How many kids? What are the ages? When my daughter was little, I was never a fan of those bounce houses although the kids love them. When bigger children got in, it looked like the little ones could get hurt. I hated those cages with balls too. All I could see were the germs from wet diapers and sniveling kids. Yes, I was a worrywart.

If you google field day events, you'll probably come up with some good ideas that they use in elementary and secondary schools. Volleyball is usually big with the older crowd at a picnic.

I love the idea of games, but four years old is a little young for the games you mention-really, what 4 year-old can catch an egg or run tied to someone else? The parents might find that amusing, but the kids, not so much. Maybe water balloons and a pinata would be fun. Can you separate the parties and do a little party for the birthday? I am somewhat old-school (or just old, I guess) and am not a big fan of the huge to-dos with moon bounces and all that people seem to do now. I see birthday parties as lasting maybe an hour to an hour and half if you include lunch. After games like the ones above and scavenger hunts (you could use picture clues to lead kids to find the prizes since they are too young to read) or outdoor finger painting with washable paint, the kids could use cookie cutters to make their own fun shaped sandwiches and then cake and ice cream. Easy. fun, no overtired, whiny kids.

Then, do a big party another time. Seriously, for little kiddoes, simple is usually best.

I was just at an outdoor fair that had nice games for the younger kids. My 4 & 2 yo niece & nephew were able to do these activities and really enjoyed them. There weren't any prizes, it was just for the fun of it.

Small rubber duckies with magnets glued into the mouth and then little fishing poles with magnets on the end. The poles were wooden dowels with a string tied to an eye hook (I think that's what it's called) and magnets.

For slightly older kids, the poles had cup hooks hanging from the strings and the pieces they fished for were colorful, flat wooden shapes with an eye hook.

The fishing things were in separate empty kiddie pools, I think to give the younger kids a chance.

There was also a big piece of plywood with a clown painted on it and it looked like he was juggling balls. Those spots were holes cut out and the kids tossed balls through those spots.

The bottom dish from a planter filled with bubble mix and different sized bubble wands made from dowels and covered electrical wire formed into various sized circles, to create different sized bubbles. It was windy there so the kids only needed to pick up the wand and the wind created the bubbles. The large wands were really cool in the windy situation, but probably wouldn't work if you had to blow into them.

Soda bottles filled about 1/2 way with sand to weigh them down and then they were set up like bowling pins. They used something like a softball to knock them over.

A table with lots of ingredients set out where they could make their own ice cream sundaes (or tacos or whatever) might be fun for the kids and adults.

I think a Play-Doh table could be fun with lots of cookie cutters, rolling pins, plastic knives, etc.

If you do the bounce house, I would sign people up to be on duty and only allow certain age brackets at a time.

If you are brave enough, you can do a food fight. My kids went to a party once where they had a bunch of plain pasta and Jell-O. DH would never allow me to do that but it sounded like a blast.

for the 4yr old age group, a sprinkler would provide lots of fun!!! squirt toys! tag! musical chairs-if there are some older kids! games that have lots of running around with loose rules are best i think!

i think i'd be a bit nervous with a bouncer with that age group too... ~7 is a great age for them, imo.

My sister said they did a parade through the yard for my 2 yo nephew's birthday and it was a big hit with the kids.

They had all sorts of instruments for the kids to play, some were things they had from Michael's: drums, flute, macaras, tambourine. instruments like this

His older sister decorated a stick with colorful ribbons and the kids took turns holding the stick and leading the parade.

Oh - lots of great ideas. Thank you. I also found a book from when I was a kid with all types of crafts and games to choose from. I think DH and I need to have another chat about the bounce house. I think he wants it for himself-lol.

You all have me thinking about a fair/carnival theme. We have a large yard and can setup lots of stations (for various age groups). We had already planned on having water activities (sprinkler ball, kiddie pool, water balloons, etc). Maybe we can take the bounce-house budget and hire a magician or a clown instead.

My son can be a picky eater, but tacos are one of his favorites. A taco station may be a hit!

I love the idea of a food fight, but I'm not sure that I am brave enough for it.