Summer Fun With the Wham-o Slip N Slide

When my kids were younger, every year I would throw an end of the school year party for them. Since I have a lot of children, I would allow each of them to invite 10 children . Don't worry! Forty kids sounds like a lot, I know. However, since the party was after school on a weekday some of the kids couldn't attend. My weekends are too hectic to add a party with 46+ screaming kids! These parties were a lot of fun. The kids enjoyed themselves and they still talk about them. They made great memories. Their favorite part was the Slip and Slide.

Planning Summer Parties for Kids

These parties took a lot of planning because I was the only adult in attendance. To make things more difficult, the children were different ages. I was either pregnant or had an infant / toddler with me. Organization was the key to a smooth incident free party.

The Party Setup

• all water toys were setup in advance
• towels were stacked and ready for use
• refreshments were stored in coolers full of ice
• the food was prepared in advance and setup for easy consumption
• before the part started the ground rules for play were explained
• music was playing
• phone was readily available
• there were other activities setup at the closed decks and patios in case of rain

By planning everything in advance, the party ran without incident. If you think about it, it was almost run like a classroom. The kids knew what to expect. That enabled me to keep on eye on them and keep them from disappearing into different parts of the house. There's no telling what kind of mischief they can get into if that happened!

Before the guests arrived, the Slip n Slide was already setup. I made sure there weren't any rocks, pebbles or water guns around the slip n slide. Didn't want anyone to get hurt. That wasn't the only water fun I had for the kids. I also had a sprinkler and shallow pool for the younger kids. There were also water guns and water balloons. (I woke up early in the morning just to fill all the water guns and water balloons). LOL! There were clean towels available for the kids.

When you are dealing with kids, you can't assume that they know what is expected of them. Before the party started, I went over the dos and don'ts of the party. See, not all kids like to play with water. Some of my daughter's friends were not ready to run around playing war games with a bunch of boys carrying water guns and water balloons. Everyone had to respect the other's choices. This was the easiest way to keep peace between the boys and the girls and not have to play referee instead of party hostess.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my walk down memory lane. Be sure to share this hub with your friends and family by email, Facebook, Twitter, pinterest or your favorite social media site. Don't forget to leave a comment below. Thanks in advance!