You have lots of great suggestions but I'll add one more. Target sells large wooden letters and you could have pick out initials for each of the girls and let them paint them. My daughter got it as a gift for her bday along with purple and teal paint and she loves doing it. The bonus is that this can be your bday favor. Only thing is that you should paint the letters with primer in advance to make them easier to paint.

I second the twister idea for a game. You could also do freeze dance as an activity- that entertains all my kids.

Anonymous wrote:This is OP, WOW thank you for the great ideas!!! Does anyone know if a fun game to play with the girls?

DD and her friends can play Twister for HOURS!!

Decorate cupcakes and/or cookies.


Use the round bottoms of flower pots (that catch the water), fill with dirt. Have the girls decorate small bird houses from Michaels ($1/each) for a fairy house. Then decorate wiht moss, rocks, maybe pick out a small fairy statue. Instant fairy garden.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Making spa products and flip flops--get old navy flip flops and lots of fabric strips and bows they can tie around the straps.

Also, get cute clear containers and fancy labels so they can decorate their own spa product jars. Buy unscented lotion from whole foods and little dropper bottles of essential or perfume oils. Also look up sugar scrub recipes. You can make basic scrubs using sugar, etc. and have them add essential oils to them.

Good ideas!

Poster who suggested the spa products and flip flops. Look up recipes for lip balms too, and making bath bombs (really fun, just do it early enough so they have time to dry).

You could also carry out the spa theme with "fancy" sodas/spa drinks (ginger ale or sparkling cider with fruit in it), little tea sandwiches, etc.

This is OP, WOW thank you for the great ideas!!! Does anyone know if a fun game to play with the girls?

What if you called it a spa party and got fun nail polishes and lip glosses?

Anonymous wrote:Making spa products and flip flops--get old navy flip flops and lots of fabric strips and bows they can tie around the straps.

Also, get cute clear containers and fancy labels so they can decorate their own spa product jars. Buy unscented lotion from whole foods and little dropper bottles of essential or perfume oils. Also look up sugar scrub recipes. You can make basic scrubs using sugar, etc. and have them add essential oils to them.

Good ideas!

Anonymous wrote:There are tons of great ideas on this blog:

http://www.whatdowedoallday.com/indoor-activities-for-kids

Many are super easy. Meaning, you can set them up with supplies and let them do everything themselves.

Just saw this Zentangle on their blog. DD loves making them, especially collectively. Everyone starts with a page and then passes or trades them with someone else every X minutes. It's fun to see everyone's different styles as you go.

http://craftwhack.com/zentangle/

My dd had a Sew Cool machine, so each girl got to sew a pillow. We also had a ton of balloons that we blew up, and they ended up doing volleyball with those. Finally, they watched a movie for a little while and had a pillow fight.

Making spa products and flip flops--get old navy flip flops and lots of fabric strips and bows they can tie around the straps.

Also, get cute clear containers and fancy labels so they can decorate their own spa product jars. Buy unscented lotion from whole foods and little dropper bottles of essential or perfume oils. Also look up sugar scrub recipes. You can make basic scrubs using sugar, etc. and have them add essential oils to them.

Shrinky dinks!

What does your DD like? Sewing? Jewelry? Drawing/painting? You could:

Tie dye - get a lot from Michaels and some white cotton t-shirts or pillow cases.

Beaded jewelry - get a selection of beads and stretchy cord for bracelets and/or string and clasps for necklaces, even better, get some beads with letters on them so they can spell things out. Or get some Fimo (polymer oven bake clay) in a variety of colours, along with some tools and have them make their own beads.

Sewing - get some coloured felt, some stuffing and embroidery thread and have them make little stuffed animals. You can pre cut the pieces or provide them with templates. I made these with kindergarten and 1st grade students so 8-9 yo should be able to do them too: http://handmadera.blogspot.com/2012/04/felt-owl-templates.html?m=1

Colouring - get them each one of those adult colouring books and provide nice coloured pencils, water colour pencils, fine tips markers, etc. and they can have a colouring party.

Stamping - get some canvas totes, fabric paint, paper plates and a selection of objects (fruit/veggies cut in half, empty thread spool, leaves, twigs, etc.) and have them decorate the totes by stamping patterns into them. Like this:http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2012/08/fruit-veggie-stamping.html

There are tons of great ideas on this blog:

http://www.whatdowedoallday.com/indoor-activities-for-kids

Many are super easy. Meaning, you can set them up with supplies and let them do everything themselves.

Baking and cookie decorating could be the activity.

Look on Amazon for American Girl craft kits.

My husband and I have always had venue parties for our kids (bouncy place, cooking class, bowling, pottery, etc). This year I lost my job and until I find another one we don't want to spend that much money on DD's party. She has chosen 4 close friends and they are coming over. Sort of like a play date/birthday party I guess. I would like to one or two structured activities like a game and a craft or two crafts for the girls to do. I went to Michael's and left with nothing, I'm just not a creative or crafty person and have not idea what to buy. I would preferably like to have something pre-cut so that I can just hand the kit out and they can do it with a little guidance. Can anyone offer suggestions? Normally my daughter just plays with her friends when they come over, but I want to do a few things extra. We are ordering food and will have a table full of goodies and cupcakes. I welcome any suggestions, thank you in advance!!!