Easy Outdoor Birthday Bash

Toby had a Birthday Bash on Thursday. Since the weather was good, we decided to “keep it simple,” or, as simple as you can with a large group of 8-10 year olds, by playing minute-to-win-it-style outdoor games and, in general, just goofing around.  Since we did our own DIY Skylanders Giants Invitations for the party, I originally thought I’d tweak all of our outdoor games so that they had a Skylanders Giants theme…but that just seemed overwhelming…or, not so simple after all.  We spent about 2 hours prepping  everything the night before.  And, nothing we played or created cost more than a few dollars at our local dollar store.  I’ve listed directions for all of the games below:

Outdoor Birthday Bash Schedule
Arrivals &  Colouring our Colour, Cut and Build Your Own Robots 
Games
Pizza and Snacks
Games
Cupcakes and Superman Cartoons Projected onto the side of the Deck
Goodbyes & Loot Bags

Below, you’ll find a full list of the games we played on the day of the party [most of which are inspired by the games on nbc’s minute-to-win-it site], and how-to’s for the games we didn’t get to.

Warm Up: Foam Rocket Target Practice
Supplies: Foam Rockets [we had 12], Beanbags, Balls or Waterballoons and Cardboard Box[es]
[For this activity, we made some really awesome monster and alien targets ahead of time! See how to do it here]
Cut a hole or holes in a box, giving each hole a points value if so desired.
Lay the box on the ground or hang it on a wall/fence.
See if and how many rockets or other “tossables” you can get into the hole or holes.

Ping-Pong Butt
Supplies: Empty Tissue Boxes [we had 3], Duct Tape, Old Belts, Ping Pong Balls [about 10-12 per player]
Take turns, and have a partner on hand to help you load up!
To make the boxes:
Cut any plastic out of the opening in the tissue box.
Flip the box upside-down and use an exacto knife to slice holes for belts on either side of the box and reinforce with duct tape
[or make belt loops with duct tape].
Thread the belt through the box or the belt loops.

How to play:
Have a partner help attach the box to your backside using the belt strapped to the box.
Have your partner load your box with 10-12 ping pong balls.
Have your partner keep their hands over the “opening” of the box until time is called.
Cross your hands in an x across your chest.
When someone says “go,” try to shake as many balls out of the box as you can.
You have 1 minute.
See how many balls are left at the end of this time.

Blocks on Sticks: A Balancing Trick
Supplies: Tongue depressors, Small Wooden blocks or dice [5-10 per player]
Place a large tongue depressor in your mouth.
Stack one block at a time on the far end of the stick.
Pile more blocks on top of the first block, one at a time.
See how many you can balance in 1 minute.
If the stack falls, start all over again!

The Block-on-a-Stick Walk
Supplies: Tongue depressors/fat popsicle sticks, small wooden blocks or dice [1 per player]
Place a large tongue depressor in your moth
Stack one black at the far end of the stick.
Walk from one point to the other without dropping the block.
[The kids made 3 chalk “laneways” on our parking pad before the party]
See how many times you can walk to the end and back without dropping the block within 1 minute.
If you drop the block, go back to the start and begin again.
Not enough of a challenge? Try stacking more than one block on your stick!!

Toilet Paper Roll: Game One
Supplies: 1 toilet paper roll per player, a bucket for recycling
Buddy up.
How much of the toilet paper roll can you wrap around your partner in 1 minute?
Break out of the toilet paper and place it in the recycling bucket.
Now switch places and try again.
[Just a warning to you parents…The toilet paper we bought was so “cheap” that it broke easily. Best to do a little demo and show them how to put an index  finger inside of the tube on each side of the roll as their partner swirls around…Also, we helped them get started by putting the tail end of the toilet paper under the kid’s arm/in their armpit.]

Toilet Paper Roll: Game Two
Supplies: 2-6 toilet paper rolls
Have the two oldest kids at the party stand back to back.
The rest of the guests try to cover as much as they can of their “prisoners” in 1 minute or until the roll(s) of toilet paper is(are) gone.

Pizza Break!!! Pizza Break!!!! Pizza Break!!!!

Elephant Head
Supplies: Tights/Hose & Tennis Balls [we made 3 sets], Tape or Chalk for a Line on the ground, & Empty Plastic Cups [8 per player]
We played 3 players at a time.
Draw or Tape a line on the ground.
Line 4 cups on each side of the line, about 2 feet out either way.
Place a tennis ball in one leg of the hose.
Place the waist band of the hose on the head so that the leg with the ball in it is closest to the forehead.
Wrap the extra leg of the hose around the head “turban style” for support.
Put your hands behind your back.
Bending forward and walking the line, swing the ball back and forth to knock down the cups using only your head.
Don’t sway the rest of your body, and don’t kick the cups!!!
See how many cups you can knock over in 1 minute.

The Cookie Face Game
Supplies: Cookies [1 per player]
Lean back.
Place a cookie over one of your eyebrows.
Keep your hands down or crossed behind your back.
Use only the muscles in your face to shimmy the cookie into your mouth.
If you get the cookie in your mouth, you may use your hand to replace it above the eyebrow and begin again.
See if and how many times you can get the cookie from eye to mouth in 1 minute.
If the cookie falls, begin again!

Cookie Stack: Be the Unicorn!!!
Supplies: Cookies [5-6 nut free cookies per player]
Lean your head back
With only 1 hand (and the other hand behind your back) slowly begin stacking cookies on your forehead, one on top of the other.
See how many cookies you can balance in a minute
If the cookies fall, begin again.

Cup Head
Supplies: Plastic Cups/Containers, Headbands [or ribbon/string] and Duct Tape, Small cereal [we used cheerios] or Pasta or Mini Marshmallows or M&Ms. We made 5 headbands.
Duct tape the plastic cups/containers to the centre of each headband.

Buddy up.
One partner straps the cup on their head using the ribbon or headband provided.
The person with the cup then stands a few feet across from their partner.
Partners have a pile of cheerios in their hands or in small paper/plastic cups leftover from other games.
[Tape or chalk lines can be drawn on the floor/ground to keep the partners a few feet apart]
How many pieces of cereal or candy can you get into your partner’s cup in 1 minute?
Now switch places and try again!

*****AND HERE ARE ALL OF THE GAMES WE DIDN’T GET TO*****

Blow the Cup
Supplies: Plastic “beer” cups, Straws [1 per player]
Using the straw, can you blow your cup across and off the supper table in under a minute?
Who can do it the fastest?

Suck it Up I
Supplies: Straws [1 per player], Paper Plates or Shallow Bowls [2 per player], Lots of Foam Shapes, Paper scraps, or M&Ms
Place lots of paper, foam or candies on one plate per player.
Put the straw in your mouth.
Place your hands behind your back or upon the sides of the straw.
How many pieces of paper or candy can you transfer from one plate to another in 1 minute using the straw?

Suck it Up II
Supplies: Straws [1 per player], Paper Plates or Shallow Bowls [2 per player], and Paper Cut Outs or M& M’s [10-20 per player]
[May be done in groups of 3-4]
Place the empty plates across the lane or yard.
Place your hands behind your back or on the sides of the straw.
Use your straw to pick up one piece of paper or candy.
Walk across the lane or yard and drop the paper or candy on the plate.
Run back and repeat.
How many pieces of paper or candy can you transfer across the yard in 1 minute?  

Paper Airplane Target Practice
Supplies: Paper and Sidewalk Chalk
Each kid makes a paper airplane.
Draw a dart-board style target on the ground with chalk, giving each ring a series of “points.”
See which planes hit which targets and give points accordingly.

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Colour, Cut, & Build This Robot! [Free Printable]

For Toby’s Birthday Bash, Blaise created this awesome Colour, Cut, and Build-Your-Own Robot. He based his design on a lovely set of cardboard robots we received as a gift.  He drew the image and then copied it onto thick Bristol paper [watercolour paper would work well, too].

Here’s what the kids received at the party!

And here’s a constructed robot that we placed on the table as a model.

 

We ended up just having the kids colour in their robots at the party and take them home to cut and construct later on. So, essentially, the robots became part of the loot bag.

And here’s a free printable for you to do the same!! 

Simply copy and print  this pdf: Colour Cut and Build This Robot!

Or copy and Paste the image below to your heart’s content:

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Quick Links for Mobile Users:
Summer of Funner : The Lunchbox Season : In Defense of Burning