Games 6 & 7 Year-Old Boys Like

After having Ezra's 6th birthday party at home last year, we decided that unless it was absolutely pouring, we were going to have his party outdoors in the park again. Last year there was just too much physical energy trapped inside for the boys to even really enjoy the craft projects and games we had planned.

We were so lucky that the day of his party turned out to be one of those perfect Fall days - clear and brisk and sunny, with fallen leaves all over the ground. The party was great, and the boys (it turned out to be all boys) really loved these games we planned:

1. Chestnut Toss: We spend lots of time in the fall going to walks on various chestnut trees in our neighborhood and gathering those glossy brown treasures. Ezra thought it would be fun to have a chestnut game at his birthday party. So what we did was give each boy a brown paper bag (old school lunch bag) with his name written on it (a good pre-party project for Ezra to work on: write friends name on construction paper and decorate around it, staple it to bag) and then had them go over to the big sack of chestnuts and count out 8. We had them stand in a circle around a basket and toss one of their nuts in; after each child had a turn, we asked everyone to take a step back, so each round they got further and further away from the basket. They liked this so much that we made up variations (throw with the opposite hand than you've been throwing with, throw with your eyes closed etc.) and played it several times. We focused on seeing how many we (collectively) would have in the basket at the end of the game, rather than on who got their chestnut(s) in each time. Definitely a keeper for Fall birthdays.
2. Going to Grandma's House: This game was as much fun for the grown-ups to watch as it was for the kids to play. I packed two little vintage suitcases with various top layers of clothing (hats, gloves, scarves, sweaters) and the boys divided into two teams for a relay race of carrying the suitcase to the end point, opening it and putting on an item of clothing, snapping the suitcase back up and running back (with the suitcase knocking against their little leg) to the beginning to pass off the suitcase to the next eager friend. So fun. So funny.

I will be back again tomorrow with some more "notes from a fun birthday party"!

Comments

[Kinnari]

I love the Going to Grandma's House party game. Filing that away... Glad Ezra (and you!) enjoyed his party. Can't believe that "7" is on the horizon now.