For my son's 9th birthday we are having a game party, 1. Invitations: I found a clip art of a board game and pasted it on a sheet of paper.  I put the party information in a text box on top of the graphic and copied the invites onto bright paper.   2.  Game Stations:  We have a pool table and air hockey table in our home, which help with the stations, but other games can be easily substituted. There will be 16 boys total at the party, and they will be divided randomly into groups of four (each guest will get a card with a team color and a number on it to indicate their team -- you could give bandanas to indicate teams: Survivor style"). They will rotate to the four preset centers:  pool airhockey/ connect four twister and handheld games (we don't have playstation or other TV games but we have enough gameboys for four kids). The kids will rotate to each center spending 15 minutes at each. Rules are posted at the centers so that there is no arguing over that -- and the rules will indicate which number players are on teams together too(for example when they play pool).  For the Twister game I have them playing in a clear carpeted area with an older cousin to spin and keep the kids safe.   3.  Cake: After an hour or so of playing we will have cupcakes decorated with a chess piece from a game at the dollar store.  We will end with presents.  4. Rather than a goodie bag each child will get a game from the dollar store wrapped in checkered board paper or other festive wrapping.   5.  Thank you cards:  I used the same game board clip art as a background for the thank you cards. An empty text box gave my son space to write his thank yous. These too were simply photocopied onto bright paper. 6.  Cost: Total cost is about $30.  The party lasts about 2 hours.  Inexpensive easy and loads of fun!  "