Our part of the party takes between 60-80 minutes. Once you add the time for arrival, food, cake, and gifts you may already be pushing 2+ hours which is plenty of time for younger kids 5-7. Make sure the first person for games is the birthday child. It is their special day. However, here are some extra activities and suggestions for you to consider:

Use shoestring licorice to create necklaces—you’ll need at least two per child. Have dishes of snacks on a table, and provide each child with a small container to gather up their choice of these snacks to lace on to their necklace. Suggestions include Froot Loops? type Cereal, Cheerios? type cereal, Honeycomb? shaped cereal, shaped pretzels, fussy peach candies, Life Savers &—anything edible with a hole in it large enough to thread on is fun. Do this activity near the start of the party, and the kids will have something to snack on. Be aware of any allergies that your guests may have.

Kids can make their own volcanoes. You’ll need a small chunk of play doh on a plastic plate, with a small cup in the middle (film canisters are free if you ask your local photo finishing outlet). Then add [in order] 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 drop red food color, 2 drops dish soap, 2 tablespoons water. Finally, pass around a squirt-top water bottle, filled with vinegar. Watch the volcanoes erupt!!!

If you would like to make a large volcano, use a large roasting pan, filled three-quarters full of wet sand. You’ll need an empty frozen orange juice container. Shape the wet sand into a volcano-like mountain, and make a hole in the centre to insert the empty can, open side up. Do not get the sand in the can, but bring it up on the sides to hide the can. Put ¼ cup of baking soda in the can. Be sure to cover the working surface/table where you place the roasting pan with newspaper and protective plastic to catch any wayward lava that may overflow from the pan. To start the eruption, have the birthday child pour a little “Magic Lava Solution*” into the concealed orange juice container. Watch the fun. Allow each guest to pour a little “Magic Lava Solution” to make the volcano erupt.

* Magic Lava Solution: Mix the following: 1 cup water, ¾ cup vinegar, ½ cup dishwashing liquid, and 10 drops of red food colouring. Pour in a juice pitcher or watering can so that the children can easily pour from it.

Dino variation of “Pin the Tail on the Donkey”:
Try "Feed the Dinosaur" – Find a picture of a large dinosaur head—tape it to a box, and cut a hole out near its mouth. Blindfold the kids, and have them try to feed the dinosaur using a small object…. plastic food from a children’s set is fun!

A Dinosaur Nest
Create a dinosaur nest area, where each child can "hatch" a dino egg (an inflated balloon with a small dinosaur figure pushed in before inflating), by sitting on it, keeping the baby dino. This is often a kid favourite

MOTORWORKS PARTY

Hotwheel® Hunt:
You can have an Easter egg style hunt with Hotwheels? hid around the house (or back yard). After the hunt, you could have a track ready to see whose Hotwheels® is the fastest. If you do not have any Hotwheels®, chances are one of the kids in your neighbourhood has loads of them.

Racing Relay Races:
Decorate the area with some black and white balloons and run some fun relay races with prizes available for everyone.

Bean Bag Toss:
Toss a beanbag through an old tire. Consider lollipops as a treat to everyone for participating. Alternatively, use ping pong balls and have the children toss them into a group of buckets. Hide a prize inside each bucket ahead of time. Whichever bucket the ball lands inside, the child wins that prize. You may have to give the kids several tries each.

Mystery Jar/Bottle:
Have a jar filled with nuts and bolts. Ask the kids to guess the number in the jar. The closest guess is the winner—depending on the age of the children, perhaps a small, inexpensive ratchet set could be the prize.

Pit Crew Memory Game:
Prior to the party, find a tray, and arrange 10-20 theme appropriate items…e.g. screw driver, bolt, wheel, Hotwheels® car, piece of track, hammer. Cover the tray, so that the kids don’t see the items. Have the kids sit in a circle, and provide each with a piece of paper. Let the kids know that you are placing a tray in the centre of the circle, and that they’ll have 1 minute to memorize the items. Then remove the tray, and have them list the items. The child with the most correct items, wins a prize…. maybe the Hotwheels® ca