Pokemon Go party – the games

The day we held the Pokémon Go party was quite possibly the last perfect day before  wintery weather really set in. The boys were mostly dressed in shorts and t-shirts! And the park we chose was a great setting as well. Each year we have been to a different park, and this was not one we have spent much time at. But it was just about as perfect as the day!

Here’s a quick look at our location:

You can read more about important things like the decorations, cake, and party bags here.

This will be the final birthday party post, where I will be sharing the games that we played. In previous years, I’ve really only had 4 games prepared and that has been enough. The day before this party I thought that the 3 games I had sorted this time may not be sufficient, so I quickly had to come up with some more. We ended up with 6! (And I’m very pleased we did).

We started with Pokeball launching. The boys each made a catapult following the instructions I found here. I had glued plastic bottle tops to some popsicle sticks prior hoping to make the job a bit quicker, and most of the boys needed help putting on the criss-crossed rubber band. Even though I had made a complete catapult beforehand and we’d practiced at home to make sure it all stayed together, I took some blutack to the party just in case the tops came off. Good call, most of them did 😦

The boys were able to take their catapult and a Pokeball home in their party bag if they wanted.

I decorated 48 table tennis balls to look like Pokeballs, using black permanent marker and red acrylic paint. I knew the paint would rub off as they were used, but that didn’t matter. They looked fantastic! You could spray them with sealer or some sort of fixative if you wanted them to stay looking good.

I intended this to be a minute-to-win-it type game. The boys were to take turns launching their Pokeballs to catch Pokémon, and see how many they could catch in one minute. The ‘Pokemon’ were plastic cups with cutouts of various characters pasted on the sides. The aim was to get their Pokeball into a cup.

Once the boys saw what they were to do, there was no way I could stop them all from launching at the same time! There were balls going everywhere! But they all loved this, so I didn’t stop them…until they started launching them at each other…

The next game was Pika, Pika, Chu. You know Duck, Duck, Goose…And no props required 🙂

We haven’t played the Flour Game before, but that was a last minute addition. A bowl full of flour on a plate with Pikachu sitting on top. Each boy took a turn carving off a spoonful of flour, with the aim to not knock Pikachu off. I should have followed the rules of the original game and made whoever ‘lost’ pick the character up using only their mouth…but I didn’t. So we had a few goes of this game before moving on.

Another last minute game idea was ‘Psyduck Says’ (Simon says), taking inspiration from this pin. We came up with a number of actions, and I made up some cards with our ideas. Here they are ‘waving their arms like Mankey’:

Next up was Pin the Amulet on Meowth. This was another last minute idea, and I had to find a simple picture I could quickly draw up. I went with the image from the Pokémon quilt cover I made recently!

One issue of holding the party in a park is how to put up posters. I handed that job on to my trusty helper, and black tape abounds But it still works, so I’ll just let that one go.

I think the boys are getting a bit old for this game.

We then broke for cake, and photo taking using the photo frame I made. Of course, the boys were able to break for food and drinks whenever they needed to while playing games.

We finished the party with Dodge Ball. Even if I haven’t allowed for this activity, the boys still ask for it (like last year!), and it is a great way to end the party. And again, no props required.

We have lots of rounds, with parents joining in if they want to. After a while we were able to leave the boys to it, and have some cake and snacks ourselves while chatting with the parents as they arrived.

The first and last games were the most popular, with the other games less so. I tried to move on quickly when I could see they were over it. But we filled the time, so there was nothing to worry about.

One boy did tell his mother that she was 5 minutes early, and should come back a bit later! I call that a win!

Linking up with:

DIY Showoff – That DIY Party, Plucky’s Second Thought – Cooking and Crafting With J&J, Claire Justine – Creative Monday, Create With Joy – Inspire Me Monday, I Should be Mopping the Floor – Inspiration Monday, The DIY Mommy – The Creative Corner, DIY180 – Dishing It and Digging It, My Pinterventures – Merry Monday, Yesterday on Tuesday – Project Inspired, Lou Lou Girls, Epic Mommy Adventures – Turn it up Tuesday, The Dedicated House – Make it Pretty Monday, Cedar Hill Farmhouse – The Scoop, Pocketful of Posies – Dream. Create. Inspire, The DIY Dreamer – From Dream to Reality, Oh My Heartsie Girl – Wonderful Wednesday, Savvy Southern Style – Wow us Wednesday, Claire Justine – Wednesday Blog Hop, 21 Rosemary Lane – Share Your Style, Have a Daily Cup of Mrs Olson – Share Your Cup, Organized31 – This is How We Roll, The Life of Jennifer Dawn – A Little Bird Told Me, Sincerely, Paula – No Rules Weekend Blog Party, Twin Dragonfly Designs – The Handmade Hangout, The Pin Junkie, Life With Lorelei – Home Matters, Shoestring Elegance – What to do Weekends, Tatertots and Jello – Best Friday Features, Raising Fairies and Knights – Bloggers Spotlight, Simply Sweet Home – Friday Favorites, Strawberry Butterscotch – Saturday Shuffle, Oh My Heartsie Girl – Friday Features, Little Miss Celebration – Best of the Weekend, The Sits Girls – Saturday Sharefest, Nifty Thrifty Things, Love of Home – Sundays at Home, My Husband Has Too Many Hobbies – Snickerdoodle Create. Make. Bake, That Recipe – Happiness is Homemade,