Planning a birthday party? Looking for the fun birthday games? You've come to the right place! After planning and hosting 14 children's birthday parties, all with varying degrees of success, it's time to share with my readers what I've learned how to plan games and good games to play.
Should I Plan Birthday Party Games?
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| Frog Beanbag Toss |
Birthday party games can be a fun way to incorporate the theme of the birthday party. Remember, children have very active imaginations. They love to hear stories that tie the game into the theme of the party. Children are very willing to accept that a ball is a bird or a bean bag is a cookie. Feel free to use your imagination when creating games and create opportunities for children to use their imaginations when playing the game.
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| Colored by a 2 & 5 yr old |
The most fun games at birthday parties are cooperative games.
Games that are competitive and have clear winners and losers are bound to leave
a few guests in tears. Emotions run high at birthday parties; it is not the ideal
time for competitive games. For the
happiness of all, focus on games that are cooperative. Many
traditional competitive games can be turned into cooperative games with a small
twist in the way they are played.
If you really want to give out prizes, try working the prize
into an aspect of the game. Consider
giving all participants something for playing, placing an emphasis on playing
the game and not winning or losing the game.
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| Birthday Craft...Make a Hat! |
Me First!
Who’s turn is it away?
The child that pushes to the front? The quiet child in the back? A friend taught me early on the perfect way
to skip this dilemma. Before the party starts,
number slips of paper from 1 to how every many guest you will have at the
party. Keep a few extra slips of paper
on had just in case you have extra guests.
Place the papers in a hat or basket and have each child draw a number
before the game begins. Instruct the
children to line up in order. Older
children can be particularly helpful with getting everyone in order.
Tried and True Games:
Quest Games:
Gathering children together for a group “quest” can be as
elaborate or as simple as time and energy allow. Here are two examples, one very elaborate
set-up with a small number of children (7), and very simple set-up with a large
number of children (15).
For a knight birthday
party my husband drew a map of the yard, around the yard where several different
scenarios for the children to encounter.
The map was then cut into a number of pieces. Once each part of the
quest had been successfully fulfilled the children were given the next piece of
the map and had to figure out where to go.
Different stops along the way included, an encounter with the Green Man
(who became the guide), a stop where all on the quest received a shield (the
birthday boy helped make out of cardboard), a stop where all the children were
given a tunic (simple tunics I made from thrift-store sheets), a slime pit
(swimming pool full of homemade slime), climbing an erupting volcano (a slide
and a rope), and pushing boulders (rolling giant balls across the yard). At the final stop the Green Man knighted each
of the participants and gave them their own sword (balloon sword). The game lasted a very long time and was tons
of fun for all involved. 
A simpler version, but the same concept, is more along the lines
of an elaborate game of follow the leader.
This was used most recently at a Little Red Riding Hood themed
party. Children started at Little Red’s
house and followed the hunter to Grandma’s house. They wove in and out of trees at the park,
down slides, and in and out of cut out houses.
In the end they came to Grandma’s house.
My mother was perched in a little play house dressed Little Red’s
Grandma. Grandma gave each of the
children a little package containing a special treat. My daughter says it was her FAVORITE game!
An Adaption of Musical Chairs:
Beanbag Toss:
feed the frog a fly, fly the bird to the nest, and fill the
Wolf’s Belly. Once everyone has had a
turn leave the game up. Allow anyone who wants to continue playing to do so
while you set up the next game. Some
children really, really love to play beanbag toss, others are satisfied with
just one turn.
Search and Find:
This is a variation on the traditional egg hunt. Children love search and find games. This can be as simple as using the little plastic eggs you can find at Easter, or as elaborate as hiding a birthday themed object. For example, use plastic eggs filled with candies or stickers to hide dragon eggs, or for woodland parties to return bird eggs to a nest. One of my all-time search and find games was for a Super Dinosaur party. We hid giant eggs in the sandbox. The eggs were wrapped in aluminum foil and contained Super Dinosaur capes. The children were given little shovels and told they were on an archaeological dig to discover Super Dinosaur eggs.
Pin the Tail on the Donkey:
This birthday party favorite is highly adaptable to any birthday party theme. For example, instead of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, play Pin the Kiss on the Frog for a princess birthday, Pin the Tail on the Squirrel for a woodland birthday, Pin the hat on the Lego guy for a Lego birthday, or Pin the Tail on the Cat for a cat birthday. A word or caution, young children do not like to be blind folded…be flexible!
Crafts:
Though not a game, having a planned craft for children is a wonderful birthday activity. This can be as simple as a party themed coloring sheet or as elaborate as decorating a crown. A simple craft is a great activity for children to do as they arrive. It gives them a structured activity to do while they wait for others to arrive and while they wait for other planned activities. Crafts are also an excellent way to incorporate the birthday theme.
Final Thoughts:
Be creative and allow the guest of honor to help and be
creative too. Keep games cooperate. Remember it is a party, it should be fun for
everyone!
