Author: kiddy@admin

Birthday parties for preteen lads

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Preteens have outgrown cartoon character parties, but they still want to have a good time with their friends doing something age appropriate. Options for boys are varied, depending on your son’s interests and your budget, so plan the party with him and let him make decisions as well. It will be fun for both of you and make him feel older and more included.

Camping

Put up a couple of tents in the garden and have a camping party for your son and some of his friends. Give the boys some torches, snacks, sleeping bags and pillows for an outdoor party they will love. They can tell scary stories, and tell secrets while hanging around with nature. Give them some old-fashioned fun games such as board games to play, and if you’re feeling brave light a campfire for the boys to sit and roast marshmallows around. Birthday cake can be served on a picnic table or inside the house before the boys head to the campsite

Sports Party

There are several options for a sports-themed party. Take kids to a gym or local sports centre and let them hold a basketball game. Buy cheap seats for a local sports event and let kids eat hotdogs and watch a live game. Check and see what’s available in your area for a sports-minded kid, and plan a party around that. Preteen boys with lots of energy may even enjoy indoor rock climbing or rollerblading.

Video Game Party

Get boys involved in playing some games for lots of birthday fun. Connect game systems in your living room if you have them, and let boys have an all day gaming tournament. If that isn’t possible, head to an arcade with the boys and load everyone up on pound coins. Order pizza or snacks and have birthday cake there at the arcade. If the party is at home, have every guest bring a favourite video game to share with the other partygoers.

Bowling

A bowling party is appropriate for everyone. Plan a birthday party at your local bowling alley. Many bowling alleys can rent you a table for a few hours so you can have your cake and open presents before you play the lanes. Some bowling alleys even offer arcade games so boys can play in between hitting the pins. Parents may even want to get in on the act. It’s a good activity to keep everyone moving and engaged. Offer a silly prize for the winning team.

Angel Party ideas

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Angel-themed birthday parties are charming additions to the busy parent’s portfolio of party ideas. With white and gold decorations, angel food cake, sparkling juices and angel-costumed guests, an angel party is a relatively simple to organize and provides a photo opportunity for proud parents and grandparents. A kids angel costume party let’s you and your guests release your inner children, with all the innocence and joy associated with the holiday season.

Angel Birthday Parties

Invite all the young guests to wear white dresses or T-shirts to the party. When they step into the party room, which is decorated in pale blue and puffy white cloud backdrops, give each child a pair of angel wings and a golden halo to wear for the party and take home as a party favor. In warm weather, play active games outside, such as tag, mother may I, hopscotch and jacks. Indoor activities may include pin the wings on the angel, board games and a video, such as “All Dogs Go to Heaven.” Serve a sheet cake, cut into the shape of angel wings and frosted with fluffy white icing, with the birthday child’s favorite ice cream flavour.

Sweet Sixteen Angels

A coming-of-age party, whether it’s a sweet 16 party, is the official transformation between childhood and becoming a young woman. Decorate an angel-themed party room with white and gold balloons, flower bouquets, white-draped tables and sparkling angel centerpieces. Encourage the dancers and guests to wear white to emphasize the angelic theme. Family, friends, traditional dances, modern music, a delicious buffet and a huge cake complete the party — all that’s left is for the birthday girl to open the gifts.

Angel Holiday Parties

Over the holiday season, angel costume parties allow children and adults to creatively celebrate the angels on high. A room dressed all in white, sparkling gold and shimmering silver, with holiday trees trimmed in twinkle lights, metallic garlands and angel ornaments, provides the ambiance of heaven. Add classical music, carolers or a DJ well supplied with soft music until after dinner.

Party games for the whole family

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When planning a children’s party or get together, be sure to include several games to keep partygoers entertained throughout the party. Play fun games that include all the family and of course the kids which keeps everyone involved in the party. Award prizes to the winners of each game to keep everyone ready for the next game.

Egg Relay Race

Divide players into parent/kid teams of two, and have several eggs and spoons ready. Play this game outside, as it can get messy. Make a start line and another line about 25 feet apart. Have all parents stand at the starting line and all kids stand at the other line. Give each parent a spoon and an egg.

The parents race to their children with the eggs on the spoons. Participants can’t use their hands to hold the eggs on spoons. If an egg is dropped, the parent must go back to the starting line and begin again. Once a parent’s reaches his child, the child will take the egg and spoon, and race back to the starting line. The first child that makes it back across the starting line wins the game.

Water Balloons

Make several water balloons before the party starts and sit them in a bucket. Have all players get into parent/kid teams of two. Give each team one water balloon and have them stand about 5 feet apart, facing each other. Each player attempts to throw the water balloon to her partner. If the partner drops the balloon, that team is out of the game. For all teams that catch the balloon, they must take a giant step back and toss the balloon again. The team who can catch the water balloon from the furthest point away from one another wins the game.

The Mummy Game

Each child should pair up with one of his parents before the game starts. Give each team two rolls of toilet paper. Each parent uses the rolls of toilet paper to cover the child. Set a time limit of five minutes and when time is up, the child who is the most covered with toilet paper wins the game.

Marshmallow Tower

Divide all players into parent/child pairs and have them sit around a table. Give each team about 20 toothpicks and a bowl of mini marshmallows. The teams have 10 minutes to create the tallest marshmallow tower using the marshmallows and toothpicks. After 10 minutes, the team with the largest tower wins. You can also award prizes for the most creative and most disastrous towers.

Party in the Park

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So you’ve decided not to have a group of kids tear up your house this year by having your kids birthday party at a local park. Good move, but you’ve still got to come through with fun activities and entertainment for you child and his energetic friends. A mix of timeless children’s games, outdoor activities, simple craft projects, and making safety a top priority are the keys to a successful park party.

Classic Kiddie Games

Have the kids play those age-old outdoor games you remember playing as a kid. Play circle games, such as “Duck, Duck, Goose,” or “Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?”. Being at a park means there is plenty of room to run around without fear of the kids running into anything. For 2- or 3-year-olds, lead them in simple games like “Ring Around the Roses,” or “London Bridge.” With a battery-operated CD player, you can have all the kids play musical statues. Other classic games for preschoolers include, “Red Light, Green Light,” where the kids run on green and must freeze on red; and “Red Rover,” where they have to run from one side of a designated area to another without getting captured. Keep it non-competitive to avoid tears and tantrums by keeping everyone in the group even when they get caught.

Encourage Outdoor Children’s Activities

Bring an old sheet from home to play parachute with the kids. You will need a few other parents to help you hold the corners. Have the children fill in between the adults, holding onto a piece of the sheet. Lift up the sheet and let the kids run inside to sit under it as the “parachute” comes back down to earth. When they get bored with the parachute, break out the bubbles. Bring non-toxic bubble solution, large baking pans to pour it in, and kid-friendly over-sized bubble wands with soft handles. You can also have the kids toss oversized, lightweight bouncy balls to one another. If there is a sandbox at the park, hide a few soft, rubber toys in the sand. Give toddlers little plastic shovels to find the buried “treasure.”

Arts and Crafts

Arts and crafts are an ideal way to keep the kids out of your hair while you are setting up the food or birthday cake. Spread a huge sheet of craft paper on a picnic table. The kids can gather around and draw pictures anywhere on the sheet using non-toxic crayons. You could also write out the birthday child’s name in bubble letters and have the kids colour them in.

Avoid soft play

Bouncy castles are popular for outdoor children’s birthday parties, but when used improperly, can lead to serious child injuries, according to a study on inflatable bouncing injuries encourages parents to keep their children under 6 years old away from bouncy castles. Save yourself and the other parents some anxiety by skipping out on one for a toddler or preschool birthday party. Plenty of other activities will keep the kids entertained. Small, inflatable slides that have just two or three steps and a short slide can present an alternative.

The Roman Baths

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Plan a family visit to the Roman Baths and explore this amazing historic site in Bath, featuring the remains of one of the finest spas of the ancient world and temple ruins.

Family days out activity trails for different age groups can be collected at reception and include the Roman Baths Trail for under 7s and the Meet the Romans Trail for older children. Audio guides help bring the complex to life, available in eight languages, with one specially for children narrated by

Michael Rosen.

Costumed Roman characters are quite likely to stop and talk to visitors, giving insight into Roman Britain. You might meet a Roman lady and a slave girl, a Roman soldier and armourer, a priest, travelling merchant or two stonemasons during your day out.

Baby carriers are free to borrow and baby changing facilities are available. During organised school trips children can handle original Roman material. From 2019 the Archway Project will include a new Learning Centre.

The Roman Baths are also an amazing party venue at weekends for children aged 6-11 years with party packages including activities such as dressing up as Romans, finding hidden treasure in sand containers and exploring secret tunnels.

The Great Bath is the centre of the complex and lies below street level. From the Terrace festooned with Victorian statues of Roman emperors and governors of Britain, visitors have a wonderful view of the Great Bath.

Another feature is the Sacred Spring where mineral-rich water at a temperature of 46˚C rises each day, as it has for thousands of years. Objects were thrown into the Spring as offerings to the goddess, including thousands of Roman coins.

A Family Ticket is for two adults and up to four children. A Saver family ticket to the Roman Baths, Fashion Museum and Victoria Art Gallery is also available.

 

Diggerland Devon

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Have you ever wanted to drive a real JCB Digger or dumper truck? At Diggerland in Devon you can do just that. You can ride, drive and operate real, full size construction machinery which provides a truly fun day out for all the family. The park is aimed at children between 4 and 14 years of age, however visitors of all ages can enjoy a great day out! There is a comprehensive Diggerland Ride Height Chart on their website, which indicates the suitability of all the rides they offer.

Those drivers that are brave enough and comply with the height restrictions can have a go on the exclusively designed Mini Land Rovers or negotiate the course on the JCB Robots. As well as that and unique to Diggerland, visitors can ride the world famous ‘Spindizzy’, where they sit in the bucket of a JCB and be elevated and spun around. More relaxed visitors can ride on ‘Skyshuttle’, which lifts you 50 feet into the air to enjoy awe-inspiring views across the countryside.

The youngest visitors can have lots of fun driving on the Diggerland Train, with their very own steering wheel! There is also an indoor play area which will challenge them, an outdoor play area, pedal tractors and a sandpit. Some of the rides and drives require adult supervision and children who do not meet the height requirement need to be supervised as well.

Diggerland Devon has a campsite to make a weekend of it. Set in the stunning grounds of Verbeer Manor, surrounded by the beautiful, picturesque Devonshire countryside, it is adjacent to both the Diggerland Adventure Park and Diggerlakes, where families can go fishing for carp.

For an action-packed children’s birthday party, let children climb over, drive, ride and operate a variety of diggers, while all the time feeling like a real grown up in a muddy construction themed adventure park! The birthday child will have their very own dedicated Diggerland Host who will ensure they all receive the very best VIP treatment from the moment they arrive to when it is time to say goodbye!

 

Birthday Party inspiration

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What will you do for your child’s birthday party this year? Do you fear having hundreds of kids running around your house making a mess, or worse being bored? Well don’t worry, we have pulled together a list of some favourite birthday party venues across the country that will take the stress out of your party planning (and hopefully leave your house free of kid mess).

A children’s birthday party can be the highlight of your child’s birthday and it’s also a great time for you to see your child and their friends having fun together. With so many possibilities for parties, different packages and offers, it can be tricky to find the perfect one for your child’s special day.

Once you have decided on the venue to host your kids birthday party don’t forget to bring along the birthday essentials… Cake, decorations, party bags, party games (we love a game of pass the parcel) and of course the birthday boy or girl! It’s those little extras that go a long way on the big day.

Go Ape – Nationwide

If your kids are full of energy and want to run wild on their birthday then we recommend giving your cheeky monkeys the chance of an adventure with Go Ape Tree Top Junior parties! Your little explorer and their friends will enjoy an hour of tree top adventure; zip wires, wobbly crossings and Tarzan swings. The Tree Top Junior course is designed especially for children aged 6-12, but can be loved by children of all ages over 1m tall. Birthday parties at Go Ape start from £18 per child.

Force 10 – Nationwide

Alternatively Force 10 offers the ultimate paintball experience and with 10 different paintball sites across the UK you’ll be able to find one close to you. Each with their own action packed games areas, it’s perfect for stag and hen do’s as well as birthdays for kids big and small.

Chill Factore – Greater Manchester

The perfect opportunity to get a group of your children’s friends together and let them tire themselves out on the slopes. Chill Factore in Manchester offers great birthday party packages for kids of all ages. From the Mini Moose Land parties for under 4 years and SnowPark parties for 4+ years to the Ski and Snowboard Taster Parties for ages 6+ and 8+ respectively there are plenty of opportunities for children to enjoy the indoor snow whilst they play and learn.

Rainforest Cafe – London

For an ultimate party in London there are two must visit attractions. The perfect place to celebrate a birthday, Rainforest Cafe is a fantastic choice for little kids and big kids alike. Large tables are available as well as private spaces, and the birthday boy or girl will love the delicious desserts and attention from the Safari Guides.

 

Woburn Safari Park

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Enjoy a safari adventure in over 300 acres of beautiful parkland at Woburn Safari Park – home to more than 1,000 wild animals. Take unlimited repeat circuits of the Road Safari, before you continue your journey in Animal Encounters and enjoy lots of free children’s activities in the leisure area. You’ll learn all about the wild residents with fascinating keeper talks and demonstration and there are plenty of fun activities to keep kids amused.

Meet adorable Asian elephant calf Tarli, spot the Amur tiger cub siblings Mishka and Milashki in Kingdom of the Carnivores and of course, don’t miss the three little bears exploring their new home and showing off their climbing skills in the trees! You’ll also get up close to giraffe, monkeys, lions, antelope and rhino on your adventure through the Road Safari.

The Foot Safari is home to a host of animals including a friendly mob of meerkats, lemurs, squirrel monkeys, sea lions, penguins, birds of prey and recent additions; bush dogs and agouti. Peddle across Swan Lake on a swan boat, take the Great Woburn Railway through the deer paddocks and let the kids burn off some energy in the indoor play area, the Mammoth Play Ark.

On offer in the Park also is a Go Ape Tree Top Adventure Experience (for children 10+ and minimum height of 1.4 metres and a separate charge applies). It will certainly be a day to remember.

 

Free family days out

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The Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, Glasgow

Inside this gallery and museum there are many collections to inspire and educate the kids. Spread out over 22 themed galleries with over 8,000 objects, you will see fine art, natural history and world cultures. .

Library of Birmingham

This modern library, located in Centenary Square, has 10 floors with over 400,000 books just waiting to be explored, as well as a studio theatre and gardens… perfect for your little bookworms! Outside you’ll find the Amphitheatre, two outdoor terraces, children’s spaces and a panoramic viewing gallery. .

National Railway Museum, Yorkshire

With a collection of over a million objects, covering over 200 years of history, you and your family will be spoilt for choice! You’ll get to see giant halls full of engines and railway legends and kids can let off steam in the outdoor play area. You’ll also get to enjoy lively science shows, take a ride on the miniature railway or learn through the interactive exhibits! .

House of Marbles; Bovey Tracey, Devon

This working glass and games factory is open for people to visit. You can see some lass being made, or visit the games museum where you can see games from years gone by. On dry days you can also go outdoors and play skittles, chess, giant Jericho or even marbles in the Games Garden. .

Blakemere Village, Northwich, Cheshire

There are over 30 shops to be discovered here as well as plenty of activities for adults and children alike. The Barnaby’s Play Barn is a play area where the kids can let off some steam, with a separate area for the under 3s, and there are craft activities that all the family can join in.

Riverwatch Aquariums, Londonderry, Northern Ireland

If you’re little one is aquatic mad, this is the perfect day out! There are many different displays, including The Louch, a Rockpool, Deep Sea and Freshwater Environment. You’ll see aquatic animals such as starfish, lobster, crabs, eels, rays and some wonderful native species. .

Pistyll Rhaeadr Waterfall, Wales

Pistyll Rhaeadr is an enchanting waterfall in the Berwyn Mountains, just inside Wales. It is the highest waterfall in the UK as the water plummets 240ft from top to bottom. With many visitors returning again and again it is one of the most loved pieces of nature you could set your eyes on. It is sure to give you and your family a peaceful and tranquil day out. .

Corris Craft Centre, Machnlleth

Bring your little budding artists along to paint some pottery, dip candles, craft herbals or even make a unique bar of chocolate! For the kids there’s a small children’s play area so they can let off some steam, plus there’s a treasure hunt that they can follow around the centre. You can also see a variety of designers making their crafts in their studios! .

 

After school activities

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Build a den

Building a den can be done anywhere! Under the stairs, in the garden, in the woods! Even on rainy days you can build a den out of blankets and pillows at home and on sunny days it’s the perfect outdoor fun.

Pooh sticks

Possibly one of the easiest, cheapest and enduring children’s fun activities you can do with your kids. A relaxing walk on a beautiful evening, and the thrill and excitement of your pooh stick crossing the finishing line first. Remember to take care near fast flowing or deep water!

Hold a Play Park Marathon

There are two ways to do this!

Version one: Simple; use play equipment as a ‘circuit’ and set the timer on your phone to track how speedy, or slowly your little ones can complete the course.

Version two: Harder ; This one is so much fun if you live in a big town or city. How many parks can you visit in one evening? Planning is the key here! Work out a route with your little ones that takes in as many parks as possible before bedtime!

Do a Beach Clean

Do you live near a beach? Why not take a picnic tea to the beach and on your way back take more litter home than you make. Plastic bottles are one of the worst offenders. There are thousands of tonnes of them drifting in the oceans, and washing ashore on our beaches. A black bag full of these little blighters is easy to carry and encourages our little ones the importance of recycling.

Chalk Fun Outdoors

Chalk is great for using to draw on pavements and driveways and easily washes away. From expressing their artistic talents to practising maths sums and playing games, it will keep the kids amused!

Dressing Up Stories

Get the kids using their imaginations and write a story – it could simply be their favourite fairy tale changed! They then have to act out their stories complete with costumes and props. Of course, you’ll need to put your acting skills to the test and join in with them!

Board Games

Ditch electronic games and play with traditional board games. Snakes and Ladders, Guess Who, Monopoly…which games keep your little ones entertained?

Visit a kids indoor play centre

If the kids need to burn off some serious energy before tea and bedtime, indoor soft play centres are a great, safe, fun environment and allow the kids to run riot. Activities can include jumping into ball pits, obstacle courses, slides, and lots of climbing!