nwmr- bday parties at parks...

groovygrl

My kids have a summer bday and I feel like we've been to parties at all the usual suspects this year w/ the kids in their class- monkey joe's, pottery painting, some recreation place, the local community center, karate place, gymboree...I asked my kids where they want their party & they have not really responded. I thought it would be really fun & easy to do it at a park near us where we could reserve a pavilion next to the bathrooms & close tot he playground & splash area... (I really don't want to do it at home b/c while we have a big backyard, we built our house last year & don't have a deck or patio or any outdoor space like that yet & I really don't want it in the house...)

SO my issue is- what about rain? (or too hot, but at least the splash area would help w/ that). I don't want to do a rain date... if we had a covered pavilion we would technically have a place to be sheltered but ppl would still have to get from car to pavilion, etc. 

Also what kinds of activities for 4 yr olds that are possible in this setting (given wind, outdoors, etc). I don't really need a ton- maybe decorating something or some kind of game/activity...

Thanks!

Mustardseed2007

If it's pouring then the back up would be your house I would think. I hear you on not wanting that. 

I like this idea for a party though. I second the pinata idea. Also getting little water guns from walmart or the dollar store would undoubtedly be a hit and would help with the heat. Also, bring a beach ball or one of those kickballs and they can play with those in the park. You can do an organized game of kick ball or soccer or they can just kick it around. 

My niece went to one party in the park where they had marsh mellow guns. They built then guns then shot marsh mellows at each other. It created a major mess in the park though.  

DaisyJanie

We just did a party at a park that sounds similar to yours - we rented a group of picnic tables under a big umbrella. We are in SC so summer days are pretty much all 90 degrees with a 30% chance of thunderstorms. So I was a little worried about rain, but I guess the rain plan was to move it to our house. Which would have been not ideal at all, there were 30 guests and our house is tiny, and we're about to move so we've started packing and there's boxes everywhere. Anyway, it ended up being a nice sunny day at the beginning of the party, and then a quick rainstorm sent everyone scurrying under the umbrella to eat cake and snacks, and then the rain cleared out and we got back to playing outside. It was a party of 2-year olds, so I didn't bring too many activities. We brought a couple of buckets for kids to use in the splash area, and set up ladder ball for some of the adults and older kids, some balls for the kids to throw and kick around. Everyone had a blast!