How to occupy children at a birthday party....

Ella had her 6th birthday party last month. I was not about to invite 100+ people over (Mexican style), and instead allowed Ella to choose 5 friends to invite to our house.

Parents don't just drop off their children at parties here, and instead the parents stay for the entire duration! So, it is a fun challenge to try to figure out how to keep children occupied so that parents can visit. A lot of hosts here rent jump houses, but I wasn't about to go find out how much those cost.

So, instead I came up with mix of a treasure hunt and a list of games to play! I had "treasure hunt" clues in a jar ("Sleep tight, Ella!"--the bed "Brr....it's cold in here!"--the fridge), and each clue led to a note that told them a game to play. When they were done with the game, they would choose a new clue, and find a new game!

Luckily, one friend's older sibling showed up, and she headed up the treasure hunt/game...it was hands-free for me!

The kids did races with balloons between their legs....

and games like telephone...

Blindman's Bluff...

And they raced to see who could wrap a mummy the fastest!

The final clue led them to the piñata hiding in the closet.

And after all that was said and done, we unveiled a bunch of balloons for the kids to play with. Ella's friends immediately decided to stomp on them and pop them, which left her in tears. That was not what she had in mind.

Otherwise, a very successful party!

Whew...how do people handle huge parties...5 families was enough for me!