Thursday, July 31, 2008

Outdoor Family Reunion Games to Keep the Kids Busy

Janet sent in this question:
I need outdoor family reunion games to keep the kids busy any ideas?

Well Janet often kids have away of creating their own games but I did come up with a few ideas for you.

Amazing Family Reunion Race / Scavenger Hunt give the kids a list of questions / tasks and have them talk to relative to find out the answers. Another option would be for them to go from relative to relative and complete certain tasks before receiving the next clue.
Example: In this family there are 5 and they had a very long drive - See the Dad for your challenge.
Now the challenge could be find out something about the family or travel or to run a lap around the park.

Also have outdoor items they can play with water toys, frisbee, football, badmitton, etc... they can entertain themselves. A simple ring toss or target games can be fun. Frisbee freeze tags, set up a hula hoop as a target, etc...

Nature scavenger hunt, have a list of items you can collect or photograph with a digital camera then send teams off to find it. For safety include an adult on each team.

For more ideas vist Family Games and the Kids Games pages.
FYI - You may want to have soem indoor items just in case it rains for consider some Printable Games.

Sarah - Party Game Ideas Lady

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Ideas for Wedding Shower Games Guys and Girls can Play?

Carrie wrote,
My sister's having a wedding and were combining the meet the bride and groom with their wedding shower; what are some good wedding shower games both guys and girls can play?

First, consider a Get to Know you Shower Game since it is a meet the bride and groom event. The good news is that there are several varieties of this game so you can focus on the bride and groom as weel as the guests attending the wedding shower.

You also might want to review the complete list of wedding shower games to see which ones are couples friendly, note not every game needs to include the guys but consider 1 or 2.

Also if there are a lot of people and a large age range conside pen and paper wedding shower games that everyone can play. If you have the time create your own trivia questions and if not these printable bridal shower games work well.

Have fun and enjoy.
Sarah - Party Game Ideas Lady

Olympic Party Planning – Let the Games Begin

With the Olympic games right around the corner, the spirit of competition is sure to become a theme for parties in August. So how do you make your party an Olympic sized success, well plan unique activities that involve international themes and competition.

First start with some Olympic Party Decorations.
Second have Chinese food or an International menu of appetizers
Third have fun games to challenge the mind and body.

Take the Who Am I game and turn it into What Country Am I?
Guests could be Japan, Russia, Italy, Chile, New Zealand, Egypt, etc…

Play competitive games
Create your own mini-Decathlon competition.
Maybe 5 events like Frisbee throw, bean bag target toss, shoot free throws, hop on 1 foot, and standing jump.

Develop a scoring system and after each event you can have a break. Depend on your group adjust to be easy or difficult.

Need other event or game ideas just check out our kid’s party game list of almost 70 games and let the games being.

Sarah – Party Game Ideas Lady

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Wedding Favors to Fall For

Well as the summer wedding season wraps up, Fall brides are planning for memorable events with slightly cooler weather and autumn themes.

Along with the wedding dress, location, flowers, menu the wedding flavors help add a personal touch to the event. Brides getting married in September, October and November may want to consider wedding favors that match a fall theme and if you have not pruchased favors yet you are ok.

Most favors can be shipped within a week and personalized favors 2 - 4 weeks. Here are some of our favorite favors for fall brides.







These leaf inspired favors are perfect as we head into the fall foliage. Enjoy the Fall in Love Coasters or the elegant Leaf Bottle Stopper Favor and both gifts are very practical.








Some additional wedding favors are the Leaf Shaped Soaps in an atractive case and these wonderful Chair Placecard and Favor Boxes.

These wedding favors are sure to make your wedding a success, view more wedding favors here.
Sarah - Party Game Ideas Lady

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Bridal Shower Game - Don't Say Bride

Fun and classic game for Bridal Showers
View more than 40 Bridal Shower Games here

Don't Say Bride or Wedding Game

Each guest receives a clothes pin (bracelet, necklace, maybe add a mini veil for fun) as they arrive and explain to the guests only once: If you catch someone saying the word 'Bride’ or 'Wedding’ you get to take their clothes pin. The first person to say can I have the clothes pin (name of item) receives the clothes pin/item. Often you will have someone say “You said bride or You said wedding give me your clothes pin”, when they just said the words that can not be said right there! The guest with the most pins at the end of the shower is the winner.

Game Decision:
Decide before the wedding shower whether someone can steal all or just one clothes pin if they hear a person say bride or wedding. I like the idea of one at a time because it keeps more people in the game, however when someone has 5 or 10 pins it is pretty impressive to see people work hard to try and trick that person into saying “the words that can not be said.”

Variations:
Change the word (to suit your event) and play at Baby Showers or any social gathering.

Want a different type of games view more than 40 Bridal Shower Games here.
Sarah - Party Game Ideas Lady

Party Planning Checklist - Plan Ahead for Success

Great parties look easy, however they start with good party planning and fun ideas.

People often ask how do you plan for a great party and I say, I start with my party planning checklist.

1. What is the occassion for the party?
Birthday, baby shower, neighborhood picnic.

2. What is the age range of attendees and who needs to be entertained?
Ages 3 - 6, 8 - 12 or 18 - 85!

3. Develop a theme or party concept
Consider a the person what they like to do, what is fun, is there anything going on in the world that would make this party even more special.
Note the Olympics are coming up so parties with an Olympic theme will be popular in August.

4. Party theme or story
This is not always part of the party but for a Pirate or Princess party it is nice to add a story to the party and makes it easy to weave in a treasure hunt or find the slipper game.
I started a list of Party ideas and theme - use as a guide or for ideas.

5. Decorations, party supplies, favors...
Decide what or if you need decorations, party supplies or favors for your event. Sometimes you can make your own other times it is easier to purchase them. If you do a movie or tv themed party, it is often easy to buy the supplies, because they look like the real deal.

6. Party games and activities
Be open to the idea of all kinds of games and activites and look to modify traditional games for your event or create something unique by combining a few games together.
Visit Party Games Ideas to get started - I find it is help to reveiw a list of games to get started.

7. Take your notes set it aside for a day ot two and then review your Party Plan, if you still like your idea and your notes go for it, otherwise revise and adjust til you are happy with it.

Sarah - Party Game Ideas Lady

Friday, July 11, 2008

Bachelorette Party Scavenger Hunt

One of the most popular bachelorette party activities is a Bachelorette Party Scavenger Hunt where you collect items from guys at the bar or take pictures with specific people or have a Dare List.

These items don't always have to be crazy but come on the more daring the more fun. (as long as it is harmless fun).

Here is an idea how to set up a bachelorette scavenger hunt.

Head out for a wild night with the Bachelorette whether she is a little shy or wild, she must collect or do everything on “This List,”before the night is through. You can make your scavenger hunt crazy, wild or seductive but make she the Bride will have fun!

Items your could collect from Guys:- Boxers or briefs, Belt, T shirt, number, business cards, etc...

You can also have a Dare or To Do list
To Do List- Get a guy to buy a shot, Do a shot off a guys stomach, Use the Men’s room to go to the bathroom, again harmless fun

Just make the scavenger hunt reflect her and have fun. If you want more bachelrette party games and fun accessories.

Check out these
Embarrassing Bachelorette Party Games
Fun with Men Bachelorette Party Games
and Printable Bachelorette Games - just print and go!

Sarah - Party Game Ideas

Shower Games - Getting Stranger to Know Each Other

Baby showers and bridal shower often bring unique groups of people together and in many cases they don't know each other. So how can you soften the mood and break the ice at your event?

Well the good news is that most guests attend the baby and wedding shower because they care about the mom to be and the couple. So everyone is there for them and all they want to do is have a good time.

To make sure that everyone feels at home during your shower, make sure you recruit one or two people to assist you in meeting and greeting people. Basically, have a team making sure that everyone is welcome.

Then do a shower game or an activity early on where people come together as a team to answer trivia questions, create something or do something. Teams help from bonds quickly and provide inclusion into a group. Once the game is over it is easy to start up a conversion with someone from your team then a stranger. This helps broaden the social circle.

Last consider get to know you games that invite the unexpected. People may not naturally bring up that they want to run a marathon, but when they learn that Betty just completed her 5th Boston marathon then they have something real to talk about.

So plan a interactive event early during your bridal shower or baby shower and you may be surprised at how many new friendships you may have created.

Sarah - Party Game Ideas

Family Reunion Games

The summer is for getting together with family and friends and I have had a lot of questions concerning Family Reunions and activities.

Well if you want to play games that help get people to know the family and interact then consider: Family Reunion Get To Know You Games.

I have placed several on my site and really like the Family Photographer game / challenge as it gets the kids involved and you get lots of photos of the family.

Find details here for these games and others: http://partygameideas.com/family-games/

If you want games that the whole family could play then I suggest taking a look at the kid's games (yes, kids games) and then adapting them to your event. Kids games are fun and easy. So be creative and have fun. Here is a list of 70 kids games.

Another thing to keep in mind is have things for outdoor activities like a football, frisbee, etc... things the kids can do on their own while the adults are socializing.

Enjoy and have fun
Sarah - Party Game Ideas