floridagat
My mom is turning 60 this year and I'm throwing her a surprise party. Does anybody have any ideas for some kind of games or activities to do? Anything is appreciated!
Answer
Someone was going to do a surprise party for my 50th, but I found out & was glad it wasn't a surprise & could help in the planning, plan what to wear, & look forward to it. Surprise parties are dreadful. We got a free room at a local pizza & pasta place as long as we guaranteed 20 people. Invited about 75 to get 20. Someone made my favorite apple cake, & restaurant provided cake table similar to luggage rack. Did a 10-minute decorating job with construction paper numbers somebody had made for short party at work & the regular balloons not helium. Also, brought my crystal jar filled with Hershey's Kisses for dessert. Was fine. Invited whole families so parents wouldn't need to get sitters. (a few friends with late-in-life kids while in their 40's--maybe 6 or 7 kids)
I cut out comic strips from the newspaper & used white-out on some panels, glued them onto an 8 1/2 X 11 paper & mailed with the invitations for people to make up their own captions. Was things like Cathy trying on bras & Hagar & wife with a log, crashing a party, etc. That went well, but then had about 3 people judging the contest. That was stupid & too time-consuming. Should have just passed them around.
Prizes were cheap magnets from Big Lots & a package of incense, things I had around, etc. Should have just bought party favors from the party store for everyone. I wasn't used to giving parties.
Wanted to find words to well-known songs like She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain & Someone's in the Kitchen with Dinah & Beatles songs so there would be something for the kids to do, too. I wanted to photocopy the words. A friend vetoed that & said I should just ask kids what they like to sing. As it happened we didn't have time for the singing due to contest judging. Kids sat at their own table & colored pictures provided by restaurant. Should have done it my way since I think singalongs are fun for both kids & adults.
Regardless of that, it was the most wonderful night of my life. Was in wool aqua dress, which fits nicely. Should have had somebody taking pictures because it was so much fun. I gave little 1-minute speech thanking people for attending & saying I only wished I could have sat next to each one. Glad I had the presence of mind to do that. After cake & all, I went around the room & talked to each person so that everyone had my attention for awhile, although I did greet everyone, too, when each arrived.
One thing I started doing when helping with people's b-day cakes is to cut one piece for the honoree, & place a candle on it to be blown out instead of blowing all over the whole cake with all the germs. Also, there are plastic cakes with holes for candles that preschoolers' Sunday school classes use for birthdays when there won't be any cake. One of those would work, too, for the candle blowing. Another thing you can do is to let each person at the party come up to light a candle & make a wish for the honoree, using a candle snuffer afterward, while still letting the honoree blow out the one candle or six or whatever.
I've been at h.s. class reunions with that game of trivia about the time period, such as price of postage at the time of graduation. Worked well with a large group with each table of people working together. We've also had ones about our h.s. class (not for your party) & for names of places in town that may be gone now, such as the miniature golf course or the hamburger hangout.
The one game I saw on that link that wasn't good was the penalty for loosing balance. That's touchy for seniors, so think of a way to get around that. Sorry to be negative about that one thing because overall, I think the links people have given you were fantastic.
Another game is to make something like Bingo cards that has written info about people attending, like who went to Japan last summer or who has taken a train trip or had a certain car during h.s. or who owns an I-phone or who knows the nickname of the jazz musician (Satchmo) or plays the drums or some other trivia or hobby or personal info. Participants mingle with each other with a time limit to try to fill in each other's names as the answer for each rectangle & at least get a Bingo. Might take several sheets to get everyone in. Also, you'd need to email everyone to find out this personal trivia like hobby or trip or whatever. This is a get-acquainted game but would also work for this. Can give prizes like candy for highest number of right answers, whole sheet, or a Bingo.
more re: party favors...my mother arranged a family reunion at an all-you-can-eat buffet place with a party room. Besides an address list revised at the party & mailed out later, she also had cleared out her souvenir tote bags from her travels & a few knick-knacks. She arranged them on a long table for each person to take one or two.
Someone was going to do a surprise party for my 50th, but I found out & was glad it wasn't a surprise & could help in the planning, plan what to wear, & look forward to it. Surprise parties are dreadful. We got a free room at a local pizza & pasta place as long as we guaranteed 20 people. Invited about 75 to get 20. Someone made my favorite apple cake, & restaurant provided cake table similar to luggage rack. Did a 10-minute decorating job with construction paper numbers somebody had made for short party at work & the regular balloons not helium. Also, brought my crystal jar filled with Hershey's Kisses for dessert. Was fine. Invited whole families so parents wouldn't need to get sitters. (a few friends with late-in-life kids while in their 40's--maybe 6 or 7 kids)
I cut out comic strips from the newspaper & used white-out on some panels, glued them onto an 8 1/2 X 11 paper & mailed with the invitations for people to make up their own captions. Was things like Cathy trying on bras & Hagar & wife with a log, crashing a party, etc. That went well, but then had about 3 people judging the contest. That was stupid & too time-consuming. Should have just passed them around.
Prizes were cheap magnets from Big Lots & a package of incense, things I had around, etc. Should have just bought party favors from the party store for everyone. I wasn't used to giving parties.
Wanted to find words to well-known songs like She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain & Someone's in the Kitchen with Dinah & Beatles songs so there would be something for the kids to do, too. I wanted to photocopy the words. A friend vetoed that & said I should just ask kids what they like to sing. As it happened we didn't have time for the singing due to contest judging. Kids sat at their own table & colored pictures provided by restaurant. Should have done it my way since I think singalongs are fun for both kids & adults.
Regardless of that, it was the most wonderful night of my life. Was in wool aqua dress, which fits nicely. Should have had somebody taking pictures because it was so much fun. I gave little 1-minute speech thanking people for attending & saying I only wished I could have sat next to each one. Glad I had the presence of mind to do that. After cake & all, I went around the room & talked to each person so that everyone had my attention for awhile, although I did greet everyone, too, when each arrived.
One thing I started doing when helping with people's b-day cakes is to cut one piece for the honoree, & place a candle on it to be blown out instead of blowing all over the whole cake with all the germs. Also, there are plastic cakes with holes for candles that preschoolers' Sunday school classes use for birthdays when there won't be any cake. One of those would work, too, for the candle blowing. Another thing you can do is to let each person at the party come up to light a candle & make a wish for the honoree, using a candle snuffer afterward, while still letting the honoree blow out the one candle or six or whatever.
I've been at h.s. class reunions with that game of trivia about the time period, such as price of postage at the time of graduation. Worked well with a large group with each table of people working together. We've also had ones about our h.s. class (not for your party) & for names of places in town that may be gone now, such as the miniature golf course or the hamburger hangout.
The one game I saw on that link that wasn't good was the penalty for loosing balance. That's touchy for seniors, so think of a way to get around that. Sorry to be negative about that one thing because overall, I think the links people have given you were fantastic.
Another game is to make something like Bingo cards that has written info about people attending, like who went to Japan last summer or who has taken a train trip or had a certain car during h.s. or who owns an I-phone or who knows the nickname of the jazz musician (Satchmo) or plays the drums or some other trivia or hobby or personal info. Participants mingle with each other with a time limit to try to fill in each other's names as the answer for each rectangle & at least get a Bingo. Might take several sheets to get everyone in. Also, you'd need to email everyone to find out this personal trivia like hobby or trip or whatever. This is a get-acquainted game but would also work for this. Can give prizes like candy for highest number of right answers, whole sheet, or a Bingo.
more re: party favors...my mother arranged a family reunion at an all-you-can-eat buffet place with a party room. Besides an address list revised at the party & mailed out later, she also had cleared out her souvenir tote bags from her travels & a few knick-knacks. She arranged them on a long table for each person to take one or two.
Need some help wording an invitation for a surprise party?
Still TTC#
Ok, so we're planning a 60th surprise birthday party for our dad. I have started the invitation but always have a hard wording it correctly. The theme for his party is black and white and this is what I have so far:
Top says SHHH...
A fabulous party is planned
and youâre invited to show,
but donât tell the Birthday Boy,
Cause he doesnât know
Join us for a Surprise Party
For
Davidâs 60th Birthday!
November 13, 2010
Location name
Location address
Location city
Please arrive promptly at 6:45pm
Dinner 7:00-8:00 Dance 8:00-12am
Dress to Impress-Semi-Formal Attire
Colors: Black & White Requested
You may bring your own Bottle
Please RSVP by ?
Contact name
Contact # and email address
very bottom says "It's a surprise"
We'd like for there to be enough people there so when he walks in they can yell SURPRISE!
The timing is throwing me off. I have the facility from 6-12am and suggestions on have to write it on the invitation and if the party is on Nov 13, 2010, when should I send out invitations and what date should people give their RSVP? If you have any other suggestions let me know. I also want everyone to wear black and white in what ever order. Its looking a little cluttered on the invitation and would like to down size on the wording. Mind you, there is a border around the invitation and its letter size. I'd rather spend more on other things then the invitations so they aren't expensive looking. Thank a lot!
Answer
For the wording of what to wear I would write:
The Hosts kindly request black and white clothing only thank you.
For the wording of what to wear I would write:
The Hosts kindly request black and white clothing only thank you.
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