The White Elephant Gift Exchange is a favorite game to play during the holiday season.  The White Elephant game is called many different names depending on what part of the country you are from … it is also known as Yankee Swap, Dirty Santa or Santa Exchange.

The White Elephant Gift Exchange has been added to the website along with complete rules, directions and ideas for variations.  See it here at http://www.birthdaypartyideas4kids.com/white-elephant-party-ideas.htm

The basic game rules are that everyone brings a wrapped unwanted or re-gifted item to the party.   The players take turns and gifts are chosen and swapped and exchanged several times.  There are many different rules that people play by and we have tried to cover them all at the website.

Do you use any different type of rules then what we have listed on the website?  Send us a comment or email and we will include them in the variations.

For more fun holiday party fun see our Winter Birthday Party Ideas and the Christmas Party Games pages.

Winter is a great time to celebrate a birthday … especially with these great Winter theme birthday party ideas from Birthday Party Ideas 4 Kids.   You’ll find fun birthday party themes, party games, activities and much more!

A few of the fun ideas we have listed are:

Charity Birthday Party Theme
Polar Bear Party Theme
Penguin Party Theme
Snowflake Party Theme
Gingerbread Man Party Theme …. and many more!

We also have a page full of fun holiday and winter themed party games.

We have a Christmas Scavenger Hunt and a New Years Scavenger Hunt complete with free item lists to print out.  If you can’t get out in the cold we’ve also included 8 different Mall Scavenger Hunts to choose from.  Meet at your local mall, play the scavenger hunt and then have lunch or dinner in the food court while you go over what the teams were able to find.  All of them have free item lists to print out.  Our favorite hunt called Freebie Mall Shopping Spree has over 40 things that players can collect in the mall … and they are all FREE!  Mall Scavenger Hunts  

All the great birthday party ideas are located at www.birthdaypartyideas4kids.com !

We are always looking for new ideas to add to the website.  What are you planning for your winter birthday?

The best part about a Christmas party is bringing everyone at the party together for some fun games.   We’ve listed our favorite Christmas and Holiday themed games that kids love to play at parties on website.  Choose your favorites or print out the whole list for your holiday party.

You will find directions and instructions to these fun party games:

North Pole Freeze Dance
Snowball Hot Potato
Snow Share
Snow Wrap Game
Penguin Relay
Ice Fishing
Iceburg Scurry
Snowball Treasure Hunt
Snowball Stomp
Snowball Chop relay
Winter Sweep Up

And along with these fun games there are fun icebreakers and party activities like a Christmas Themed Scavenger Hunt list,  Mall Scavenger Hunts and a New Years Scavenger Hunt.

You’ll find everything you need for your Christmas party and also Winter Birthday Party Ideas on the Birthday Party Ideas 4 Kids website.

Gingerbread houses are fun for kids to build around the holidays.  Use this simple recipe to make icing to hold your gingerbread house together and to attach pieces of candy to the house.

Frosting for Gingerbread houses
1 pound of Powdered Sugar
3 Egg Whites (at room temperature)
1/2 tsp. Cream of Tartar
1/2 tsp. vanilla (optional)

In mixing bowl mix together all ingredients with an electric mixer.  Beat until the mixture is smooth.

Pour into pastry bags and use to attach the gingerbread house pieces together.  For an easy and disposable pastry bag fill a Ziploc sandwich bag with frosting and close the top.  On one of the bottom corners cut a small piece of the corner off the bag.  Manage the flow of icing by cutting a bigger hole if it comes out too slow.

Gingerbread house kits are available at most stores during the holidays … or simply use squares of Graham crackers for the Gingerbread house walls and roof.

Make gingerbread houses at your next holiday party or winter birthday party.  They are a fun craft and party favor all in one!

For more fun Christmas Party Ideas,  Christmas Party Games and activities and Winter Birthday Party Ideas see our website www.birthdaypartyideas4kids.com

Birthday parties consist of presents, cake and some type of entertainment for the party guests.  Activities and party games are a great way to entertain guests or you can hire a professional party entertainer.

There are many different entertainers that can be hired for birthday parties.

Balloon Artist – Makes fun and creative objects from balloons.  Ask if they can make shapes that will fit the theme of your birthday party.  Great party favor for the guests to take home after the birthday party.

Caricaturist - Draw and sketch funny and exaggerated portraits of the birthday party guests.  Fun for everyone to watch and the guests can take home the picture as a party favor.

Character – Will dress up as a character to match your party theme such as Elmo, Cinderella or a pirate.

Comedian – Tells jokes and keeps the party guests entertained with his / her comedy routine.

Clown – Will entertain the party guests dressed as a clown.

DJ – Entertains the party guests and sets the mood of the party with music.

Face Painter – Paints theme related items on the party guests faces.

Magician - Brings a magic act to entertain the party guests.

Mime – Will mimic and shadow party guests without talking.

Puppet Shows – Entertain children with a puppet show.

Reptile Petting Zoo - Brings reptiles and snakes and tells the party guests about them.  Most will let the guests hold and interact with the animals.

Ventriloquist – Brings a dummy and entertains the guests with a ventriloquist act.

Many of the entertainers that you can hire for a birthday party can combine several of these services into one package.  For example a clown or entertainer dressed as a themed character could also paint faces, perform magic or twist balloons.

Most party entertainers have several different packages and prices to choose from for your party.  Ask in advance if they can incorporate your theme into the act.

For more fun party ideas, birthday party themes, party games or anything party related see the Birthday Party Ideas 4 Kids website.  Fun and free ideas for your next party.  www.birthdaypartyideas4kids.com

Your birthday party will be pretty as a peacock with these great ideas just listed on the Birthday Party Ideas 4 Kids website!

Fun and free birthday party ideas including Peacock themed ideas for:

- Invitations

- Decorations

- Games

- Activities

- Party Food

- Party Favors

- Goody Bags

All the ideas have a peacock theme and there are so many that you can mix and match your favorite ideas from each category.

Along with these great Peacock birthday party ideas you’ll find a Sleepover guide, free truth or dare questions and lots of fun party games for girls.

If you are still unsure about using a Peacock to plan your party after the website has over 160 other fun themes from which to choose.

www.birthdaypartyideas4kids.com … everything you need to plan your next party!

The Little Man birthday party theme is perfect for 1st birthday’s … or any age!  We’ve collected the best ideas sent in by our readers and put them all together on one page.  Mix and match the ideas to make the perfect party for your little man!

Included are great ideas for Little Man theme:

Invitations
Decorations
Party Food
Party Favors
Goody Bags

… and many more.  You will also find 1st birthday party games on the website to keep little ones entertained and party games for 2, 3 and 4 year olds to keep older guests happy.

Our 1st birthday party ideas page has great ideas for how to make the birthday special including directions on how to make a time capsule for your child.

www.birthdaypartyideas4kids.com all the best ideas for your next party!

We’ve just added a new party theme to the Birthday Party Ideas 4 Kids website … The Giraffe Party Theme!  Everyone loves giraffes and now you plan a birthday party using this theme.

We’ve included lots of great ideas for giraffe themed invitations, decorations, party games, activities, crafts, party favors and goody bags.  Mix and match the giraffe themed ideas to make your perfect party.

While you are on the website take the time to explore all the other great things we have for birthday parties.  Free scavenger hunt lists, 8 different Mall scavenger hunts, Sleepover and Slumber party guide, free truth and dare questions and lots of party games!

For the younger birthday guests we have a page full of great 1st birthday party ideas and a page full of fun games and activities to play at a 1 year olds party.

www.birthdaypartyideas4kids.com has everything you need for your next party!

Leopard print is a great starting point for a birthday party theme.  We’ve collected the best ideas from our readers who have thrown a leopard themed birthday party and placed them all on one page – Leopard Party Ideas.

Leopard print pattern

Leopard print is easy to distinguish from Cheetah or other wild cat patterns by its unique pattern.  The black and tan spots form a “kiss” pattern on a white background.   Don’t confuse it with a Cheetah pattern that has solid dark spots on a lighter solid color background.

Share you favorite Leopard themed party ideas and we will place them on the website.

You’ll find some great Fall Festival / Carnival Style games on the Birthday Party Ideas 4 Kids website.

We’ve listed all of our favorite games that have been sent in by parents.  Only the top games that kids loved the most have been posted on the site.

The greatest thing about all of these games is that set up and supplies for all the games are easy and inexpensive.  Most of the games use recycled materials making them almost free to put together!  Fun do it yourself Fall Festival games.

All of the games have set up instructions, directions on how to play and variations so you can customize them to what your needs are.

Some of the  games include:

Ring Toss
Mystery Fishing
Duck Pond Grab
Ping Pong Toss
Jail
Lucky Lollipops
Circle Toss
Giant Tic Tac Toe
Racetrack
……………………..and many more!

This is the Racetrack game.  A large racetrack is used with huge dice and the players are the playing pieces that move down the racetrack.  The kids really enjoy this fun game!  See www.birthdaypartyideas4kids.com/carnival-games.htm for complete instructions.