The company picnic -- activities for kids?
Categories: Money & Work, Fun & Activities, Places To Go, Toys & Games
Every year, the company I work for has a picnic for all the employees and their families. There's lots of barbeque, some company announcements, and so on. Last year we had a few games for the kids with some prizes and I was thinking we should do the same again this year.
As best I can figure, we'll have nine or ten kids under the age of five and another half dozen or so aged five to ten. Last year we had an egg-and-spoon race (run around carrying an egg on a spoon), a three-legged-race, and a fishing game. For the fishing game, we got some dowels, taped some string to the end, and attached magnets to the end of the string. We cut fishes out of construction paper, folding the paper in half and cutting so the fold was the end of the tail. That way, it could open like a fish-shaped book. We wrote numbers inside (for prizes) and put a paper clip on the nose to hold it closed (and for the magnet to pick up.) The kids -- of all ages -- really seemed to enjoy this.
These were all good, but I'm thinking we might want to do something different this year, especially some fun things for the littler kids to do. So, what games would you recommend for an outing like this? What toys would be fun for a group of kids and would keep them happy and occupied?
As best I can figure, we'll have nine or ten kids under the age of five and another half dozen or so aged five to ten. Last year we had an egg-and-spoon race (run around carrying an egg on a spoon), a three-legged-race, and a fishing game. For the fishing game, we got some dowels, taped some string to the end, and attached magnets to the end of the string. We cut fishes out of construction paper, folding the paper in half and cutting so the fold was the end of the tail. That way, it could open like a fish-shaped book. We wrote numbers inside (for prizes) and put a paper clip on the nose to hold it closed (and for the magnet to pick up.) The kids -- of all ages -- really seemed to enjoy this.
These were all good, but I'm thinking we might want to do something different this year, especially some fun things for the littler kids to do. So, what games would you recommend for an outing like this? What toys would be fun for a group of kids and would keep them happy and occupied?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Betsy 7-19-2006 @ 11:44AM
My neighborhood just had a block party. All of the kids enjoyed having a water balloon fight, playing in the sprinklers, splashing in a baby pool, and hitting a pinata. Sidewalk chalk is also always a big hit.
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rebecca 7-19-2006 @ 11:51AM
We went to a family reunion picnic and somebody had brought a bubble blowing machine. The 3-and-under crowd had a catching bubbles contest in which every-one was a winner. They took home the little size bubbles (like you get at weddings). It was a huge hit.
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hannahmiranda 7-19-2006 @ 12:08PM
Our company picnic does this each year for the kids: They make a big ring of haybales, line the inside of the circle with plastic, open up a few extra haybales to throw inside, and then throw LOTS of quarters in the hay. The 3-5 year olds get 5 minutes to search for quarters, then the 6-9 year olds get 4 minutes and then 10-12 year olds get three minuts. My daughter LOVES this (she is 5).
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Cathy 7-19-2006 @ 12:25PM
As a child, my favorite company picnic event was the watermelon eating contest.
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ann adams 7-19-2006 @ 12:39PM
Beanbag toss something like horseshoes without the danger of concussion? "Basketball" with a very low hoop and a small ball?
I bet the net has a lot of info too.
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Alyssa 7-19-2006 @ 12:51PM
Just look at all the birthday party games ideas on-line- I'm sure you'll find lots of ideas!
An arts and crafts table works for all ages- paper, crayons, markers, glue, stickers- or get cheap visors that kids could decorate- Target just had them in the $ section, then all you need is permanent markers or puffy paints.
Temporary tattoos are always a hit too.
Any kind of hunt works- coins, plastic eggs from Easter, toy bugs or dinosaurs.
Water balloon toss
Have fun!
I wish my husband's company would think of the kids when it has parties, instead of just having beer!
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ann adams 7-19-2006 @ 2:55PM
Face painting is always a big hit here. It's usually the longest line.
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wookie 7-19-2006 @ 4:18PM
http://www.scoutscan.com/beavers/beavgam1.html
This will do very well for the older kids.
In my experience, most kids under 5 don't have the attention span or cognitive ability to play a game with more than one rule/objective. And they're often pretty limited (by size and ability) to the more physical games like wheelbarrow races, potato-sack races, stuff like that. You *might* be able to get away with some kinds of relay races, but it would be challenging to find something most kids can participate in. Some kind of eating/drinking contests, like eating watermelon or icecream with no hands often works well.
Some kind of "treasure" hunt would be good, using little toys in plastic eggs. Set one color of eggs for the wee kids and a second color for the older kids.
Oh, and another good one is to put a (nice, thick) layer of beans or rice or dried corn in a wading pool and let the really little ones play in it like a sand-box. That is usually really popular with the little kids.
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Ginny 7-19-2006 @ 5:07PM
I am not sure if it's feasable at a picnic or not, but my kids (ages 4 and 5) LOVE to dance. I was worried about them being entertained at a wedding recently but once the music started, every kid in the joint was hoppin'. If there were an area to dance with some older kids playing the music and showing the little ones some moves, I bet it'd go off pretty well.
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