Super Bowl Bingo

Pin It

As promised, here is my Super Bowl BINGO. Click here to download the PDF file. You could also use a football themed paper or plain cardstock.

I give each guest 1 sheet, which has 2 printed BINGO cards—double the cards, double the fun. You could also cut each sheet into half and give each player 1 card.

To play, participants watch the game and look for the items on their BINGO card. If there is a dispute about whether something “counts”, you may resolve the issue with either a majority-rules vote or designate someone as the BINGO referee before the game starts.

We offer multiple winning options. We play 4 types of BINGO simultaneously: traditional BINGO, all 4 corners on one card, two diagonals on the same card to form a big X, and covering every square on one card. The first person to accomplish any of the 4 types of BINGO wins that prize. Play continues until all 4 BINGO types have been won. We keep a large dry erase board next to the screen and circle each game as it is won.

My daughter serves as the BINGO master.  She keeps up with marking-off finished games and handing out prizes.  This gives her something fun to do, as she is not really interested in the game.  I give her a whistle to blow when a successful BINGO is called and an official BINGO Master hat to wear.  She is not responsible for settling disputes, as grown adults get very passionate about this game and she is still a little girl. 

Angry Bird parties 1.0 and 2.0!

We (DH and I) survived 2 weeks in a row of birthday parties.  We debated whether or not to do 2 parties, or one HUGE party.  We figure, this may be the last time we do the "invite-the-entire-class" party, so the thought of having over 40 kids (because overseas, regardless of instructions, everyone brings a sibling/cousin/friend) was VERY overwhelming.  So, we opted to throw 2 separate parties, two weeks in a row.  But, I can't really complain, because, they chose the same theme, so we just did a repeat!  Thanks to all the parents who stayed behind to help!  The result was 2 very successful parties and 2 VERY happy little boys!

(and apologies for the smudge in the pics!  A new camera has since been purchased!)

Angry printables were found here:  Angry Bird Poop, All other printables

Let us know if you have any questions...feel free to Pin away!

Decorations and favors:

See the printable links above...just fill with m&ms.  We used plain, peanut, and peanut butter filled ones!

Our favor bags...if I could have found them, I would have used the different colored ones.  How cute would that have been?  Trials of living in Africa!

The snacks/food:

By far the hit of the party...a great video tutorial can be found at The Sisters Cafe.  I didn't do the third layer because it calls for diet soda.  I don't like to think of myself as an "uber-mom" but the thought of serving diet soda to children for aesthetic purposes didn't jive (off my soap box).  I used juice and gatorade. 

 

I would recommend using a color printer for the signs....guess what died about 2 weeks before our parties?

        

The hit of the party!  The sling shot!

I keep getting asked, and the answer is YES!  I did hand paint all the balls!  The paint didn't last long, but the kids had fun, and that's all that matters.

   

Rules being explained...notice the "zone of safety" outlined by the firewood!

One of the balls decided to join the real birds

P.S. I've debated whether or not to put up photos for the cakes, for fear they will end up on Cake Wrecks, but here goes nothing...(go ahead and boost my ego...tell me they're great LOL)

And the cakes...YIKES: 

And of course, the parents had to have a go: 

Super Bowl Pool

Pin It

As promised . . . the Super Bowl Pool.

Print out the Super Bowl Pool grid. Determine roughly how many guests will be playing. The grid has 100 squares. Divide 100 by the number of players. This will determine how many squares each player may have on each grid (remember there are 4 grids). For example if you have 32 players, each player may have 3 squares. Ask each player to put their initials in the square(s) they choose.

Some squares will go unclaimed. You may choose to leave them blank or come up with a way to let players win additional squares (like drawing their name from that hat or having Fear Factor/Minute to Win It style competitions).

At the end of each quarter, match the last digit of each team's final score with the grid to decide the winner. For example, a score of Patriots 13, Giants 26, would mean finding the square where 3 on the vertical scale meets 6 on the horizontal. If Bill chose the space where these two numbers meet, he's the winner.

There is also a sheet for guessing the time the game will end and the combined final score.

Get Your Game On

Games make for a great Super Bowl party. They keep the big game fun and engaging for football novices. If someone doesn’t understand the rules, they are not going to enjoy the game. I like to give them something else to do. I also give away fun prizes—always a crowd pleaser, especially for the kids.

The first time I had a Super Bowl party, I hired a babysitter and set up a “kid zone” with video games, movies, toys, crafts, etc. I was surprised that they all ended up watching the game with the adults and my babysitter money was wasted. They desperately wanted to go home with a prize and were hyper-focused on winning.

Tongue Fumble:
This is the kids’ favorite game. They hide and lurk waiting for someone to fumble. Anyone who wants to play is given 10 poker chips as they arrive. We use small plastic cups to hold them—they were bought on clearance and say “Super Bowl XXXVII” Since no one ever takes the time to make the Roman numeral conversion, it has gone unnoticed for 8 years. (OK Dr. Thomson, the college professor noticed, but I don’t think he counts, he notices everything.).

A list of words is posted for everyone to see. These are words players are not allowed to say. If someone catches a player saying one of those words, they have to hand over one chip. At the end of the evening, the winner is the person with the most chips. House Rule: No combining chips. The words I use are: team, ball touchdown, quarterback, Super Bowl, and pass.

The large sign I made in 2003 did not survive the year in my attic. This year I printed out labels to put on the cups. I also made small signs. I am going to laminate them to use as placemats on the TV trays.

Instead of chips you could also use football player cards or pennies. This year I found these adorable silver football helmets in the craft aisle.


Stay tuned for future posts on Bingo, football trivia, and the game pool.

Back-to-School Party...

Here's an idea, why don't you schedule the party like a school day?  As soon as the kids arrive, you can split them into groups, and have them rotate throughout the party.  We suggest decorating in simple primary colors; red, blue, and yellow.  As the "students" arrive to your party, have them randomly pull a color from a basket.  This will be their homeroom color.  They then gather at their designated homeroom spot.  As the party continues, ring a bell between the following sessions... PE (games and activities), Art (arts and crafts), lunch time (refreshments), and recess (free play).

Here are some ideas for games and arts and crafts!

Games:

• paper airplane contest 
• twister
• Simon-Says
• Pencil Walk: (Just like the traditional Cake Walk game but with pencils as prizes instead)
• Teacher’s Bag:  (Get a paper lunch bag and put in various small items in it, like paper clip, eraser, chalk, gluestick, etc.  Let each person close their eyes and try to feel and guess what is in the bag)

Arts and Crafts:

• Decorate a Pencil Box: Buy some inexpensive plastic pencil boxes and use stickers, permanent markers, to decorate a pencil box. Favors like pencils, erasers, stickers, can be given at the end of the party together with the pencil box as the perfect Back To School favor.
• Make your own bookmarks
• finger painting
• oragami
• clay/play-doh

Suggestions for free play:

• Four square
• relay races
• water guns/balloons

 Stay tuned for decorating ideas and party menu!

It's almost that time of year...

...when the kids are hopped up on candy and are strolling the neighborhoods for more candy...HALLOWEEN!  It's now time to plan your Halloween party.  We will help you plan carefully so you don't turn into a monster. 


Here are some things to consider in the planning stages...

PARTY THEMES
Consider the ages of the kids--one child's thrilling haunted house is another's chilling nightmare. If you will be hosting a mix of ages, be sure to set up the scariest events out of sight of the main party. A mad scientist's lab, for example, can be set up in a spare room so that younger kids can pass on the pleasure of watching others touch "brains" (cold spaghetti).

ACTIVITIES
Plan more events than you think you need (and plan for bad weather, too). In addition to major games such as Zombie Tag and Slime Pit, prepare easy backups: bobbing for apples, painting glow-in-the-dark murals, or marching in a costume parade.

MENU
If your party is in lieu of trick-or-treating, you can be more liberal with the sweets, but you still want to get something in your guests' stomachs besides candy. pizza mummies, sandwiches and tomato soup--all easy and irresistible--are standouts.

DECORATIONS
Don't go overboard--mood lighting, creepy music and a few well-placed, homemade decorations (clothespin bats, spiders and webs) will amply set the scene. Pass on anything with a flame, and keep in mind that kids are clumsy in their costumes--anything fragile or sharp should be well out of the way.

Back to School Parties

BTo all of our readers, HELLO!  I am so sorry for the lack of posts, but I want to share with you why.  We all are swamped with summer camps, vacations, and now getting ready for school to start.  I have to share with you why there was such a huge hiatus...

My family just spent 10 days in the fabulous Egypt!  We had such a great time!  The history in Egypt is amazing.  To think that these structures were built over 4,000 years ago is so hard to wrap your head around.  While DH and I listened intently to the guide, ours boys drew in the sand and asked every 5 minutes "when do we get to ride the camels?"  I'm hoping one day soon that it will sink in where they were and what they actually got to witness, but don't worry...I'm not holding my breath LOL.  I'm sure it will always be the trip where they rode camels and saw real mummies!

Well, now that we are back to the normal grind of swimming pools, play dates, back-to-school shopping (Jo, did you get your penny paper?) and getting ready for school to start, I'm here to see how you are doing!

The end of July/beginning of August (depending on when your school starts) is a mixed blessing for most school children. The carefree days of summer are coming to end, but the thought of a new school year is exciting.

Make the end of summer vacation more fun for your child with a back-to-school celebration.

Why have a back-to-school party?

There are many reasons!  If your summer is anything like ours, our summer vacations overlap with our friends.  For example, during our 10 day trip to Egypt, our best friends left for their vacation.  Now we are back, and they are gone for another week.  Having a back-to-school party allows for all of us to get together and exchange vacation stories (i.e.  "Joey was spit on by a camel.  How was your time on the beach?").  It also helps the kids get in the mind set of school, while reconnecting with friends they may not have seen much over the summer.  In our case, we are switching schools this year.  This was a pure academic decision, so some of my boys' friends are still at the old school.  This way, they can also connect with friends that they won't see on the first day of school!

Today we will talk about invitation ideas:

Here are some creative ideas:

• Report card style: 
  Make a invitation that resembles an old report card. Use any previous school report cards as a reference or create your own design. Fill in school subject with party information, replacing the adjacent grades if necessary. These party invitation ideas should look like a report card with slight modifications when finished.
• Mini chalkboard. Get mini chalkboards and chalk as invitations.  On the edge of the board, write “Back To School Party” with a permanent marker.  Type up party details on a piece of paper and insert it in with the chalkboard.  With chalk, write “You’re Invited!” in the center of the board.
• Homework assignment style (your first assignment of the school year is to come to this party and have a great time)
• large red apple, yellow school bus, or #2 pencil cutouts
• buy inexpensive notebooks or note pads and write invitation on cover or front page
• tape or tie a fun pencil to invitation 

Stay tuned for more ideas!  Enjoy the rest of your summer and keep us updated on any great back-to-school sales you come across!

Games to play during your BBQ

Water Relay
This is especially fun on those hot summer days!

Items needed:
Bucket of water-1 per team
Large sponges-1per team
Empty 1 gallon plastic milk jug 1 per team

• Split players into two or more teams.
• Set the buckets of water on one side of the course with the sponges in the bucket. 
• Place the milk jug at the opposite end of the course.
• The players then squeezes the water into the jug and then runs back to pass the sponge to the next player. This continues until the first jug is full. 

The object is to be the first team to fill the milk jug with water using only the sponge. Players take turns soaking the sponge with water and then running to the milk jug.

Savvy Tip: Adding a little food coloring in the jug will help the racers see the water line.

Old Fashioned Sack Race
These are great fun. My sons actually had one of these during their field day this year, and was a huge hit with kids, parents and teachers.

Items needed:
Burlap sacks
Savvy Tip:  If you have a feed supply store near by, burlap sacks can be purchased inexpensively.
If all else fails, old pillow cases will work.

Each player steps into his/her sack with both feet.
Pull the sack high enough to hold the edges.

Savvy Tip:  Give your guests a heads up that there will be a sack race. Have the sacks out and ready and let them practice hopping.
Identify the start and finish lines.
Blow the whistle and go!

Three Legged Race

Items needed:
Old stockings

Savvy Tip:  We use old stockings because they are soft and have some give to them. Pair up into partners and stand side by side.

Tie one persons left leg to the other players right, or vise versa. Practice walking together.  Once you get the hang of walking try hopping or running.

Blow the whistle and go!

Class Room Party Ideas

Classroom Party Games for Children Ages 4 - 6:

• London Bridge – Pick two children to join hands at head-level, creating a “bridge” between them. Have the rest of the children walk in a circle that leads them under the “bridge” while everyone sings, “London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady. Take a key and lock her up, lock her up, lock her up, take a key and lock her up, my fair lady.” When they get to the “lock her up” part, the two children forming the “bridge” should bring their arms down and around whoever is passing under at that moment. Each person they capture sits out until there are just two people left; these last two people become the bridge for the next round.
• Favor Pass – Wrap an assortment of small school party favors (one for each child). Have the kids sit in a circle and pass the favors around while music plays. Every time the music is stopped and restarted, the rotation changes from clockwise to counterclockwise, or vice versa. After a few rounds, let each child open and keep the favor he or she is holding.
• Classroom Memory – Play a memory game where you put school-related items (e.g. pencil, calculator, ruler, eraser, chalk, etc.) on a desktop. Let the children look for 30 seconds, then take everything off the desk. See how many of the items they can remember, making a list on the blackboard as they call items out.
• Classroom Obstacle Course – Build an obstacle course using objects in the classroom as the obstacles. For instance, children can crawl under desks and chairs, step on a paper “stepping stone” path, jump over a tape-drawn line, crawl under a piece of string tied between two chairs or desks, or stop to draw a smiley face on the chalkboard. Use your imagination; the possibilities are endless!
• Musical Chairs – Play the traditional version where there’s one fewer chair than there are children during each round, or play the kiddy version. In this version, which works best for very young children, there is one chair for every child playing, but one of the chairs is decorated with colorful construction paper, streamers and/or balloons. Whichever child lands in this chair when the music stops will be the winner for that round. You can make sure that everyone wins a round by stopping the music when a child who hasn’t won yet is near the chair.
• Hot Potato – Just like musical chairs, this can be played competitively, where the last one in the game wins, or it can be played non-competitively, where the child holding the “potato” at the end of each round wins that round. You can play this game with music or with a blind-folded caller who yells “hold it!” randomly to end each round. And, of course, almost any object can be used as the “potato.”
• Teacher Says – Have your child’s teacher join in the fun for a few rounds of this “follow the leader” game. The children should do what their teacher says as long as she says the words, “Teacher says” first. If she gives a command like “Sit in your chairs” or “Clap your hands” without saying, “Teacher says” first, anyone who follows her orders is out of the game.

School Party Games for Children Ages 7 - 10:

• First to Laugh – Pick one child to tell jokes in front of the class. You can provide a list or let the child tell his or her own favorites. The first child to giggle is picked to be the next entertainer.
• School House Jeopardy – Come up with clues relating to school or subjects the kids have been studying, and write them on index cards. For instance, you could have a “School Supplies” category, a “Games You Play in Gym Class” category, and a “Vocabulary Words” category. Write values on the back of the index cards (i.e. $100, $200, and so on). Tape the index cards to the chalk board in columns with the values face up and the category names written above each column. Divide the kids into groups of 5 or 6, and assign team leaders. Let the birthday child’s group pick a category and value first. If they answer the clue correctly, they get a point and can pick a clue for the next group to try to answer. If they don’t know the answer, they can pass to the next group. You can either give a small prize to each of the members of the group with the most points at the end of the game or let the winning group select the next activity.
• Guess What – Write the names of objects from the classroom on blank labels or strips of white duct tape (1 for each child in the class). Stick one on each child’s back so no one can see the object they’ve been assigned. Have each child ask other students questions with yes or no answers to figure out the object written on his or her label. If desired, give the children small prizes when they guess their assigned objects.
• Telephone – Have the children sit in a circle on the floor. Whisper a silly phrase, like “You can bet that teacher’s pet must go to the vet,” into the ear of one of the children. That child then whispers the phrase into the ear of the child next to him or her, and so on. When the last person in the circle has heard the phrase, have him or her say it out loud, and then tell the children what the original phrase was. Everyone will get a laugh at how much the phrase changed from beginning to end. Play multiple rounds and let the children take turns making up their own silly phrases to pass around.
• Classroom Scavenger Hunt – Divide the class into two or three teams. Give each team a list of objects found around the classroom. Try to only assign objects that there are multiples of, like pencils, rulers, and certain books. The first team to gather all of the items on their list wins.

More Classroom Party Activities

• Look for silly jokes on the Internet, print them on strips of paper, and let the kids take turns drawing jokes and reading them in front of the class.
• Give the kids brainteasers & riddles to try on each other.
• Have a sing-along to some of the children’s favorite songs.
• Have the children make modern art out of odds and ends like buttons, scraps of cloth, chunks of Styrofoam, and cardboard boxes. Or, give every child a paper plate along with odds and ends, glue, and markers, and have them design their ultimate birthday cake.