The August installment of Idea Shop with Heather and Blair features back-to-school crafts to get your kids excited about heading back to the classroom.

In addition to crafty suggestions for helping your child smoothly transition into a new school year, the video also gives ideas for hosting a back-to-school party for your youngsters.

Plus, as editor Heather Bennett suggests, you can make it a "benevolent bash" by requesting partygoers to bring school supplies to donate to a local nonprofit. Organizations such as Centers for Youth & Families, Our House and Youth Home need school supplies throughout the year, so you can throw a school supplies party at any time.

Watch the video below for more ideas from Heather and Blair. Then, keep reading below to find warm-weather party games for your benevolent bash.

Games:

Octopus Tag

You'll need: clothing or other markers and 6 or more players.

Directions: This is a cross between red rover and tag. Set up a rectangular ocean: to determine the right width, have everyone hold hands and spread out across the field. Indicate two sidelines with clothing or some other type of markers. The fish line up at one end; the queen or king octopus stands in the middle and cries out, "I am the octopus, queen of all motion. Let's see if you can cross my ocean." The 'fish' try to run or sneak across the 'ocean' without being tagged. If they're tagged they freeze as seaweed and try to tag others as they run by turning them into seaweed too. The last fish tagged then becomes the octopus and the crossing contest begins again.

Soggy Jog Relay

You'll need: a soft, grassy area to run on, pair of loose-fitting sweatpants for each team, large bucket of water, lawn chair and 1 to 10 players.

Directions: Line up the teams side-by-side, set the bucket of water between them, and position the lawn chair 20 feet away. At the signal, the first child in each line dunks his team's sweatpants in the water, puts them on, and then runs around the chair and back to the starting line. There, he peels off the sweatpants and gives them to the next runner to dunk and don (inside out or right side out), and so on. The first team whose members have all completed the task wins.

Spray the Funky Music

You'll need: garden hose, musical stuff like old hubcaps, beach balls, aluminum pie plates, cans, etc. and string. 

Directions: Help your child hang a collection of items along a fence or row of bushes, using string or other means to secure them. Next, let the kids blast them, one by one with the nozzled garden hose for a medley of distinctive percussive sounds.

Car Wash Sponge Relay

You'll need: large sponges and buckets.

Directions: Split players into two teams. Give each team a car-washing sponge and set up two identical buckets at the far end of the pool or yard. The first player from each team runs or swims to the other side holding the saturated sponge and squeezes it out into the bucket. The players then head back to give the sponge to the next person on their team. After everyone has had a turn, measure the water level in each bucket by standing a ruler inside. The team with the most water wins.