Need ideas to keep small kids amused at 40th b'day party

I'm having a shindig for my looming "big birthday", it won't be a raucous night given we, and most of our friends, have small children. There's woodfired pizza, drinks and a jukebox. I imagine we'll wrap well before midnight as half a dozen of us have kids under 5 and are also breastfeeding babies. WILD night, huh!!! Still, it should be a fun night- hopefully!!

Anyhoo, there'll be about a dozen kids attending, aged between 2 and 10. I'm racking my brains about how to best keep them amused. I'd prefer not to hire a fairy/clown etc to do the honours as I'd rather put the $200-plus toward food/drinks. We've got a good backyard for kids (boys in particular), so I'm sure they'll amuse themselves for the most part ... but I need some other ideas up my sleeve in case it's raining, they start to get tired and get ratty and/or they're just bored.

Can anyone add to my current list of "keeping the kids amused":

* Give the kids a small "gift pack" when they arrive - containing colour-in pad, small toy etc
* Have a couple of recent animated movies to put on the telly
* Play a party game for the little kids
* ????????

Or, am I unneccessarily worrying too much. Generally when any friends come over to our house with their kids, ALL the kids keep themselves amused playing outside.

Cheers, Andie

BUBBLES BUBBLES BUBBLES

Sticker books
colouring books and paper and crayons/pencils/textas
Play doh
puzzles
kids music
party blowers
streamers let them run wild with rolls each
Lego
Wooden blocks


Have a fun 40th

Bubbles ... now why didn't I think of that!!! Great idea, thank you Feeb xx

The last party we had was for my 1yr old. Instead of having party games, I set up a craft table. I bought wooden pegs ($2 shops, coles, woolies) & then coloured paddle pop sticks, also some old fashion "dolly" pegs, pipe cleaners & some scraps of fabric & the idea was the kids could make airplanes with the pegs & paddle pop sticks & people with the dolly pegs. It would depend on how sensible the group of kids is as to whether you would need to supervise or not.
Play dough is a good idea to have set out also. Glow sticks would provide lots of fun for when it gets dark. ummm Colour pencils & paper. You could print off a heap of pictures off the net for them to colour in. Or I htink toys r us sell big colouring in pads with the Disney princess, cars, toy story etc.
But I think keep it basic & just let them play. Chances are most guests will come prepared with things to keep them happy.

If you can provide a safe play space the children will probably be able to keep themselves amused just fine.
If the party is going late maybe make sure you have a place for a few little people to sleep if they need to.

bubbles
helium balloons

Recently had mine ;)

Honestly that many kids look after themselves. Outdoor area, plus some toys inside with a DVD or 2 for later. Put away they stuff you don't broken or have the kids fighting over.
I would be more concerned about making sure they have food and drink. Next party I am considering getting a drink dispenser with a tap for the kids, so the older ones can help themselves and help the younger ones.

My grandparents had a party and went to huge effort to entertain the younger kids - play station, coloring in things, board games...and nothing was touched. The kids all just found their own amusement (which also amused us adults as they kept following two of my 18 year old cousins everywhere!).

I Agree with a sleep station ;)

balloons
bubbles
those mats where you can "paint" them with water
chalk on pavement
crayons and paper
"decorate it yourself" cookies or cup cakes
twister

Great Thread...

I was thinking about my 40th early next year and the same things, but we live on 3/4 acre and have our kids outdoor play area (which after Xmas will contain chalk, playdough, paints) plus will also have a trampoline, plus we have an indoor playroom with lots of kids movies so I hope this would be enough to amuse all the kids..

I was thinking that we might do an afternoon/early evening thing till about 9pm max just so all the kids can be home and get to bed plus means I can have ann early night as well after planning so much :)

have a space where kids can sleep and maybe parent too then you have the best of both worlds!!

Thanks gals for all the suggestions. Good idea about having somewhere for them to sleep, though I think most of them will just want to play, play, play. Albeit the babies will have port-a-cots as there's obviously no way they'll want to stay awake ;) K-Mart had some craft boxes with oodles of craft stuff for $15, so I might pick up a couple of those as well, I imagine the girls might be interested in the craft while the boys just bash around (at least my boys don't do craft when at home).