Rain, rain, go away!

July 28, 2006 5:51 AM

Do you have any fun (and able to be put together in one day) ideas for a 10 year old's birthday party that is being moved indoors due to the weather?

We had planned on having a bunch of kids over for pizza, a few rounds of mini-golf, and a trip to the local soft serve ice cream place. Given weather reports of moderate to severe thunderstorms tonight, we thought it best not to have the kids out with long metal poles in their hands. We have no rain date, so we are moving indoors.

We can still do the pizza, and we switched to a make your own sundae dessert. We need interesting activities for them to do though. Any ideas that we can make happen by tonight?

posted by genefinder to sports, hobbies, & recreation (16 comments total)

Scavenger hunt or pirate treasure hunt with map and clues

lots of play-doh

shrinky dinks

Dance Dance Revolution

pick up the game Hullaballo by Cranium

posted by mikepop at 5:57 AM on July 28, 2006

Call your local bowling alley and see what you can work out.
posted by bim at 6:05 AM on July 28, 2006

I thought the story behind this song was a really good idea for a child's birthday party.
posted by ND¢ at 6:08 AM on July 28, 2006

How about a maze/castle/clubhouse/magic pony stable built entirely inside your house out of cardboard? All you need is a utility knife, a hot glue gun, and a large pile of cardboard (look for recycling centers). Unlike most inside activities, the kids can color on it/destroy it also.
posted by peeedro at 6:17 AM on July 28, 2006

Would Paper Toys be appropriate? All it takes is a color printer some glue and some imagination.

For kids of all ages.
posted by willmize at 6:21 AM on July 28, 2006

Honestly, you're talking about 10 year olds here. Most of the fun gets made by them. My memories of the best birthday parties around that age were the ones where somebody ended up burping or laughing soda out his nose.

Play a few games (Simon Says, Buzz), take our a pinata or pin the tail on the donkey, or take out a book of Mad Libs and be prepared for them to fill in 'fart' for most of the nouns.

By the way, well done Mad Libs will lead to the guffaw-induced nasal projection of carbonated beverages.
posted by plinth at 6:24 AM on July 28, 2006

My 10 year old wanted a Texas Hold 'Em party. We made it father/son. Great time had by all.

So, perhaps some sort of card game or board game tourney.

Or, depending on your house, you could still do some sort of mini golf on your carpeted hallway. Make a few moveable obstacles.

But, if you are talking 10 year old boys, do not have the party in your house. They will trash it as sure as the day is long. Take them bowling as Bim said or to another establishement's place such as an indoor batting cage.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 6:35 AM on July 28, 2006

Laser tag?
posted by saucy at 6:40 AM on July 28, 2006

When I was a kid (with a birthday in January, eclipsing most outdoor options), my parents used to amuse the guests by making goodie bags and tying maybe 150-200 feet of twine to each bag, then using said twine to create a "spider web", running said twine back and forth and around furniture and other already-hung twine. This works great in a room with lots of natural obstacles and things to run string around. I would imagine the time required for setup might be a little high, but man, did I ever love those spider webs.

*Disclaimer: you might want to remove anything fragile perched on surfaces that could easily be knocked down, since the last spider web in which i was involved BECAME the terminal one after a sugar-high 9-year-old took out a lamp of some value.
posted by Mayor West at 6:41 AM on July 28, 2006

Have them make the pizza themselves. More suggestions in this thread about a party for 11-year-old girls.
posted by mediareport at 7:11 AM on July 28, 2006

What about picking up a couple of packs of white t-shirts and some fabric markers, puffy paints, glitter glue, etc. and having the kids create their own cool fashion tees?
posted by sarahmelah at 7:23 AM on July 28, 2006

If they want to do something out of the house, definitely Laser Tag if you can get the place reserved. Oh man it's fun.
posted by radioamy at 9:19 AM on July 28, 2006

my parents used to amuse the guests by making goodie bags and tying maybe 150-200 feet of twine to each bag, then using said twine to create a "spider web"

Hey, my Mom did this, too! It was tons of fun. Once in high school a buddy of mine who had been at my 'spider web' birthday party years earlier brought it up out of the blue. Apparently it made such an impression on him that he was still thinking about it almost a decade later.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 11:44 AM on July 28, 2006

decorate your own ____ party. Cookies, purses, shoes...
posted by clairezulkey at 12:54 PM on July 28, 2006

We used to do "hide the key" games when stuck indoors around that age.

Use an old-fashioned key if you have one, the smaller the better. One kid goes outside the room and waits. The kids inside decide where to hide the key, with one person picked first to have the final say on where to hide it. The one kid comes inside and starts looking for the key, while the kids who know where it is yell directions that only consists of variations on the "hot" and "cold" variety.

This sounds boring when writing it up, but the "team" aspect of figuring out where to hide the key, the exitement of knowing where the key is while someone else looks for it, plus having to come up with variants on hot/cold (you're so cold you've got penguins following you around!) can make this a fun game.

Depends on how many kids you have, though, less than 10 is probably best, or it can get really rowdy.
posted by gemmy at 1:38 PM on July 28, 2006

Are these kids boys, girls, or both?
posted by chippie at 2:02 PM on July 28, 2006