Elementary-aged Kid Birthday Parties

Wow, are there tons of possibilities for this age.

Hands on style are lots of fun. I remember my kids doing:
- Craft parties – making the craft is the main activity and taking the finished craft home can be instead of a goody bag.
- Build your own pizza parties – provide the pizza dough, sauce, cheeses and toppings and let them at it.
- Scavenger Hunts – in your back yard, a local park, or you can even hide items in your house.
- Fashion Show – provide lots of different dress-up clothes (check your closets for those out of style clothes you hung on to, visit garage sales and thrift shops for fun items), use a digital camera to take pictures of the models and the printed pictures can be take home gifts.
- Charades – have a basket of starter ideas and be prepared to explain this to children who have never played. Camera shots of the skits can be fun take home items.

Outside the house parties:
- Sports – swimming at a local pool (I found the high school pool had times you could schedule a birthday swim at a reasonable price), roller skating, ice skating, laser tag, bowling, etc.
- Movie – matinee prices or a discount theater to save you money, tell the kids upfront what you’ll pay for as far as treats (can do movie gift certificates) – just make sure you double-check movie times and, of course, pick an age appropriate movie. (I’ve heard horror stories of 8 year olds being taken to R movies!) Here are some fun invites for this theme.
- Video game parlor – Give tokens to the kids and tell them when they’re gone, they’re gone.
- Museums – check the museums in your area to see if they offer children’s birthday parties.
- What’s coming to town? Circus, carnival, dog show, air show, a fair? These can get expensive, so you may want to limit the attendance list to 2-3 friends.

More Ideas from the Internet
Buggy Birthday Party

Birthday Party Games Lady

Parties for School-Age Children

Boardman's Birthday Party Ideas

I know I’ve mentioned this one before, but it just is too good of a resource to not list again.
Birthday Party Ideas

Have a great time!