Some night in the winter, when it is dark outside, find a few flashlights and play hide and seek. Turn off all the lights in the house and use your flashlight to find your brothers and sisters. This is a great pajama party activity. Be sure not to run, you may bump into something and get hurt! Ask your parents to hide a few things around the house for you to hunt and give you a list or a treasure map!
Great for birthday parties where you want to give each guest a favor. For each child you will need a small block of wood wrapped with a very long (several yards) piece of yarn. Make sure each child has a different color yarn. Just before the party unwrap the yarn by winding it back and forth, over and under and through the furniture in party room. At the end of each piece of yarn tie a favor. As the guests arrive give them their block and let them wind up the yarn as they follow the string to the favor.
It is a lot of fun playing with a tape recorder with your friends. You can record yourselves singing or even record each other doing funny snoring! When you're done try to guess which voice is whos!
Make your own animal sock slippers. Have each child bring a pair of tube sox, and decorate them with fabric paint, pom-poms, pieces of felt, etc. You can make animals, funny people, or just decorate with a wild and crazy pattern.
Great for birthday parties. Make your own fish pond by covering a very large cardboard carton with a sheet and decorate by attaching cut-out paper fish to the sheet. You can usually obtain a large appliance or furniture box, which would be ideal for this purpose, at a furniture store. If you can't get a box just hang a decorated sheet over a doorway. Use a fishing rod or a stick or yardstick with a string tied to it would do. Tie a clothes pin on
the end of the string. Have a helper sitting in the fish pond (cut out top and back of box to allow him to sit in it to attach favors to the clothes pin when each child goes fishing. I use leftover scraps of gift wrap to wrap the little surprises. Children love to unwrap prizes!
Looking for an indoor icebreaker for a group of children? This mitten game will surely warm up the crowd. First, have the kids remove their mittens and place them in a heap in the middle of a big room (you may need to push back the furniture). It's your job as referee to see that the pile is mixed up. Then, have the children stand in a circle around the pile (about ten feet away). At your signal, the players should race to locate their own mittens; the first child to find and put on his winter gear and shout "mitten match" wins. You can complicate matters by including hats or boots in the pile, too .
How can I make an easy costume?