it's party time!

whoah there buckeroo, not so fast. Do you realize how challenging it is to plan a 2-year-old's party? Not hard, just...uh, well...not too easy.

yeah yeah, she's 2 and she doesn't care...blah blah blah.

but we're having kids of all ages over, and this party planner wants everyone to have a good time.

I was just looking through a toddler busy book for ideas and am having the most difficulty finding a suitable activity--something they can do without a whole lot of hand-holding (unless I assign a supervisor I guess); something safe of course (no beads or similar choking hazards); and something that won't create a big mess (paint's probably not the ticket here)...

anyone got any ideas?

I have one but. well, tell me what you think:
How about setting out pre-cut paper shapes (shamrocks and stuff--the party is actually on St. Patrick's day) with holes punched already--the kids can color them or put stickers on them, then string them on some shoelaces (or something) and make necklaces. We could use pasta tubes too, but are they considered a choking hazard? I'm thinking it could be fun for the 2-5 year olds, maybe even the 5-8 set.

I'm not sure what the 8-13 year olds can do. They might hate this idea.

and the teenagers...well, they surely don't want to do kid crafts. They probably don't want to be there at all! haha, i remember those days. =) Hmmm, maybe the teens can be the supervisors. that might be a great idea there!

so, what do you think? I obviously am no party expert and need all the help I can get.