So many children’s parties consist of disposable plastic tableware, disposable plastic toys and disposable plastic party bags. The negative impact of this consumption on our environment is obvious.
Little Cherry have sourced alternative eco-friendly party products to those available on the high street in an effort to reduce the impact children’s parties have on our precious environment - Imagine the amount of plastic waste we could save if everyone chose to celebrate birthdays using products which can biodegrade or are recycled!
Little Cherry especially dislike plastic easily broken, disposable toys, and it is believe that money is wasted at children’s parties through purchasing products which are not loved by children. They believe that it is better to buy one item which your child will love, then give them a plastic bag full of plastic items they won’t.
Little Cherry products were hand selected with this in mind - each has an educational message or story behind it. Every product adheres to their criteria of being recycled, organic, sustainable, re-usable, recyclable, fair trade or biodegradable.
It’s time to lead by example, by teaching our children these valuable lessons they will grow up to have a thoughtful attitude and to respect the environment, which will continue into the future.
Visit Little Cherry soon for eco-friendly children’s party bags and eco-friendly children’s party supplies!
www.littlecherry.co.uk

If, like millions of others out there you want to be more eco-friendly and are unsure what to do or how to do it… this article is for you!

If you made a pact to follow just one or two tips from our list, you would be well on your way to becoming more eco-friendly - get the kids to join in, and think of fun ways you could be making that small difference!

Tips for an eco-friendly life

Use cloth nappies, not disposables. Cloth nappies are no longer a square of terry toweling; you can get some great designs and advice from Twinkle Twinkle. Nearly three billion nappies are thrown away every year, and 90% of them end up as landfill.
Buy fruit and veg loose and you wont take home unnecessary packaging
Re-use bags at the supermarket or better yet, invest in a calico shopper and say goodbye to plastic bags altogether. If you cut your plastic bags down by 12 per week, you would reduce carbon emissions by 600kg per year, the same amount a car would release after four weeks of use! Did you know that every year an estimated 17.5 billion plastic bags are given away at supermarkets - that 290 for every person.
Compost all food waste - you can get a cheap compost bin from your local council, up to 40% of household waste can be composted at home.
Reduce the amount of paper that gets thrown away by reusing envelopes and using both sides of every sheet
Contact the mailing preference service and stop 95% of all junk mail
All though the recycling process does use energy, it generally uses less than making a product from scratch. Recycle your products and buy recycled products - prices may be higher but they are sure to come down as demand increases.
Recycle your old phones by contacting Mobile Takeback or give it to Tesco who will donate £5 to charity for every phone recycled.
Recycle your inkjet cartidges at Staples or Office World - Over 1 billion plastic printer cartridges are discarded every year.
Buy Fairtrade products as much as possible, or check that a company has an ethical statement about how its products are manufactured before purchasing.
Support local and smaller producers by choosing local and organic produce - try local farmers markets, farm shops or try getting a box scheme. Eating local organic helps the local economy, supports wildlife, and reduces transport and pollution.
Recycle your old clothes by using sites like Efreeko or Freecycle
Choose glass bottles over plastic ones if you have a choice - glass bottles can be recycled up to 100 times, whereas every time a plastic bottle is recycled it requires a new virgin layer of plastic added.
Use short bursts of water when cleaning teeth - leaving the tap running wastes water
Batteries don’t biodegrade - use rechargeable ones with solar powered chargers instead.
Energy Tips for an eco-friendly home

Turn the TV and computer off rather than leaving them on standby
Switch off lights when not in the room
Close windows when the heating is on
Hang washing out to dry rather than using a tumble dryer
Only boil the water you need in the kettle, and remove lime scale using vinegar and water.
Put lids on pans when you’re cooking
Stop dripping or leaky taps
Check your fridge - a faulty seal, dusty coils and not enough air circulation will mean it will have to work harder to keep things cool.
Switch your energy supplier to a green one
Change to low energy light bulbs - did you know these burn up to 8000 hours?
Avoid putting furniture in front of radiators
Regulate your toilet flush by purchasing an ecoflush, which only costs around £19 and you can install it yourself or get a toilet hippo, which you may be able to get free of charge see Hippo the Watersaver
Insulate your hot water pipes
Think about the products you use to clean your house, chemicals kill wildlife and other organisms if they get into the water supply. Try to use greener alternatives which are now widely available.
Choose natural paints with low VOC (volatile organic compound) and keep chemicals out of your new home!
Wear clothes more than once - washing machines can use up to 50 litres per wash.
Transport Tips for eco-friendly travel

Cut emissions and get fit by walking short journeys. Walk the kids to school, or see if you can buddy up with a mum at school to share car journeys
Cycling is just as eco-friendly and will cut out the stress of a journey sat in traffic, try your local bike retailer for advice on helmets, child seats or carriages
Use public transport - the kids will find it a great adventure, and become more streetwise at the same time
If you must use your car, turn you engine off if you are stationery for more than two minutes or more, inflate your tyres and park in the shade. (The sun on a hot engine can cause increased emissions)
Smaller cars use less fuel, or choose an alternative fuel vehicle such as a hybrid.
Holiday at home - choose to explore the beauty of our own country rather than jetting off and contributing to climate change.
If you must fly and can’t avoid it, offset your carbon emissions by planting a tree.
One last tip…

We can’t be expected to do everything on this list everyday - and I won’t pretend that I manage it. The small differences all add up and if you can get into a lifestyle habit, perhaps choosing to implement one change every so often, you will soon find that your life has much less of an impact than before.

Everything counts.

Make a difference - make it eco-friendly.

Goodie bags are a must at most parties and kids love them! However in this “consume me” age, children’s party bags are all too often an environmental crime!

Plastic bags (which are suffocation hazards for both your child and wildlife - not to mention the amount of time they take to degrade) filled with cheap little plastic toys (which are easily broken, unloved and thrown in the dustbin by the time you get home) and chocolate (often created by exploiting families) or sweets full of e-numbers. What a waste!

The added pressure of keeping up with the Jones’s also tends to set parents up to think of the best gifts, which often ends up reflecting in more plastic waste, raising budgets and added stress.

The good news is there is now an abundance of opportunities for imaginative and simple ways to incorporate a few creative items in to your party bags that will go a long way to make a big difference - plus it is a great example for our children and sets them up to naturally think creatively about how they can incorporate the mantra of the 3 R’s into their life -   reduce waste, re-use what they have and recycle more, incase you missed the boat!

Choose a cotton drawstring party bag, which is fantastically useful after the party for jigsaw puzzles or small toys or if your budget doesn’t stretch to that, choose paper party bags which can be recycled after the party and secure them with our reminder sticker printed with “Please Recycle Me!” which come free of charge with our paper party bags!

Choose a couple of toys which are made from sustainable wood and painted in non-toxic paints, how about a lovely wooden bracelet, some hair slides and hair bands for girls and a wooden clown car and whistle for boys? Add a character pencil and a slice of cake to create a party bag which is eco-friendly and fun… but still affordable!

If your children are older and past the age where a wooden whistle or clown car will do, how about choosing a recycled A6 notepad and pencil made from recycled cd cases, or a pencil case made from recycled car tyres? Not only does this pave the way for children to think about where products come from, but it also shows them a real example of what fun products can be made when they make the effort to recycle, and spreads the message into schools through their friends.

Due to the mounting piles of plastic waste now seen just about everywhere, it’s no longer about quantity where party bags are concerned… but quality and sustainability.

So make an effort to be thoughtful when setting the example for our children and think in terms of future gain - lets set the trend for sustainable, eco-friendly and ethical party bags!

Not sure what games to play at your next party? Here are some ideas to get you started! 

 Swapsies Outdoor
Equipment: None
A garden is better for this toddler party game as you need a bit of space. The children all stand round spread out and you call out 2 names of children who then have to run and try and change places. As they are doing this you or a selected child has to try and run to the spot that one of them has vacated. Don’t try too hard!

Splash! Outdoor
Equipment: Two lengths of string, wooden plank
An outdoor action toddler party game which really gets rid of some energy. Put two lengths of string across the lawn to represent the banks of a stream, and a fairly wide plank joining the two banks. Get the children to run round the garden and to ‘cross’ the river via the plank. Turning your back on them, you then suddenly shout out “Splash” and any child caught on the plank has thus fallen in the river and is out.

Cat and Mouse Indoor
Equipment: Music
Put on some music and the kids have to squeak and scuttle about like mice. The moment the music stops, the kids must be as still and as ‘quiet as a mouse’. Anyone seen moving or making a noise is caught by the cat (you) and is out of the game.

Copy Cat Indoor
Equipment: None
A great toddler party game for the 2 - 4 year olds who love to imitate. Sit on a chair facing the children who are sitting at your feet. Say that as you point to a part of your body and name it, followed by “meow”, they have to imitate it followed by the word “meow”. For example, point to your chin and say “chin, chin, chin, meow”, whereupon they all follow suit. Now point to your eyes and say “eyes, eyes, eyes” and make sure that no one is a copycat, if they are, they are out.

Count the Pebbles Indoor
Equipment: Tin, pebbles
For children who have learned to count, this toddler party game is a great way for them to show off their new skill. Sit all the children on the floor with their backs to you and stand behind them with a biscuit tin. Drop at irregular intervals ten or more pebbles into the tin. The kids have to try and count them out loud and say the correct answer. This can get very loud and confusing but the kids love it.

Down on the Farm Indoor
Equipment: None
A great noisy toddler party game for the younger ones. Prepare in advance a short story (long if you feel adventurous!) and include lots of animals and noisy farm vehicles. It doesn’t have to be a very adventurous story as the point of the game is to make the noises of the animals and vehicles. You could start with: “It was a beautiful sunny day down on the farm and the chickens (the kids Cluck) were wandering around the farm yard. Suddenly the big brown carthorse (the kids all neigh) came galloping over to Farmer Giles in his tractor (the kids all broom)…”. and so on.

Who am I? Indoor
Equipment: None
A toddler party game for the 3-4 year olds. Think up in advance some characters or animals. With the kids all seated at your feet you then start to silently act out one of the characters or animals. Gradually you introduce some noises and the children then have to guess who or what you are. For example if you were a cat you could run around on all fours, play with a ball or imaginary mouse and then meow.

Hunt the sweets Outdoor/Indoor
Equipment: Sweets, containers
All children love sweets and the achievement of finding something. Hide some sweets around the garden or house and get the children to find them. It’s best to restrict the children to a certain number each and to give them a paper cup to collect them in.

Musical animals Indoor
Equipment: Music, pictures of animals
There aren’t really winners and losers in this toddler party game. Put on some music and the kids all dance around. As you stop the music you hold up a picture of an animal such as a lion, pig, dog. The kids then all have to jump around the room imitating that animal. The younger ones especially love this game.

Musical shapes Indoor
Equipment: Music, large sheets of plain paper, coloured pens or paint
As a variant of musical chairs and for age 4 plus. Draw and colour some big basic shapes on large pieces of paper (e.g. yellow square, red triangle, green circle). Place these around the room where the children can see and reach them quite easily. The kids start dancing to the music and when the music stops, you shout out a colour and shape such as “yellow triangle” and all the kids have to rush to that colour shape. The last child there is out of the game. For the younger age group, stick to 4 or 5 colour shapes but for the older kids you could use more.

Pairs Indoor
Equipment: Pairs of objects, clothing
For 2-3 year olds restrict this toddler party game to one room but for the older children you could spread out a bit. In advance, collect pairs of a number of items such as socks, spoons, pencils, hair slides, toy cars or whatever you can think of. Place one of the pair of each object into paper bags or boxes equal to the number of kids that there are. The kids don’t all have to have the same items and some you could repeat and allow 5 or 6 items per child. Hide the other halves of the pairs around the room(s). Issue each child with a bag or box and get them to go on a hunt for their matching halves. First to get a complete collection wins.

What’s the time Mr Wolf? Outdoor/Indoor
Equipment: None
This is not a new toddler party game but I’ve included it, as the little ones just love the excitement and anticipation. You or another child can be Mr Wolf and as you walk away, the children all follow you. They then say loudly “What’s the time Mr Wolf?” and the wolf replies “It’s 3 o’clock” or any time that he wishes. However when the wolf answers “It’s 12 o’clock and dinner time”, the kids have to all run away with the wolf running after them. The person he catches or the last one home is the next Mr Wolf.

Where’s the sock? Indoor
Equipment: Large sheet of plain paper, old magazines, pins or stickers
This is a fun toddler party game that singles out the child host and is similar to pin the tail on the donkey. In advance, stick coloured advertisements for rooms of furniture torn out from magazines on a large sheet of paper. Try and get it to ‘vaguely’! resemble your house so include a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, living room. Tell the children that “Emily” (use the name of the host child) has mislaid her/his sock and needs the children to help her/him find it. The children then pin on the picture where they think that the sock is. Beforehand put a sock in one of the spots and then you get all the children to run to their chosen place to see if they were correct.

Artist Indoor
Equipment: Large sheet of plain drawing paper, felt pens, blindfold
This kid party game always attracts great laughter. Attach a large piece of plain drawing paper on the wall at child height. One child is chosen to be the artist and he is blindfolded. Ask him to draw a house and then the children take it in turns to ask him to add things to the picture such as a chimney, window, tree, people, himself. The resultant drawing rarely resembles a house but it is very funny to look at.

Balloon Relay Race Outdoor
Equipment: Balloons
A kid party game best played outside with a lot of people. Divide into two or more teams and give each team a balloon. The object of the game is for the first team member to place the balloon between their knees and to hop or run to the other end of the track and back again. If the balloon drops or bursts, that person must start again. Once successful, the first player has to then pass the balloon to one of his team-mates using only his knees (no hands allowed!), who then also runs up and down the track. The first team to finish is the winner.

Beetle Indoor
Equipment: Pens and paper, dice.
This is a quiet indoor kid party game that is best played in small groups of 4 or 5. Issue each child with a pencil and paper and one dice per group. Take it in turns to throw the dice and depending on what number you throw, you can draw a part of your beetle. You must always start with a 6, which is the beetle body. For the legs, eyes and antennae, you must throw the required number several times depending on the body part e.g. you must throw a four twice (one for each front leg). The aim is to be the first to draw a complete beetle. Six - the body Five - the head Four - the two front legs Three - the four back legs Two - the two eyes One - the two antennae

Broken bottles Outdoor
Equipment: Ball
This outdoor kid party game is a great warm up game for other more boisterous outdoor kid party games. Use a big blow up ball for the smaller children and a tennis size ball for the seven to ten year olds. All the children stand in a circle with one player in the middle. The central player throws the ball to each child in turn. If a player doesn’t catch the ball he must then on his next turn catch it with one hand only. If he misses again, he goes down on one knee and if he misses again he goes down on two knees and finally sitting down. If the player does not catch it sitting down then he is out. However if the player manages to catch it whilst kneeling or sitting, he can reverse back through the positions with each subsequent catch until he is standing again.

Bubble Butt Indoor
Equipment: A chair and balloon for each child
A noisy kid party game! Line up a row of chairs with a balloon on each on one side of the room and get the children to sit in a row on the floor opposite the chairs. It’s best to tie the balloons to the chair to stop them blowing off. On the signal to go, all the children must rush over to a chair and sit on the balloon, trying to pop it using only their body weight. Once done they must rush back to their place on the floor. First one back is the winner.

Cards in the Hat Indoor
Equipment: Two packs of playing cards, hat.
A kid party game to test their skills. You will need 2 packs of cards (make sure each pack has a different back), and a hat. Split the kids into two teams. Place the hat on the floor and stand each team about 2 metres from the hat and opposite each other. On the count of three, each team member takes it in turns to attempt to throw a card into the hat. It doesn’t matter that both teams are throwing at the same time as it adds to the fun. When all the cards have been thrown, count the ones that have landed in the hat. Each card from two to ten counts as one point. The Royal cards and the aces count as two points each. This game is surprisingly difficult so you could adjust the distances.

Catch the Balloon Indoor
Equipment: Several balloons, pieces of paper with individual numbers on them, safety pins, and music
A popular kid party game that is so simple. Get everyone to select a piece of paper with a number on which they then pin to their chest. The child with the highest number is given a balloon. The kids then all dance round the room to the music and when the music suddenly stops, the child with the balloon has to throw it in the air and shout out one of the numbers. Whoever’s number he shouts out, has to run and catch the balloon before it reaches the floor. There is much hilarity as everyone tries to remember what their number was and to move the other players out of the way in order to catch the balloon. If he is successful, he then has the role of the balloon thrower in the next round.

Cherry Drop Outdoor
Equipment: Blindfold
A kid party game for when the weather is good. One child is elected to be the cherry tree, he is blindfolded and stands with his arms and fingers outspread like branches. The other players are the cherries on the tree and they each grab hold of part of the branches. The cherry tree then says “Are you ready?” When the cherries shout “Yes”, the cherry tree counts to ten as fast as he can whilst the cherries run from the tree. When the cherry tree gets to ten, he yells “Cherry drop!” and all the cherries have to stop running and stand still. The blindfolded cherry tree has to then find and touch all the cherries. The last cherry to be gathered up is the winner and becomes the next cherry tree.

Cotton Balls Indoor
Equipment: Two large bowls or buckets, two chairs, a large ladle, bag of cotton wool balls and a blindfold.
Place the two chairs opposite each other about 2 metres apart. On one chair place a bowl of cotton wool balls and on the other an empty bowl. Blindfold the chosen player, give them a few twirls and then place them in front of the bowl of cotton wool balls. Using the ladle, they then have to try and scoop up a cotton wool ball (or more) and carefully carry it and place it in the bowl on the opposite chair. It’s quite funny to watch as the cotton wool is so light that they are never sure if they are carrying anything or not. Set a time limit of one minute so that everyone gets a go. The winner is the person who transferred the most cotton wool balls.

Eye Witness Indoor
Equipment: Variety of dressing up clothes and props, pens and paper.
Boys seem to love this kid party game. Explain that there has been a robbery and a suspicious character was seen leaving the scene of the crime. Choose a volunteer and take him out of the room and dress him/her in an assortment of clothes. The funnier the better and use props such as a rolled up newspaper, glasses, false moustache. You then announce to the other children that the suspect was seen running away and that they have been asked to give an accurate description of him. As you shout “Police”, the child outside runs into the room and runs/walks quickly round it (maybe twice if your room is small) and the other children have to write down anything that he was wearing or carrying. The one with the most accurate list wins and he becomes the next burglar.

Goldilocks Indoor
Equipment: Blankets, duvets and sleeping bags
This is a great kid party game for a large group and for getting the kids to be quiet for a bit. One child is chosen as daddy bear and goes out of the room whilst everyone else gets right under the blankets and duvets. The daddy bear then renters the room and gently prods each cover and says, “Who’s sleeping in my bed?” The covered child must reply “Goldilocks” but in as disguised a voice as possible. If daddy bear guesses correctly who is under the covers, the person must come out but if he guesses wrong then the person says “No” and stays put. The last person left under the covers is the winner and becomes the next daddy bear.

Hares and Hounds Outdoor
Equipment: Chalk, small sticks, scraps of cloth
This is an immensely popular kid party game especially with boys over the age of 7. You really need a large space so a park or wood where you can lay trails would be perfect. Choose two people to be the hares and the rest of the kids are the hounds. The hares run off and lay trails with chalk, sticks, stones, cloth and arrows drawn in the dirt. They are allowed to draw false trails but so long as they lead to a cross on the third marking so that the hounds will not try and go further. Any change in direction must also be clearly marked. The hares have a fifteen minutes head start and then the hounds set off to try and catch them before the hares trail leads back to base. If the hares reach base without being caught, they have won the game.

Harold and Gertrude Indoor
Equipment: Old newspaper, blindfold
A kid party game for those kids who like a bit of action. Choose two people to be Harold and Gertrude. Blindfold Harold and give him a rolled-up newspaper. Place him in the middle of the circle of children who are holding hands. As the children move around in a circle (they can walk or run), Harold shouts out “Gertrude” and Gertrude must answer “Harold”. Harold must try and find her by the sound of her voice and to tap her with the newspaper. Of course as the circle moves, Harold will probably end up bopping the other children but they must try and avoid getting bopped by accident. If they are bopped they are out of the game. Once Harold finds Gertrude, the kid party game starts again.

Hot Potato Dress up Indoor
Equipment: As many odd clothes that you can find, large bag, music
This is an hilarious kid party game when played by both boys and girls - adults love it too! Before the party, collect together a variety of clothes such as hats, dresses, shorts, frilly tops, cloth nappy and so on, and place them all in a big bag. Sit everyone in a large circle and as the music plays, they have to pass the bag around like a hot potato. As soon as the music stops, the person left holding the bag has to put his hand in (no peeping) and pull out an article of clothing, which he/she then has to put on. The game caries on till all the clothes are finished and the prize goes to the one voted as the funniest dresser. Have your camera ready for this one as to see the class bruiser decked out in dress can be quite amusing.

I’m in the River Outdoor
Equipment: A long plank of wood or length of rope.
This is a fun kid party game for a crowd. Everybody stands on the plank or rope with one person in front and facing them. When that person calls out “In the river”, all the players have to jump forward. If he calls out “On the bank”, they all jump backwards. But the tricky bit is, if the person calls out “On the river” or “In the bank”, everybody must stand still. Anyone who wobbles the slightest is out.

Jump Ball Outdoor
Equipment: A ball, long piece of string, piece of cloth or net
This is a good kid party game for any number of kids. Wrap the ball in a piece of cloth or netting and tie a string to that. Players stand in a large circle with one person in the middle holding the ball by the string. As the central person swings the ball at ankle height, the other players have to jump over it. If the ball touches a player, he is out.

Long Jump Outdoor
Equipment: Two sticks
A kid party game that tests their jumping skills. Divide the kids into two even teams and choose a leader for each. Place a stick as a starter marker on the ground and each team lines up behind their stick. The leader starts by jumping forward as far as he can go in one leap. The next team member has to then jump from where the leader landed and so on down the line until the last player has a turn. The team which jumps the furthest wins.

Memory game Indoor
Equipment: A tray, pencils, paper, objects from around the house
This kid party game is great for quietening down an excited group. In advance of the party find fifteen to twenty small objects from around the house and place them on a tray. You could include such items as a pen, spoon, thimble, toy car, playing card. Sit the children in a circle and issue each with a pencil and paper. When they are ready place the tray in the middle of the circle and give the children three minutes to study and memorise the objects. When the three minutes is up, remove the tray and the children then have to write down as many objects as they can remember. The winner is the one with the most correct answers. Some children panic at not being able to spell the words so allow them to draw a simple picture of the item if they prefer.

Minefield Outdoor
Equipment: Two blindfolds, cardboard boxes of various shapes and sizes, plastic buckets, low chairs
You need quite a big space for this kid party game and maybe ear mufflers, as there will be a lot of shouting! Divide the kids into two teams. Lay out all the boxes and chairs - these are known as the mines. Blindfold one person from each team who then has to navigate through the minefield under the verbal guidance of their team mates. If either player touches a mine, they have to stop for a count of ten. When the player finally reaches the end of the minefield, they remove the blindfold and run back to the start and another of their team mates has a turn. The winning team is the one to get all its members through the minefield first.

Mummy wrap Indoor
Equipment: Several rolls of cheap toilet paper
Divide the kids into two or more teams and choose one member of each team to be the mummy. Give each team a toilet roll or two and on the signal go, they have three minutes to wrap the mummy in as much toilet roll as possible and without leaving any gaps except for the nose.

Penalty Kick Outdoor
Equipment: Ball, goal post or makeshift one
This is a great kid party game for the boys and gives even the non-sportive child a chance. Place the ball 2 metres away from the goal post. Select one child at a time and explain that this is their chance to score a goal with no goalkeeper to stop them. The tricky part is that they are blindfolded and then placed five or six paces from the ball. To make it even harder you could turn them round several times before they attempt their penalty kick. Tell them to run five paces up to the ball and kick. It is hilarious to watch especially if the child runs in completely the wrong direction.

Waterfalls Outdoor
Equipment: A couple of willing adults!!, two large empty plastic bottles, two buckets filled with water and lots of paper cups. Oh yes and some big towels for the adults!
Play this kid party game outdoors and on a warm day. Split the children into two teams and assign one adult (preferably a dad) to each team. The adults sit on the floor holding an empty bottle on top of their head. When the whistle blows, each team has to rush to a bucket of water, fill up a paper cup and then rush back and pour it into the bottle that sits on their head. The game continues until one of the bottles is full!

Red light, Green light Outdoor
Equipment: None
A kid party game that needs lots of outdoor space. Choose one child to be ‘IT’. The ‘IT’ turns her back on the other players and calls out “Green light, one, two, three, four, five, Red light!” As soon as she says green light, the other kids start running towards ‘IT’ but as soon as she says red light, the kids must stop perfectly still. If ‘IT’ catches one of them moving, that player must go back to the starting line. The player who manages to touch ‘IT’ on the shoulder is the winner and becomes the next ‘IT’.

Sardines Outdoor
Equipment: None
Play this kid party game outside where there are lots of good hiding places. One person hides whilst all the others count to one hundred. Everybody then sets of separately in search of the hidden person. Once one person finds him/her, they then hide with them in the same place. The game carries on until everyone is hiding together except for one lone wanderer who can’t find you.

52 Scatter Outdoor
Equipment: None
This is another of my childhood favourite kid party games. You need a large outdoor space with plenty of hiding places. Pick a spot such as a large tree as home base and choose one person as the catcher. The catcher stands at the base with his eyes shut and counts to fifty-two out loud. Whilst counting, the other children run off and hide. When the catcher gets to fifty-two, he shouts “…Fifty-two, coming ready or not”. He then sets off to find the other players. If he spots one, he must rush back to base, touch it and say, for example, “I spy John behind the green shed”. However if John knows that he has been spotted he can try and race the catcher back to the base. If he is successful at getting there first, he becomes the next catcher.

Scavenger Hunt Outdoor
Equipment: Paper, pencils, plastic bags
This is a great kid party game if you need some time to get the food ready and don’t want the children milling round you. It is best played in a park or wood unless you have a very big garden. In advance, make a list of twenty things that the children have to find, such as a yellow leaf, sweet wrapper, bus ticket, pebble. Each player (or more if they are in teams) is given the list and a bag and then has twenty or thirty minutes to find all the items. The winner of this kid party game is the first person or team to return with all the objects ticked off on their list.

School Indoor
Equipment: A pebble or coin, flight of stairs
The kid party game is played on a short flight of stairs. One child is elected the teacher and the others are the pupils and they start off sitting on the lowest step. The teacher hides the pebble or coin in a fist and asks the children to guess which hand it is in. If they guess correctly they move up a step and if they get it wrong they move down a step. (If they are on the first step they stay where they are). The winner is the first person to reach the top step and then he/she becomes the teacher.

Shipwreck Outdoor/Indoor
Equipment: Large items of furniture
This is a great kid party game for a large group of kids and one that the smaller size kids can do well in. Use a large room or garden where there are various items of large furniture or objects that you don’t mind the kids clambering on. One person is chosen to be the captain and then all the kids run round the garden or room. As soon as the captain shouts “Shipwreck - bench” for example, the kids all have to rush to the bench and climb on it. The last one on is said to have sunk in the sea and is out of the game. As more and more players are out, the captain names smaller and smaller things to climb on.

Sitting Duck Indoor
Equipment: Cushion, pair of gloves
This kid party game is better suited to a group of kids who know each other. Sit the children in a circle except for one player who puts on the gloves and blindfold. Spin that person round several times and then guide them to the centre of the circle. The blindfolded player has to then feel his way towards a person, place the cushion on their lap and then sit on them. He then says, “Who are you?” and the person should say “Quack, quack” but in a disguised voice. If the sitter guesses correctly whose lap he is on the two players then switch places. If he guesses incorrectly, he must move on to another lap. The idea of the gloves is to stop the blindfolded person from feeling the other persons face or hair as it would then be easy to guess who it was.

Spin the Bottle Indoor
Equipment: A plastic bottle
Everyone sits in a circle with a plastic bottle in the centre. One person spins the bottle and whoever it points to has to do a dare chosen by the person sitting to their left, such as sing a song or pretend to be an animal. Alternatively you could write out some dares in advance on pieces of paper that are put in a bowl and the person has to pick one out.

Sticky Toffee Outdoor
Equipment: None
This kid party game is a variation of tag but more complicated and more fun. Someone is chosen to be the Sticky Toffee. All the other children run off and the Sticky Toffee has to try and catch one of them. Once caught, that person is stuck to the Sticky Toffee by joining hands and together they have to run off and catch more players. Eventually there is a long line of Sticky Toffee chasing after one child who is declared the winner.

Stuck in the Mud Outdoor
Equipment: None
One child is chosen as IT and he has to try and catch the other children whilst running around. Once caught, the player has to stand in one spot with his legs apart, arms outstretched and shout for help. Another free player can then run and crawl between his legs to free him. If large numbers of children are playing it is sometimes easier to have two or three ITs to make it easier to catch people.

Tower Build Indoor
Equipment: Children’s building blocks, boxing gloves, dice, bowl of sweets
A kid party game that is harder than it sounds. Sit the children in a circle and in the middle place six building blocks, the bowl of sweets and the boxing gloves. The children take it in turns to roll the dice. If they get a six, they must rush to the centre of the circle, put on the gloves and attempt to build a tower of six blocks before the next person throws a six. If they are successful they get to take a sweet from the bowl. You can vary this game by using chopsticks or spoons instead of the boxing gloves and use a different number of bricks depending on the age range of the children.

Under and Over Outdoor
Equipment: Two balls
Arrange the kids into two teams. Each team lines up its players one behind the other and with their legs apart. The first person in each team bends down and tosses the ball backwards and between his legs to the player behind him. The next player catches the ball and then tosses it backwards and over his head to the player behind him. This under and over process continues until the last player has the ball. He takes the ball and runs to the front of the line and the process begins again until the first person in each team has worked his way back to the beginning. The first team to finish is the winner of this kid party game.

There is no better way to show the birthday girl or boy how special they are then create a themed, fun cake!

Probably the most important food item on the party menu is the birthday cake. The cake makes the party into a real celebration, so it should look really special and create a buzz of excitement.

If you have time to bake a cake from scratch, fantastic! However don’t feel bad if you don’t have the time as this is one area you can cheat slightly by buying a plain sponge and decorating it yourself to create the home-baked look in half the time! Don’t worry about making the design perfect, children will feel special just for the action in itself and won’t notice the tiny detail.

If you are running really short of time or would prefer a professional look, why not contact one of our recommended birthday cake suppliers on the links page.

Fun designs for your masterpiece (!) could include one of the following:

Train - use a sponge cake for the engine and cut two plain sponges into squares and stack them for the cab. Wheels could be made from sponge slices or licorice wheels look great after the cake has been iced.

Caterpillar - cut sponge cakes into sections and arrange the in a zigzag shape across a board

Number shaped cake - buy a rectangle sponge and cut into the age of your child using a template drawn on paper

Castle - A square sponge topped with a round sponge makes a lovely castle and ice cream cones are great used as turrets on each of the four corners and for the centre tower

Butterfly - cut a large round cake in half, cut two notches out from the cut side to form wings, arrange on a board before icing the pattern. Use the cut out notches for the body.

Cheeky Monkey - use a round sponge covered in chocolate rice cereal for the fur, use chocolate butter icing to create a space for the face. Chocolate buttons are great for eyes, ginger cookies make great ears, and the nose and mouth can be piped or made with sweets.

Ladybird - cut an oval shape from sponge and top with red butter icing and chocolate buttons

Car - cut a round sponge in half and cut an L shape out for the windscreen, stand the two halves together and seal with butter icing. Wheels can be made from licorice, cookies or use the sections you cut out before.

Here’s one we made earlier!

Ingredients

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

125g/4oz caster sugar

125g/4oz soft margarine

125g/4oz self-raising flour

To decorate (optional)

tubes of writing icing

marshmallows, white and coloured

food colouring, for icing

coloured sweets

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and beat them together until the mixture is smooth and slightly lighter in colour.

2. Line a bun tin or cupcake tin with paper cake cases and half-fill each case with the cake mixture.

3. Cook the cakes for 18-20 minutes. You can tell they are done when they have risen up, are golden in colour, and spring back into shape when lightly pressed.

4. The cupcakes can be decorated using a basic icing, plus marshmallows, writing icing, food colouring and coloured sweets. Why not decorate them to match the party theme? You could  also make a cupcake farm with animals such as sheep, piglets and dogs.

These lollies can be made and frozen in advance, they are perfect for a hot day, and they last up to two months in the freezer. You can substitute any of the fruit for a different flavour (mango works well) - makes 8

250g Strawberries, 150g Raspberries, 130g Caster Sugar, 1000g Natural Yogurt

• Blend the fruit in a blender until smooth and place in the fridge

• Mix the yogurt with the sugar and stir to dissolve, divide between 8 lolly moulds or strong plastic cups and put in the freezer for about an hour

• Swirl the fruit mixture into the semi-frozen yogurts (they look great if you don’t mix too much!) and return to the freezer for at least two hours until they are solid

• Stand them at room temperature for about 5 minutes before removing them from the moulds

Smoothies are the perfect party food! Not only are they packed full with important vitamins and nutrients essential for growing children, they are very colourful and, most importantly - kids love them!

Prepare the fruit the night before and place in the freezer - this keeps the smoothies cold and gives them a great consistency. All recipes serve between 8 and 10 children.

Method: Throw everything into a blender and blend until smooth!

• Little Berry: 4 cups Vanilla Yogurt, 2 cups strawberry nectar, 3 cups frozen quartered strawberries, 4 frozen bananas, sliced

• Orange Jester: 4 cups orange segments, 3 cups apple juice, 4 cups orange sherbet, 4 cups frozen raspberries

• Nana Rama: 6 frozen bananas, sliced, 6 passion fruit, halved, 600 ml natural yogurt, 150 ml milk, 3 tsp runny honey

• Purple Princess: 4 cups frozen vanilla yogurt, 2 cups grape juice, 3 cups frozen red grapes, 3 cups frozen blueberries

• Peachy Prince: 2 cups natural yogurt, 2 cups sliced peaches, 8 tablespoons frozen apple juice

• Mud Pie: 2 cups silken tofu (it’s in the Supermarket!), 3 cups chocolate milk, 2 cups chocolate sorbet, 4 frozen bananas, sliced, Float a few mini marshmallows on the top as a yummy garnish