Activity for Girl's Birthday Party

[perfectparanoia]

My daughter is turning 8 this year and we are allowing her to have a sleepover with her two BFFs for her party.

Pretty easy for me except I am clueless when it comes to activities. I was thinking something crafty but it needs to be girly (something I have little experience with).


Anyone have some good activities to do?

[robert_columbia]

My daughter is turning 8 this year and we are allowing her to have a sleepover with her two BFFs for her party.

Pretty easy for me except I am clueless when it comes to activities. I was thinking something crafty but it needs to be girly (something I have little experience with).


Anyone have some good activities to do?

Umm, what about having them sew their own new nightgowns (pajamas may be too complex) and then wear them to bed? Is that way above their level?

[Elret]

My nine-year-old neighbour decorated flip-flops at her bday sleepover - just a bunch of cheap flip-flops, stick on gems, and glitter glue. They had fun.

[Bad News Baboon]

Go to a craft store. There are a ton of premade kits or you can buy a bunch of beads and let them go to town!

For my daughter, 7.5, I got a soap kit and it was a smash! All we had to do was melt and pour in molds (I did that part). They added glitter, etc.

There are also kits for lip balm.

But, over all, I set up the wii, movies and pizza delivery (apparently it tastes better when delivered). They had fun on their own.

[Bad News Baboon]

Umm, what about having them sew their own new nightgowns (pajamas may be too complex) and then wear them to bed? Is that way above their level?

Speaking from experience: yes.
It would take too long by hand and I wouldn't be ok to use machine and that age.
Also, soft material tends to be harder to sew.

I would suggest buying premade clothes and embellishes. Believe it or not, it would probably end up loads cheaper.

[papergirl]

Go to a crafty store and pick up a few of those flocked-velvet coloring posters. The outlines on the picture are black and velvety, making the color you add really stand out. (You can find them by the markers, I think.) Buy a few packs of good markers as well, because the ones that come with the posters are sucky.
My kids--at every age so far--would do these things for HOURS. They're perfect--not too messy, easy to do, they always look good even if you have a non-crafty, clumsy kid, and designs range from really basic to really complicated. Get one for yourself while you're at it; I always find I can't keep away from them. :)
I always kept several stashed away for bad weather or when we had unexpected company.

[pbbth]

It looks like homemade lip gloss (http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/recipecollections/a/bllipglosschoc.htm) is really simple and incredibly cheap. You could also turn this into a theme of sorts where they make their own lip gloss and then you provide them with a few sample sizes of blush and eye shadow and let them give each other makeovers.

[Elret]

Beads are a great idea. Get nice ones though, the dollar-store ones can end up looking like a preschool project, where some pretty ones will actually make nice, wearable jewellery.

[Vihaga]

I like the beads idea. Bedazzling or lip gloss would probably also be hits.


This isn't crafty, but one year I helped my parents set up an elaborate fairy-oriented scavenger-hunt for my little sister's birthday, based on a game she had where you had to find clues to advance the game's plot. She and her friends freaking loved it.

[perfectparanoia]

Wow! That was quick!

So many good ideas, I don't even know how to thank you guys.

Won't be doing lip gloss. My daughter is not allowed to wear it (yes, I am THAT parent). However, I seem to be getting the idea that beads are good. Jewelry or something to wear (maybe a jewelry box to decorate).

Those colouring posters sound good too. It will give them something to do that they can talk at the same time (as opposed to a movie).

[Omar Little]

You could could have them do dress up party and dress like their mommies. Take their pictures and print them out for them so they can take them home. Take them all to the Dollar store, give them each $5 and let them go on a shopping spree.

[cmkeller]

We've done quite a few of these. Basic idea is to get some packages of paint pens, stickers and glitter glue, and you can pretty much decorate anything:

T-Shirts (oversized, so they can be used as nightgowns)
Sun visors
Cups
Headbands

The important thing when throwing a girl party is to protect your eardrums. Those squeals can be very high-pitched. :)

[Seamack]

I regularly supervise my daughter and her pals make pizza. We mix and knead the dough from scratch, while it's prooving we make the sauce and prepare the toppings. The kids roll and shape the bases, apply the sauce and toppings. Throw it in the oven and then finally munch the lot down. Kids seem to really enjoy it.

[corkboard]

Pick up a few pumpkins and some paint, and have them decorate the pumpkins. It's seasonal, crafty, easy and cheap. Girly, not so much, but they'll have fun.

Have them tie-dye a plain white pillowcase. They won't be able to use it that night- it has to be washed a few times first- but it's fun and it will be their favorite pillowcase. My girls love theirs.

Get a bunch of different colored tissue paper and some green pipe cleaners and have them make bouquets of flowers.

[papergirl]

Have them tie-dye a plain white pillowcase. They won't be able to use it that night- it has to be washed a few times first- but it's fun and it will be their favorite pillowcase. My girls love theirs.


Tie dye parties are GREAT! I used to have them for the older kids sometimes--everyone brings (or you supply) white shirts, socks, whatever, and you can set up dye vats outside and let them have at it. No matter how many white things you supply, it never gets boring to dye!
I'd recommend those official tie dye dyes though--I've used RIT and it's not as fast and colors not as vivid. You can find the really good ones at the craft store.

[Waldelfe]

We loved to dress up and "sing" playback to our favorite songs. One of the parents filmed us and we watched our show later.

[robert_columbia]

What about reading one of the "girly" classics (not that I believe in gender division in literature anyway...) to them?

e.g.

(SFW, just books)

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/146/146-h/146-h.htm
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/45/45-h/45-h.htm
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/514/514-h/514-h.htm

[robert_columbia]

I regularly supervise my daughter and her pals make pizza. We mix and knead the dough from scratch, while it's prooving we make the sauce and prepare the toppings. The kids roll and shape the bases, apply the sauce and toppings. Throw it in the oven and then finally munch the lot down. Kids seem to really enjoy it.

Or, ice cream! I've made ice cream by hand and it's fun. You don't need one of those fancy ice cream makers, you can use a coffee can.

[Fearless Leader]

Water bracelets are a fun craft for young girls - heck, I've been tempted to make myself some!


http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/crafts-by-type/jewelry-accessories/jewelry-crafts/hydro-bracelets-661902/

[LC Strawhouse]

When I was a kid the neighbor girls had "tea parties" with fake crockery - that was pretty cute and they seemed to have a great time.

Plus, the adults can make political jokes...

[Dangerosa]

I had Girl Scouts that age. At eight, most of them were up to stringing largish beads, decorating boxes. BUT they also had an attention span of about fifteen minutes - so you are looking for a fifteen minute craft. Candles and soap were good. Their attention span for making pom poms lasted for weeks - they LOVED that. Getting those photo boxes (or paper mache boxes from the craft store) and stuff to decorate them and having them make their own treasure boxes is good. Having them decorate their own cupcakes can take fifteen minutes and provide ENDLESS entertainment.

What they really wanted to do at a sleepover though was watch girly movies (The Princess Diaries was a big hit at that age), have a dance party in the basement, and gossip about school. I'm just finishing a sleepover for my now twelve year old - we went out to the theatre to see a musical instead of watching movies, and then they gossiped, played board games, gossiped some more.

I found at that age picking a theme worked well - we did a Luau at about eight. So they strung flowers into leis, had pineapple juice with ham for dinner, and learned to "hula." Last year, when my daughter turned eleven, we had a mystery party - that worked really well with eleven year olds - but eight is probably a little young.

ETA: Plan ahead for the mess - we had great fun making paper at about nine or so - but MESS! Same with decorating cupcakes - great fun, but you'll be cleaning frosting off the ceiling.

[What i think]

Here is one i have used before For a 7 year old .
large t shirts knee length
fabric markers
paper bag large
put paper bags in shirts to keep other side dry
Have fun
or get printable iron on sheets
have your child or her friend choose a coloring page (you can find many on the net)
once printed iron on and cool they should be able to color them in (did this for Halloween pillow cases ones use sharpy makers but should work with fabric markes)
do not use any glitter or it will be all over the sheets (other moms or dad will not thank you for glitter)

[What i think]

Here is one i have used before For a 7 year old .
large t shirts knee length
fabric markers
paper bag large
put paper bags in shirts to keep other side dry
Have fun
or get printable iron on sheets
have your child or her friend choose a coloring page (you can find many on the net)
once printed iron on and cool they should be able to color them in (did this for Halloween pillow cases ones use sharpy makers but should work with fabric markes)
do not use any glitter or it will be all over the sheets (other moms or dad will not thank you for glitter)