Sandys Flowers Washington

There are many different games for children's parties but it can be very hard to think of them when you are under pressure, so keep a note of these ones and you should never be caught on the hop.Some are for the very young child and others for the older child.

Matchbox game Give each child an empty matchbox and send them off for ten minutes either outside if it is feasible or inside if not. The idea is for each child to find and fit as many things as possible inside the matchbox with a small prize for the winner. Each object must be different or you may find that someone just puts 50 paper clips into their box and is finished in 30 seconds.

You may want to leave a few tiny objects lying around in obvious places for the less imaginative. Dried peas, buttons, marbles, chocolate beans, raisins, dead matches, paper clips, hair grips, curtain hooks, pencil shavings, lentils, tiny stones, coins, earrings (not too precious ones) drawing pins, staples, breadcrumbs, bits of paper, screws, snippets of ribbon, a water balloon, a thimble, tiny shells, seeds, small leaves, an acorn, nuts, flower heads, grass, macaroni, rubber bands, nails, beads and whatever else you can think of.

Chinese laundry

Gather together 10 or more squares of muslin or fine cloth and into each square put something that smells quite obvious, lavender, tea, coffee, curry powder, cinnamon, peppermints, pine needles, disinfectant on a wad of cotton, rose petals, perfume on a wad of cotton, oil paint, herbs, rosemary, mint, thyme, sage, bleach on a wad of cotton, vanilla, dried grass, smelling salts, charred wood.

Gather the squares of cloth to form little bundles and hang them individually along a length of washing line. (put a number on each of the bundles) Ask the children to smell each one and to write down the answers when they think they have identified them. A small prize may be given to the person who identifies the most correctly.

Pin the tail on the Donkey, nose on the pumpkin, nose on the snowman, and broom on the witch

This traditional game is still played in many houses on various occasions to shrieks of laughter and merriment, when the tail goes on the head of the donkey or the nose of the pumpkin ends up in completely the wrong place. All you need is a large drawing of a donkey, snowman, pumpkin, witch or anything else you may think will work, a detachable nose, broom or tail and a blindfold. Blindfold the child or adult and turn them around three times then hope they pin the object somewhere near the right place. A small prize may be given to the winner.

Spinning the tin plate

All the players sit in a large circle on the floor and each person is given a number. Number one spins the tin plate in the middle of the circle and calls out a number the person with that number has to get to the plate to catch it before it stops spinning. If the plate is not caught in time and it falls on its top surface the player pays a forfeit. If it falls on the underside he has to pay two forfeits. The forfeits might be shoes, socks, watch, tissues, sweater, belt etc. This player then sets the plate spinning again and calls a number and the game proceeds onwards. You may prefer to play that when a player fails to reach the plate in time he has one chance then he is out next time.

I enjoy Cooking, Scrabble, chess and bridge and have a keen interest in crafts and all the Arts.