Pokemon Party -7yr- Guess the Pokemon

We threw a birthday party for our (now) 7 year old son.  We ended up having 15 kids ranging from 5-10. I used some ideas off of this site, and added a few twists of my own.

We started out with greeting each one and asking them if their moms would mind if they had a temporary tattoo.  As they stood picking out a selection of Pokemon tattoos that I purchased in an activity book, (already cut) I had the other new arrivals 'study' the Pokemon poster that I had got for my son for his birthday.  (I would recommend that with this size group that you have AT LEAST 1-2 other people to help with the tattooing, ok, for the WHOLE birthday party.  I did and I am very glad I did!) As the party rolled into motion, I began asking each child one on one if they knew the Pokemon names very well. 

Some did, some didn't, so I ended up only having 6 out of 15 playing the "guess the Pokemon" game. (I had some 1x3" white labels that I had stuck stickers on previous the party.)  The others hung around trying to not be too bored with the whole thing, so I started having each one of them hold a purchased plastic drink container that I had counted and filled with M&M's, and told them that they needed to guess how many there were.  (With boys, or kids at that matter, you HAVE to keep them entertained..  It could become jittery!)

After everyone had finished either guessing Pokemon or M&M's, we found the winners of both.  I wrote down names and the games that they won so as they could collect their prizes with their "goodie bags" as they were leaving.  I had purchased some yellow and red balloons and filled the red ones with Pokemon pogs and air (this was an adventure) and had each of the kids take a balloon.  This was a hit, but a very noisy one.  Can you imagine 15 kids discovering that these balloons have a noise maker in them?  Oh, let them make some noise for a minute…relieve some kid energy! 

After getting them to quiet down, I got up on a chair (for pictures) and told them that whoever had "Jiggly Puff" would win and that they had to pop their balloons.  (Yes, they liked this one!) I then went on to the group treasure hunt. Not recommended with this many crazed male children!  Take the time to make out 2-3 different hunts to go on at the same time, having each group with an adult.  (The smaller children and girls  were not amused in this older boy stampede.)

It was a good idea, just needs to be controlled better. Then to settle them down, I had them sit in a circle,  and chew one piece of bubble gum.  We started with the first child in the circle (that had had his gum for the longest time) and had him blow a bubble.  My husband stood by with his handy measure tape and I started with a number and name, and only recorded ones larger than that one.  

We then did the cake and ice cream, then as they finished and others were still eating, I allowed them to jump on the trampoline, one at a time. The party continued with "musical presents" where each child picked their present (one at a time and in turn) and handed it to my son.  My hubby stood and turned on some music and randomly stopped it as the children got to "handle the merchandise."  The ending child would hand my son this gift.  They seemed to like this also. Parents appeared at this point and the party was a success! (I think!)  :)