Help with boys 7th Birthday party

VRose

Hi

Our son is 7 in the middle of March. :bdaycake:We have a budget of about £50, based on what I can sell on ebay, as that is how I have decided to do it this year.:money:

He wants a football party, and there will be 15 boys in total.:undecided

We have park near us, so we can go to park for football and come back for hotdogs. I was thinking of getting them to design their own mugs, as a cheap gift to take away with them, instead of a party bag, and I already have the special pens.

My issue is that if it is raining, our house isn't big enough to do games with 15 boys. We could hire a hall that we could do indoor football (with a foam ball) that would cost £50. This would mean I would have to find more money. I could do this, but am trying to think of alternatives. :think:

Any ideas gratefully recieved?

TrippleTrouble

Hi

I have a very similar dilemma with my son, he'll be 8 next month :bdaycake:.

Have you thought of looking around for Scout hut/hall type venues. We will be using a Beavers hut at a donation of £15. Our local hut isn't exactly 'the Ritz', but with a few decorations up, the kids won't even notice!

I love your idea of decorating a mug. I may use that myself!

Good luck!!!

zanuda

I've seen really big tents in the park - apparently it's possible to hire staff like this. Maybe it's cheaper then the hall?!?

By the way, you could do your own pinata in the shape of football, you could use it either indoors or outdoors.

VRose

Mmm the scout hut could be an option. Its a local hall that has a field big enough to play football in.

Pinata is a good idea too.

I was thinking of doing beat the goalie with DH in goal. Dribble practice and other football 'games'. Then a short match, as DS would love that.

We did a army skill party for our ES 8th birthday that was in the woods, and it was a huge hit. It made me think that if the kids are dressed appropriately they would prefer to be outside if possible. So was thinking of just going with the football theme.

My experience has been there are things to put effort into in parties that are well worth it and things that matter less. Like food; we did a 'fruit course' between savoury and sweet that was a hit and dead easy. But I have spent a lot of effort of getting 'good' food, and now realise that it is a party and the kids and parent expect junk, which is cheaper and less effort.

What are your party does and don'ts?

DaisyMoo

Do you know anyone with a table football game? If it's raining you could have an indoor footie tournament. The best MSE way is if you know someone who can loan you the table, or there is this on at argos:http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3904464.htm
I bought a wooden (quite good quality) one at my local market for £5 - so I'm sure you could get one cheaper than the one in argos.

Or maybe even a blow football tournament - a few straws and a ball and plenty of enthusiasm. You could have medals for the winning team, and medals for the best goal - best pass etc ( so no-one is left out!)



Sorry - just re-read your post re: space for 15 boys! - if you have a tent, you could have a practice area outside for the team who is not playing at that time??!

Hope it helps & good luck!

preeti22

If it is possible , then i will suggest you to choose any indoor party theme if rain is an issue.otherwise indoor football game can be option as suggested by DaisyMoo

VRose

Thanks for the suggestions.

We are opting for a hall hire as we found one for £12per hr that is big enough for football and has an outside space if we wanted to use it.

There is a local sports centre that hires out but that would be £45 on a hard surface, so we thought the hall was a better option.

I am looking at activities that fit in with football theme, as 1hr+ is way too much time for a game of football. We do have a small table football and the finger football game, so I could set those up for as the kids come in.

I also love the idea of blow football.

I don't want to do party bags for this age, so instead plan to have an activity that they can make something to take home.

I am now in the process of looking for water bottles for them to personalise and take home and there is a ebay item which is £25 for 25, which is good value for money and they are the perfect kind.

I was thinking of alternative take home options and thought about grass heads in a can decorated with football kit so it likes like a footballer grass head.
As I have most of the components the cost is minimal for this.

The invites are being put together tonight to go to school tomorrow, so its coming together.

Thanks again for your ideas.

VRose

In our local shop today I found the premiership sticker books that they give out for free with 6 stickers inside. I asked how many I could take and they said I could take as many as I wanted, so I took a couple to check with DS if they would make good prizes. He was so excited by it. So it looks like its a hit.
I've also been on ebay and got paper bags for them to personalise, bag kit, paper cups and plates, medals. Total spend so far £11 for 24 kids.

There will be a few more outlays, but so far not so bad.

We are starting with; table activities when they come in, then team games, food and finishing with a game of football.

l0ubbl0u

I done a football party last year for my son. Hubbie is a coach, which was handy. The children were having a great time and spent over an hour on the pitch I had to call them in! They done penalties, a tag game and no doubt something else before a 15 or 10 min each way match.
I had a few games on stand by which we did do. One was spot the ball, found in a charity shop. I covered up the names of footballers on match attax cards, left them in the teams from the match and they had to guess who it was. Also guess who plays here. I also got a cheap ball that the boys all signed.
I know it's too late now but I started last year asking what roll the child wanted on the invite and done a lunch bag in white paper bags from amazon. Ds presonalised each bag. It meant I had much less waste and less to carry. I'm doing the same again this year for his Archery party.
I love your party gift ideas. I have always done books but I didn't want to do them this year.

VRose

I'm sorry I didn't see your reply before the party, you had some great idea's.

Though I am happy to report football was a hit, as we my DH who did a great job of playing coach.

When the boys came in they were signed in and their name was written on a paper cup and they were given a coloured sash (ripped up old t'shirt) according to their team.
The cups were left on the table at the side and topped up with water, which worked well. I also put some carrot and cucumber sticks on the table for them to grab if they were hungry.
After warm up activities they did a tournament, which they all thought was very exciting. There were 3 teams and the team that weren't playing come into the other room where we did various crafts with them.
We did; boot clips, bookmarks, decorating their own party bags, badge making, and the grass head men.
They took a break for food. Which was pizza (veg and wheat free option) and hotdogs, with tortilla chips. Then we put out melon and stawberries. Then served 3 different types of cupcakes for dessert.
Then they did the final. While that was on I filled up the bags with the football tatoo's and certificates.
We did a awards, where we awarded the runner up teams with their party bags, and medals. The winning team got a sticker book each, as did out man of the match.
They left and there was only 15m to clear away. Most of that time was fielding off footballs that our kids were throwing at us!
This was by far the least effort party with no problems and lots of very happy children.
It was worth going for the hall, it was freezing and raining all day!
Total spend; hall £36, food £30, extras £20, so without hall it was within the budget

zanuda

It was nice to read about your party. Because mostly it's Q&A and you never know what the kids really liked.