Animal Party Games for the Kids

Animal party games can get a little out of hand if you are having the party inside, so make sure to move outside when taking part in these two suggested games!

'Nose Ball' is a fun race that all the kids will really get into. Everyone in the race pretends to be an animal of their choice and the must push a ping pong ball to the finish line with their nose. Why? Because as animal they can't use their hands!

You'll need enough ping pong balls for everyone in the animal party race to have one and you'll need to set up a start line and a finish line with masking tape, string or a chalk line. The guests may have a little trouble keeping in a straight line with Nose Ball so you'll want to space everyone fairly far apart. Don't forget to take lots of pictures with the camera.

'Farmyard Frolic' is a game that can give the adults at the animal party a chance to rest. Have the party divide into groups of three or four. Each group must pick their own animal to pretend to be and the adult in the group gets to be the team leader. Before the party started you should have hidden a variety of special objects around the house and made a list of them. Make copies of this list so you can give one to each group.

Next have the team leaders sit in the animal party area while the groups of animals go off on their search. When an 'animal' has found one of the objects they must make the sound that their chosen animal makes, for example, if the chosen animal is a cow then the team player must moo. They do this until their team leader gets up and goes to retrieve the object from the player. The player cannot bring the object to the team leader; the team leader must go to the player, get the object and return to the couch. At the end of the hunt the team with the most objects wins. Hint: if you make the objects toys, games or candy then everyone wins at the animal party.

Mrs. Party... Gail Leino takes a common sense approach to planning and organizing events, celebrations and holiday parties with unique ideas for Animal party supplies and fun free educational party games. She explains proper etiquette and living a healthy life while also teaching organizational skills and fun facts. The Party Supplies Shop has lots of party ideas with hundreds of free holiday printable games and free birthday party activities. Over 100 adorable Party Themes to fit your birthday celebration, holiday event, or "just because" parties is at the Party Theme Shop. Party themes include cartoon characters, sports, movie, TV shows, luau, western, holidays, and unique crazy fun theme ideas.

Quick Tips For a Successful Baby Shower

Here are guidelines or quick shower tips for hosting a successful shower party. Come and explore these quick tips. Read more...

In this section we are discussing few quick tips for a successful shower. As we have discussed earlier. Showers are shifting. From the traditional to the modern fun oriented and realistic showers. Depending upon the ease and preference of the mom-to-be as well as the hostess.

There can be a great number of shower tips. From planning the shower. To inviting the friends to decorating the venue. To serving the shower food.

Whatever the case may be, the purpose of throwing the shower still remains to celebrate the occasion. While helping the expectant couple by giving them shower gifts.

The first concern while planning the shower is who should be the hostess? The older traditional rules suggest that close relatives should not host the shower. This would look like they are simply expecting presents and gifts. To be more realistic, the modern shower. Literally anyone can plan the shower. This would include family members, friends and/or co-workers.

Shower tips concerning if the mom-to-be can have more than one shower - Yes, a mom-to-be can have more than one shower. However, if there are more than one, the hostess of each would be wise to remember what the previous shower theme was. You don't want to have the same shower theme at each party. Also, try finding out what shower gifts were already given to avoid duplicating the shower gifts.

Here are quick shower tips for hosting a successful shower party:

Send invitations in a timely manner. Around 3-4 weeks in advance to the guests who live near by. For long distance shower guests, around 4-6 weeks in advance. Include directions in the invitations, you don't want the shower guests to get lost.

Greet all shower guests at the door as they arrive. It shows how much you care for them. Provide name tags so that everybody can identify the other guests easily, as they may not all know each other. Introduce the shower guests to one another at the beginning of the shower party. If you have a seating arrangement, sit people together who know each other or have something in common.

Engage the shower guests in some games so that they can enjoy their time and interact with each other.
If you have proper space and have a large hall then provide tables for your guests to sit and eat if a meal is planned. Please don't expect them to eat with their plate in their lap.

Instead of placing gifts here and there, it is appreciated to bring the gifts to the mom-to-be as she opens gifts. Don't ask or even expect her to carry anything, especially bulky items (before and after the pregnancy). Because the time of the shower is around 1-2 months before or after, she is likely to feel weak during this time. Write down which shower guest gave which gift. This will help the mom-to-be when it comes time to send thank you cards.

Be sure to have enough shower party favors on hand. A little extra is good just in case! Get the party started on time and keep events moving at a good pace. You would be surprised just how long it can take to eat, open presents, play games, talk and eat cake. Walk guests to the door as they leave and thank them again for coming to the shower. Everybody feels special if they are given due attention.

shower tips for the hostess: You should understand that if you are hosting the party then you should show the utmost responsibility and carefulness. A well-planned shower would be appreciated by everyone invited. You are not just attending the shower party. You are also running and organizing it too. When serving food, serve mom-to-be first and then your shower guests. You as the shower hostess should serve yourself last.

© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved.

Randy currently has a website dealing with Hair Removal Products such as shavers, trimmers, and more. He also has a website of Health Monitoring Products [http://www.health-care-product-reviews.com/] such as blood glucose monitors, alcohol monitors, blood pressure monitors, and more.

4 Ways to Stop Computer Freezes and Game Lag

If you are an avid online gamer, you most certainly have suffered from game lag and computer freezes. Many have spent hours trying to tweak in-game graphical settings in order to increase the frame rate and boost the performance of their favorite games. However, in more case than not, those efforts award the player with only a slight improvement in overall game play. Your system might even meet the recommend hardware specs for optimum performance but the game causes computer freezes when the action gets heavy. However, tweaking the in-game specs and upgrading hardware may not be the best way to overcome game lag and computer freezes.

This irritation may be attributed to conflicting software that is competing for your system's resources or improper configuration. Most online games such as World of Warcraft should run smoothly on an average setup. Game manufacturers assure us that their recommended specs should run the game smoothly. However those recommendations are calculated when the games are tested on PCs that were optimized for those particular games. There are very few who are willing to dedicate a whole computer specifically for a single game. Nevertheless, there are a couple steps that you can take to free up more resources for your game play. These tips will allow you to better optimize your PC for smoother game play booth online and off-line. .

Stop Game Lag and Computer Freezes Tip #1: Get more bang out of your bandwidth.

There are literally dozens of services running on your Windows operating system. These programs have no respect for your online play. They need bandwidth and system resources just as much as your online games. Many of the programs automatically startup when you log on to the net or at the moment Windows loads. Windows service programs can perform a host of operations from searching for updates, downloading, and even sharing applications with your games. The task is to cut down on the amount services running while your are playing the game in order to free up bandwidth and resources. This is a great tip to stop game lag and computer freezes. Here is how.

1. Click on "Start"

2. Click "Run"

3. Type services.msc

4. Select "Extended" from the Services Window to view a detailed description. Also note the status of the service in question.

5. To stop the service, select "Stop the service" or right click the service, choose "All task" then click "Stop"

6. Click "OK"

Stop Game Lag and Computer Freezes Tip #2: Turn off your Anti-virus/Anti-spyware programs during play.

I am sure the suggestion scares you. However, these programs are very taxing on your computer. They can cause game play lag and computer freezes by initiating a host of small applications and processes during game play. Turning these programs off during your game play is not entirely risk free but you will be amazed at the results by doing so.

Stop Game Lag and Computer Freezes Tip #3: Making sure hardware and software can "communicate"

This an extremely important step that many gamers tend to miss. DirectX is essential to most next generation Windows games. High multimedia graphics and sound cards require lighting fast APIs, application programming interfaces, to deliver high end graphics and sound. The API acts as a kind of bridge for the hardware and the software. In essence, APIs provide the language for hardware and software to "communicate" with each other. If there is some "miscommunication" caused by improper setup, you will suffer from game lag or computer freezes. The task here is to make sure that your audio and video hardware is properly configured with Windows DirectX technology by using DirectX diagnostics tools. Here is how:

1. Click "Start"

2. Click "Run."

3. Type dxdiag and press enter to load the "Direct X Diagnostic Tool" menu.

4. Click the "Display" and "Sound" tabs.

5. Verify that DX features are enabled and there are no problems.

Perform the test were need. If there are any problems reinstall Direct X and update your hardware drivers. Also you can open the Task Manger by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete and viewing the process tab to gauge which services are taking up the majority of system resources. Visit the "Cause of High CPU Usage" page for more details

Stop Game Lag and Computer Freezes Tip #4: Clean and Organize your Hard Drive.

A simple yet overlooked necessity to stop game lag. The faster your game can find files the less you have to worry about game lag and computer freezes. By defragging you help to cut down on the amount work the hard-drive needs to find files. Cleaning your registry cuts down on the errors and will create more free space for your RAM and CPU to work more efficiently. These two steps are a necessity to stop computer freezes. The link "4 Ways to Speed Up Your Computer" will show you how to perform these steps.

Without a doubt the habit of upgrading your computer's hardware for the next generation of games will allow take advantage new graphic and sound card technology. However, this act makes PC gaming a more expensive hobby than it really needs to be. Hopefully, the tips above rewarded you smoother game play and will help to end your days of computer freezes and game lag.

Make sure to visit http://www.delete-computer-history.com/fix-computer-problems.html These useful pages will provide you with tips and tweaks to speed up your computer performance.

CounterStrike Tips

So you just started playing Counterstrike? With more than 200,000 players online at any given point in time, it remains one of the most popular first person shooter computer games. Let me guess. You're probably getting "pwned." You swear you're shooting directly at the person, yet it seems the bullets don't even touch him. On the other hand, your opponents take you down in seconds with a finely placed head shot. Let me try to help.

Here are some Counterstrike Tips for the weapons used in the game:

1. Knife:
Ahh, the knife. It has two different attacks, the primary attack (fast, but weak) and the secondary attack (slow, strong) So what should you use? In a knife fight, you want to deal the most damage as possible. Therefore you want to go for the UPPER BODY. For beginners, I recommend going at the upper body with the fast attack so you guarantee yourself a hit. As you get better go with the slow attack for even more damage. An addition tip: jumping toward you opponent with the knife and aiming for the head is also an effective and deadly method. If you're jumping and your opponent is slashing at your heard, what is he going to hit? Your feet, of course, for a measly 8 pts of damage.

2. Pistols-

Don't underestimate the power of the pistol. While it is a secondary weapon, it can save your life when you run out of ammo.

Here are some Counter Strike Tips for the most commonly used pistols in the game:

A: USP Tactical:

The counter-terrorist default pistol. This is one of my favorite pistols in the game. It has a relatively fast rate of fire so get ready to work your pointer finger and press that that left mouse button as fast as you can! The USP has a low recoil so aim for the upper torso/head for maximum damage.

B: Glock:

The default counter-terrorist pistol. I don't particularly like it. It packs less punch than its counter-terrorist counterpart and its rate of fire is slower. However, it does have a 3-round burst alternate fire mode which is particularly powerful if fired into the upper torso/head. However the 3 round burst mode has a even slower rate of fire than semi-automatic mode so you better make sure you take your opponent out with the first burst. An effective tactic for the burst would be firing into an opponent and then strafing right or left and then unloading another 3 rounds burst to take him out. Obviously this only works in close quarters battle.

C: Desert Eagle:
Now, we're talking! This baby packs quite a punch than the regular pistol. This along with the USP Tactical is usually the sidearm of choice for most CSers, especially snipers. Three well placed shots to the upper body is usually enough to take down even an armored foe. However, one has to beware of this weapon's recoil. It jumps up a bit after every shot. Therefore I recommend you aim your first shot into the upper part of your opponent's abdomen. Successive shots will hit higher and higher in your opponent's body. Unfortunately, the Deagle is a close range weapon. It's accuracy from afar is horrible.

This concludes Part One of my Counterstrike Tips.

Tried of getting killed without even firing? Is your death count higher than your kill count? Visit John Liu's blog to learn how to shorten the learning curve for Counterstrike and pwn 90% of the players on ANY Counterstrike server.

Part II and Part III of John's Counterstrike Tips Guide which covers the game's shotguns, SMGs, and machine guns is also available at his blog at http://counter-strike-tactics.blogspot.com. John Liu has been playing CS since Version 1.5.

The Pick 4 Lottery - Game Overview and Ways to Increase Your Chances of Winning

In the United States, 30 states host the Pick 4 lottery. It is also played in Ontario, Canada, and in Puerto Rico. Many retailers offer this popular game. It is relatively straightforward pick the four digits that match the winning selection and win. Simply fill out your entries on the play slip (retailers provide the form). Instructions are on the reverse side of the play slip.

Based on a $1.00 play per game, most Pick 4 games offer a $5,000 payout for a straight hit, that is where the four digits picked by the player fall in the identical order as the official winning numbers. Winning tickets based on a "combination" - where all four digits appear in an order other than identical to the official winning entry - generally range from $100 to about $3,000. Quite a nice return on a $1.00 investment!

In most locations, the game is drawn twice a day in midday and evening draws. In other locations, such as the California Lottery, the Wisconsin Lottery and the Louisiana Lottery, draws are held once per day. Ontario, Canada, hosts one evening draw per day and Puerto Rico hosts a daily draw four times per week.

Sunday games are either prohibited altogether or restricted to the evening draw for various locations, including the Delaware, Illinois and Indiana (Hoosier) Pick 4 games as well as for the Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Texas Lottery and West Virginia lotteries.

Thanks to the Worldwide Web, this interesting game can be played online and, for avid players, in more than one state. An excellent site to play in more than one state is http://www.5dimes.com.

Ways to Increase Your Chances of Winning

An important strategy to consider when playing the Pick 4 is that half of the four digits (that is, two digits) repeat within two draws. Another way of saying the same thing is that three-fourths of those digits (that is, three digits) usually repeat from the previous three drawings. This should narrow your choices right away.

A useful tool to further narrow your choices is the Pick 4 Hot Sheet. Many players use this unique publication as a guide for selecting winners. Each month, it produces an average of 8-10 hits for states that host the game. In the Oregon Lottery, it regularly produces 15 hits per month.

Straight hits have appeared each month in the Hot Sheet. It may do players well to own access rights to the Pick 4 "Gold Mine" of the Internet as it is known, because it consistently produces hits and it is updated each month. A screenshot of the publication as well as shared strategies on how players use it to select winners are offered on this popular site.

A final point: Remember that positive thinking produces positive results. There is truth to the saying as a man thinketh, so is he. The law of attraction applies to this popular game with the same force and effect as it does to every aspect of human life. So think positive and increase your chances of winning!

The Author, Don Holland, is an avid Pick 4 player as well a business owner whose motivation is fueled by helping others win. Don has coauthored the Pick 4 Hot Sheet since its inception in 1998.

Visit http://www.pick-4-hotsheet.com for more information.

Windows VPS Hosting - What Are the Main Benefits?

Windows VPS is relatively a new service in the industry. However, considering the fact that it is still quite new, it has gained immense popularity in a short time. Till recently, the only options available to businesses and individuals were a dedicated or a shared server. However, if your business is too large for a shared hosting service and still quite small to invest in an expensive and dedicated server, then VPS is the best solution. This hosting service provides the best of both the worlds, at a low cost. The main benefits of using VPS have been discussed below.

Managed backups

Windows VPS offers you the chance to manage the backups. The server would be backed up on a daily basis to ensure that you would be able to restore it to any selected day. You would just need to call up the technical department and make the request and the server would be back.

Systems updates

Another benefit with VPS is that the systems updates would be managed for you on a daily basis. You do not have to spend your time updating the server in order to keep it secure and safe. When the new updates would be released, your server would be automatically updated.

Capacity monitoring

You no longer have to guess how much your resource usage is currently. VPS would monitor and track your current usage and based on your current usage, it would recommend a hosting package for you that would be suitable for your needs so that you can reduce all the extra costs.

Expert support

With Windows VPS, you would have complete technical support. Whenever you find yourself facing a problem, you would be able to contact the support team at your hosting service. Most companies today offer 24 hour support system and they would be able to help you out with any technical difficulties.

Availability monitoring

Finding if your server is on the brink of breakdown is typically very difficult. However, with VPS, you would now be able to avoid all the unforeseen problems. The hosting company would manage the availability of your server and would alert you if they think there is a potential problem.

As discussed above, there are plenty of great benefits of using this hosting service. Quite a lot of businesses have shifted to this solution since it provides them affordability as well as plenty of other benefits. This is a great solution for all your hosting needs and Windows VPS is offered currently by plenty of reliable hosting companies.

To know more about Windows VPS and other web hosting services, please visit http://nqhost.com/.

Halloween Party - Party Games

Do you know what makes or breaks a Halloween party? Party games! There is absolutely nothing worse than when you are a guest to have to participate in a series of games that are boring, tedious or ill-conceived. Especially if up until that point you had been having a great time!

Yet that happens so often. The party host gets this idea for a game that they think will really excite and engage their guests and the result is that the whole party comes to a grinding halt. And the reason for this is quite simple. Planning and preparation.

You see there are some games that are perfect for large groups of people and some that are not. And similarly there are games that are perfect for a small set of people but aren't any good at all for larger groups.

It sounds straightforward enough but it's a classical mistake made by so many well-meaning hosts.

You can have some fantastically engrossing games played by a small group of only five to six people such as the Memory Game.

This is the game where on a tray is placed about 10 to 15 small items (e.g. pencil, watch, comb, shoe lace, spoon, toy car, etc.) and then covered with a cloth. Everyone then sits in a circle or around a table and the tray is then placed in the middle of the circle and the cloth removed the cloth for 60 seconds. Everyone has to remember the objects.

After 60 seconds the cloth is replaced and in turn, each person has to name an object on the tray. The first person to fail to name an object, repeat an object or name something not on the tray is out.

The tray is then removed and some or all of the objects replaced, and the game is re-started with the person following the one who is out. If the game is too easy for the group, then simply add more objects or reduce the time.

And the selection of games also applies to the make up of the group.

Certain games that work for a large group of guests won't work if that group is predominately made up of teenagers. For them, they require their own subset of games. For example Dramatized Chinese Whispers is especially suitable for teenagers as they just love to "act" and "show off".

The main problem that someone has when selecting games for a Halloween party is that they are usually led by their earlier childhood memories. They remember the games they used to play, not necessarily at a Halloween party, and believe that they will work now. They don't.

Pass the parcel works for children but for anyone older it doesn't.

There are a whole host of engaging games that can be selected for larger and older groups such as Horses and Riders, Winking Murder, The Photographer. These can generate great amounts of excitement and of fun. They are easy to run and are people will willingly play them.

For children of a younger age the traditional games still work. Yet it is surprising at how few many people who are hosting a party really know. Usually it runs to only about three or four when in fact there are nearly thirty suitable games they could call upon, each highly suitable for what they need.

Game such as Port and Starboard are very rarely seen at a children's party which is a real shame as it is exactly the right kind of game that be being played.

When it comes to where the games are to be played then obviously space is a constraining factor which is why games should be carefully chosen. And with so many to choose from there shouldn't be a problem no matter what the size or number of guests.

And for those that are able to use an outside area always have the contingency games in place in case the weather turns and drives your party inside.

So if anyone is planning to host a Halloween party and are thinking about running some games, make sure that you pick the right ones the success of your party will depend upon it.

About The Author

Stephen Fleisig is the publisher of The Halloween Gold Party Set.. Featured on TV and in the global press this unique ebook collection covers everything anyone would need to know about making your Halloween party not just a great one but a perfect one. If you're thinking about planning a Halloween party then you should go and grab your copy right now at HalloweenGold.com..

How to Host a Backyard Fairy Princess Party For Girls

It's hard to incorporate a fun party for little girls and for adults. Many families have small children that want to have a princess party, but the parents want to invite neighbors and older children who may have grown out of the princess phenomenon and want to do more adult activities. How do you make it easy on yourself, but fun for all of your guests, young and old alike?

A fairy princess gathering in the backyard would be perfect. You may invite the adults to wear fairy wings to the party and hold a contest for who has the prettiest, most unique, smallest, biggest, funniest wings, etc. Adults love a challenge, so this would be a great way to get the competition going while still making it fun for the younger guests.

The children would be invited to wear a fairy princess or Disney princess costumes (or pirates & princes for boys). There could be a contest for the costume for kids as well. You may be surprised by how fancy parents will get when they know a competition is involved.

Decorate your yard with everything fairy. Of course, balloons and streamers in your little girls favorite color, pink and white, are essential. You could have fairy costumes hanging from branches on trees in your yard in which children attending the party could "win" by playing games and participating in princess activities.

The mother may want to dress up as a beautiful fairy and be in charge of hosting the games and activities. This would make the day extra special and get the adults involved. Each adult may be asked to bring a fairy princess game for the children to play and that would make it really easy for the parents.

Serve barbequed food like hotdogs, hamburgers and chips, and lemonade. Or make a true fairy princess tea party out of it and serve finger foods. You could even rent a popcorn machine or cotton candy machine to do something interesting and unique.

To end the party, you would serve cake and ice cream. You could make or buy a special fairy princess cake, like Tinkerbell. Or you could make cupcakes with fairy hair clips in the middle for the little girls to take home with them.

Make sure to send the adults and children home with something special as a favor. Some ideas for favors may include: fairy wings, fairy tutu, ribbon ties, fairy hair clips, a hand mirror (since fairies are so beautiful and like to admire themselves), snacks that fairies may like to eat, a fairy princess costume, or anything else you can think of that has to do with Tinkerbell or other fairies.

A great gift to give your child at a party like this would be a stunning fairy princess costume or a Tinkerbell DVD so she can learn all about what fairies do before she attends the party.

Shelby is the mother of 2 girls and 1 boy and lives in Orem, Utah. She also runs a home-based business called My Cute Dressups at http://www.mycutedressups.com that sells Princess dress up clothes and other fun pretend play items for kids, toddlers, and even teenagers and adult princess costumes. She also has an ebay store and a local store run by the same name. She has seen a noticeable difference in her kids after encouraging dress up play. Visit her website for more biographical information or to see her exciting line of Princess Costumes like Cinderella dresses, Snow White Costumes, Sleeping Beauty dresses, wedding dress up, Medieval Princess, Yellow Beauty, Winter Beauty, Rapunzel dress, doll clothes that fit American Girl, 18 inch doll clothes. She has a Cinderella doll dress that matches exactly with the girl Cinderella dress as well as matching Snow White doll dress.