Oh, Karaoke and putting on a play idea are great ideas!

The baking and sewing require too much parental supervision for our group. If there weren't so many kids, I would just tell them "go play", but we don't have that much room for so many kids to be playing in my girls' rooms. So, I want to have some planned activities--and those who want to participate will, and the rest will just free play.

I would locate a Girl Scout Handbook. I lead two troops for twelve years. Of course you are not a Girl Scout troop, but you will be able to adapt many of the ideas to suit your needs.

No need to reinvent the wheel. There are also craft books, but do you really want to do a craft every week?

Ask every one to bring a few old magazines and they can make collages.

Get a big container of beads and they can make necklaces or bracelets

play charades... and have everyone chip in a little and buy Pictionary and a couple of other fun group games-- I would think there are plenty that the girls would love to play over and over

Puppets! Everybody loves to make puppets and put onuppt show.

Paint pumpkins

Make pretzel wreathes

make laterns out of red paper for Chinese new year

make valentine's day cards (maybe for a senior's center)

Some good ideas! Thank you! For some reason, I was drawing a blank on easy activities. Ideas that I think will work since the girls can mostly do them without supervision, are puppets, beads, collage, and charades. CRL's suggestion of valentines for a senior center reminded me that there is a program where you color and send your pictures to a central agency that distributes them. The girls love to color.

I planned quite a few crafts for the summer, and while the girls liked the "idea" of crafts, the crafts I planned were too complicated for the girls to do on their own. The most successful craft was when I gave up planning a craft and just set out some flat rocks and paint and showed them a few pinterest pictures of painted rocks. I realized that activities with no "right" way or directions worked best for the ages of the group.

Crl-- I looked up the pretzel wreaths and that looks like that would work too--and I already have candy melts and sprinkles--so I am ahead of the game!

Ellendi--Good idea about the Girl Scouts!

scavenger hunt. give each kid (or group of kids - you could pair up older with younger to help with reading) a brown paper lunch bag. Make a list of things they have to collect, print it out and staple it to each bag.

Things to collect could be general household items like a pencil, tissue, cracker, etc.

Just a warning though, I've only done this outside with items like pinecones, and feathers, etc.. You would probably want to think through what items you include on the list if you don't want a bunch of kids tearing through your stuff looking for things.

I do not know if this will work with your group, some may be too young but I have run a neighborhood book club for kids in grades 1 thru 5. The younger ones read the book with mom and dad if need be and we use classics like Charlotte's Web, the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe, etc. so the material is appropriate for all the ages.

The kids than make, no store bought costumes allowed, a costume of their favorite character in that month's book and come in the costume, they discuss setting, characters and plot and book message and than make a craft like bookends, or this week after reading a graphic novel they will write their own in blank diaries. Our crafts are usually assembled with dollar store items.If there is an available movie version we sometimes have pizza and movie night too.

It is a little more work for me and the girls but they have all become such avid readers since we changed or play dates to book club meetings.

I made Halloween houses with a group of 20 kids that age, including boys, and it turned out really well. It's the graham cracker gingerbread house with a spooky twist. You and the other moms will need to prep the houses but the kids will be able to decorate them. There's all kinds of fun Halloween candy to decorate with. They were so much cuter than the Christmas version and a lot more creative. Wish I had photos.

Trying to remember tips from 10 years ago....

You get the taller milk cartons (half pint or cut down quart cartons) to make a two-story house and use chocolate graham crackers for the walls and roof.

Chocolate grahams are a little more fragile than honey grahams so there's more breakage and chipping, which only adds to the spooky charm of the houses. You saw the pieces with a serrated steak knife.

You'll have to make royal icing for your glue. Since that uses raw egg white, use pasteurized egg whites in a carton. You could tint the icing orange. You don't want a white sparkly Christmas look for the Halloween version.

Glue the sides and roof on with the icing. Glue the house to a cardboard square. Make steps from graham crackers and glue them on. Draw on the windows and doors with icing. Put a cobweb in the corner of one window.

Give the kids a ziplock bag of icing and let them go.

The cardboard becomes the yard, which the kids will want to decorate with candy pumpkins and spiders. I made a graveyard with iced halves of Pepperidge Farm Milan cookies, so they could add a few to their yards. I remember a Sweet Tart type of candy called Dem Bones and scattered the bones around. The fun is really in shopping for the candies, cookies, and crackers and thinking of how they could be used. There's always the orange and brown M & Ms for roofs and paths. I remember some type of candy ghost--maybe Ghost Peeps?Think of something for leaves to scatter around the yard. Hole punched construction paper in fall colors is one possibility.

You'll need to allow for candy to eat so they don't pick apart their houses. Had a few BOYS do that!

Look online for tips to do the Christmas version as it will be applicable. I made the Halloween version up myself.

Hope you don't mind me crashing your thread-loving all the great suggestions! There are several boards on Pinterest devoted to girl scout activities (I'm all about instant gratification, lol) One of my faves is the altered journal. I've picked up the mini journals 3/$1 at a dollar store if the big ones are too expensive.

You could let them make their own english muffin pizzas. Supervision for that is minimal, just having an adult retrieve them from the oven.

You could also look for backyard scientist type experiments that would work for that age group. Things like putting gummy bears in various solutions; how long does a life saver take to dissolve, in your mouth, in a cup of water, etc. There are books out there with simple experiments. You could check out a book from the library on paper airplane making, too.

Daisy--I like the scavenger hunt--but would need to be outdoors for sure--this is a rowdy group of girls--they would tear my house apart!

Great idea Mayflowers--I think we will do this after Halloween--and use up the Halloween candy and take advantage of the after Halloween sales.

Roarah--I like the book club idea--we would simplify it given the ages. But, the playgroup started with some moms I met at storytime at the library. I enjoyed socializing with the moms and the girls all loved playing together, so I organized our own playtime when storytime ended.

Sandplum-- I am going to check out the $ store

Tish--I like the english muffin pizzas--the kids look forward to having a snack. I also like the science idea--that is something that I know nothing about--but my 7 year old would love to check a book out of the library and come up with some ideas. We all attended a bubbleology show this summer and loved it.

Something they do at the small school my grandson attends (with enrollment ages from 4/5 through 10/11) is "junk art". They have low temp glue guns and piles of various materials, from buttons to pipe cleaners, yarn, sequins,boxes, craft supplies, junk drawer clean out, nuts and bolts, old jewelry, tp roll tubes, wrapping paper tubes. The glue guns are not too expensive at places like Michaels (esp if you use the coupons) and the kids can share them, so you don't need one per kid. You have to cover tables with paper to keep the glue from getting on things and show the kids how to keep the guns upright, but other than that it's pretty self directed. The guns are hot, but not enough to burn a child.

You could buy beads, sequins and jewels along with some plain hair clips and let them create fashion clips, if the free form sculptures from junk don't sound right for your group.

You could also get fabric paints and plain T-shirts and baseball caps and let them create their own designs. They can use the glue guns for embellishments on the caps, but it would render the t-shirts unwashable (although they make special glittery fabric paints).

What a great range of ideas!

A few more ideas from the days when I used to bring in the neighborhood girls and my nieces:

Themed movie days-- I usually showed these outdoors but we did move inside during the colder months. They loved to dress up for them-- Grease and Hairspray were favorites because they danced and sang the whole way through them. They weren't just plopped in front of the screen.

Decorating cupcakes (which you would make ahead). I put out raspberries, mini chocolate chips, sprinkles. They had a blast with this-- but note that the sprinkles and sparkles were way over-represented on their cupcakes lol.

Love the idea above for collages-- I'll add to that with collage books. They'd repurpose a small book with a mini collage on each page. It could tell a story.

Paint pumpkins.. and plastic christmas ornaments. When we were kids, we made christmas ornaments with old time clothes pins-- using paint, felt and glitter we made snow men, santa and mrs claus.

Sock monkeys/sock puppets.

Holiday themed fruit kebobs .. and the less healthy mini donut snowmen/reindeer.

Family Fun has loads of terrific ideas. I use it all the time for elementary K-5 crafts, snacks & activities @ our after school playcamp. I have a subscription to the magazine & you can find them online...

http://www.parents.com/familyfun-magazine/

bridging generations is also a great thing to do with kids that age. Have them pick and make bouquets of flowers and take them to nursing homes or assisted living places; pick up litter in a park or somewhere else public; see if they can help out an an animal shelter for an afternoon...start building a sense of community and community service in them.

OP, has anyone else volunteered to help you and offered to take turns hosting the playgroup? That seems like a lot to have only one family deal with the mess and cleanup that happens when you host 20+ people every week.

When my kids were little our playgroup took turns hosting, so you only had to host once every 2 months for a weekly group. We had some with small houses and some with big houses, but everyone pitched in.

Popsicle Stick/Craft Stick Bracelets. You will probably have to boil, shape, and cool them before the get-together, but they can decorate them.

Crayon rubbings. Send them outside to find things with texture to make rubbings. A playground is a good place. And/or provide interesting items inside the home. They can then cut the rubbings up to make collage pictures. I've done this with all ages and they really enjoy discovering textures.

Another fun one was making under the sea pictures with bubble wrap. Provide bubble wrap with large and small bubbles and have them draw pictures of fish, sealife, and shellfish with Sharpies on the flat side. Paint with acrylics. You can add sparkly glue first, like around the fish's eyes, and let it dry. Cut the fish out, flip it over and glue to paper. Cut out individual large bubbles and float them from the fish's mouths. Make sea weed too! We made a large classroom mural but they'll probably want to take home their creations.

Some more great ideas!

Olychick--I love the "junk art" idea! I am going to check out the low temp glue guns. I have a regular one and consistently burn my fingers!!! The kids would love to be able to use their own glue gun. It also reminds me that they can make Picasso faces with the junk.

Funkyart--I like the movie day--one of the mothers suggested that. I also like the collage book. The food stuff is adorable--but too much work/mess for our group. But some cute ideas for me to do just with my girls.

Carol--I will check out Family Fun

Tib--the community idea is great. I am a Nursing Home ombudsman--so I am all about the elderly.

Chispa--We don't take turns. The reason for this is that when the playgroup initially started, we did take turns hosting. But, the other moms stressed so much about having so many kids at their house, and I don't mind at all. So I told them that I would be happy to always host. They have all given me some money to cover expenses, and I assign them to provide snacks. So, it all works out. And, as I said, when we first started, it was very casual--the kids played and swam in the pool. I was the one that invited so many more members, such that now free play inside isn't really possible when indoors. But, its a great group--Some of the newer members that I invited are families new to town--one family from India and another family from Holland, so I love the diversity in the group!

Sandplum--I will have to google the popsicle stick bracelet--I have never heard of that.

Mayflowers--crayon rubbings is perfect---very minimal supervision LOL! I love the bubble wrap idea--we have sharpies and paint--so easy to get the bubble wrap.

So many great ideas!!! Thank you all sooo much!!!

Furby, glad the hosting schedule is your choice and works for all. I would have done the same thing!

I think I would go for something much more organic. Like one day is coloring, one day is dress up, one day is dancing, etc etc. I am not sure why it needs to be structured, and keep in mind there is a lot of developmental benefit to having it be free form. Or, ask the kids to suggest things and create a list.

Too many of these ideas sound like it will prevent the Moms from socializing, which you say is part of the goal. Another thought; hire a high schooler to run this. Everyone pays, say 3 bucks. They may even do it as community service for free.

You could also use the low temp glue guns to put together the Halloween houses. I didn't know such a thing existed! Making the royal icing was the bulk of the work so I'd avoid that.

I had an after-school program at the elementary school for three years and I always tried to come up with new ideas. I didn't want to be bored any more than the kids wanted to be bored.

We got into card-making for awhile too. There's lots of techniques the older kids can learn, like quilling and simple iris folding, while the younger ones do simpler techniques like stamping. We decorated a lot of our own papers too. Blowing paint with straws, spraying paper with liquid watercolors, marblizing paper....other stuff I can't remember.

Really, all the moms need to do is prep and show an example. The kids will use their own imaginations and the older girls will help. Hiring a high schooler is a good idea.

Mayflowers--card making is good too. I have lots of supplies--sparkles, stickers ect.

Mtn, I agree, we don't want anything that requires mom supervision. A lot of the ideas suggested will work for us because they are not structured. I am grateful for all the above ideas that allow me to just leave the supplies out and let the girls do the craft as they please. Those that want to do the craft will do it, and those who don't will free play. Given the number of kids, I need there to be something to keep some in the kitchen and some in the bedrooms--the kids will move between doing the craft and playing.

Even putting on a play will work as I can separate them into two groups and send each group to a bedroom to plan and then both groups can put on a play about 1/2 hour before it's time to go. No moms involved--let the girls plan everything. Whoever doesn't want to do it--no problem-they can just free play. I am very very laid back--I don't mind lots of kids running around or a few messes. I just want us moms to be able to hang out in the living room--not have to help with a craft.

I thought I would post some of the crafts we did this summer to give others some ideas. These crafts required total adult supervision for our age group--ages 4 to 7. I think they could be done independently for ages 10 and up. But, as I said above, now that the group has gotten bigger and the length of the playdate shorter, I am ready to move on to easy stuff that can just be set out for the kids while the moms talk in the other room.

These are the painted pumpkins and scarecrows we made (our last parent intensive activity) with plastic bags and old pajamas. They would have been cuter with pillow cases or burlap for the head--but I was too cheap and it was last minute, so I didn't have time to search for cheap options.

Below is pipe cleaners covered by tin foil and then colored with sharpies. They look better in real life.

Straw blowing of paint and then dabbing paint with fingers for the leaves on the tree.

Bleeding tissue paper with design drawn in sharpie marker. The kids loved this as they loved using the spray bottle. The adults had fun too!

Decopauged tissue paper, stickers, magazine words, ect. This was fun for the adults--they ended up finishing the project as the kids lost interest.

Stepping stones made with a foil pie tin for the mold and fast drying
cement. We broke plates and used gems/stones from the $ store.

Cute crafts!

How about shaving cream play?

http://artfulparent.com/2012/08/shaving-cream-art-play-round-up-of-ideas.html

Those are so cute! Great ideas. What do you think about making things to take to a nursing home or retirement village close to the holiday - either Thanksgiving or Christmas? Or anytime really.