pieces from other kids.
Most have peel and stick pieces which means you don’t have to worry about glue and all that mess.
A few crafts I picked up from Oriental Trading will require glue, and some are ones that you color (we’ll need markers and crayons). We’re reserve those ones for the older kids and let the little ones enjoy putting together the easier ones.
As you can see, Oriental Trading Company has so many wonderful products that can help turn your next party or get together into something spectacular. And it won’t cost you an “arm and a leg.” Oriental Trading’s prices are fantastic (very affordable) and with the help of some inexpensive dollar store products, you can stick to your party budget easily.
I’m going to do an update post on our party and show you some of the things mentioned in this post at the party. Stay tune for that post which I should have up by the end of the month.
For more information about these and other products, visit OrientalTrading.com. You can also check them out on social media. All of their links are found at the bottom right of their website.
Do you shop at Oriental Trading Company?
What do you think of my game and project ideas? Do you think your child would enjoy them if they were at our end of the year party?
Feel free to share your thoughts. I always love to hear from readers.
Kimberly
*I received free product samples to review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.