Tag Archive for: kids party games

1. Treasure Hunt

This party game is actually fun for both kids and adults. Hide a prize somewhere in the house or yard and place clues all over that will lead the participants to the “treasure”.

You can make a variation of the game where you hide multiple prizes in different places. Make maps leading to the prizes. On the day of the party, you then divide the children into teams and hand them a map. The first team to find their treasure wins.

2. Three-Legged Race

This is a simple game that is a favorite among younger kids. Find something soft to tie 2 children’s legs together and make them race with their “3 legs”. To make it more exciting, you can have a relay version provided there is enough room and enough participants.

3. Balloon Pop

Blow up lots of balloons and place tokens (simple paper with a number or picture) inside some of them. Each token represents a small prize. The kids can then blow up the balloons to find the tokens.

4. Sack Race

This is a classic game that never gets boring. All you need are a few sacks to get the action going. To make it more exciting, put participants into teams with a member representing an age group. For example, one toddler, one teen, and one adult (if you have some around). Points are awarded for each round and points tallied at the end.

5. Hot Potato

Kids sit in a circle and an item is placed in the first child’s hands. Music is then played and the kids start passing the object around. When the music stops, the child holding the object is eliminated. The last child remaining is the winner. To make it more interesting, make the object the prize of the game.

6. Obstacle Course

Set up an obstacle course in your backyard and let the kids race to get to the end where a simple prize will be waiting for them.

7. Marble Toss

Get a piece of foam board (a sturdy cardboard box can do) and glue plastic cups on it. Cover the entire board with colored Styrofoam cups. At least four colors to represent a player. The players are then given marbles matching in color with their cups. The aim of the game is to throw your marbles into your color cup. The number of marbles in the players’ cup equals their number of points.

8. Pin the Tail on the Donkey

This is another classic that will never lose its appeal. All you need do is print (or paint if you’re artistic) a picture on a cardboard, leaving out a piece of course. If your party has a theme, be creative and use a picture that corresponds to the theme. The kids then take turns to be blindfolded and try to pin the missing piece in its place. Be sure to turn them around a bit to make it more interesting.

9. Ring Toss

Bring the carnival into your home with this easy-to-make game. All you need are a few bottles to throw some homemade rings over.

10. Duck. Duck. Goose!

Have the children sit in a circle and pick out one child (the duck) to get the game started. The duck then goes behind the line and walks around touching the children’s heads saying “duck” each time. After a while, the duck should touch one of them at random and shout “goose”, and run to the spot she was picked from. The goose then runs after the duck to try and stop her from reaching their spot. Failure to do so and the goose turns into the duck and the process is repeated.

11. What’s the Time Mr. Wolf

Pick one child from among the kids (best start with the birthday boy/girl) to be the wolf. All the kids follow the wolf asking, “What’s the time Mr. Wolf?” The wolf responds by stating the time starting from one O’Clock and going up. At one point, at the wolf’s discretion, the wolf then shouts, “Dinner time!”, and turns around to chase the other kids. The captured victim then becomes the wolf.

12. Escape The Monster

Set up two points a distance apart. The first point is where the game starts, you can call it anything, granny’s house is a good one. The other point will be “home”. Chose 1 or 2 children (even an adult) to stand in the middle (the forest) as the monsters. The aim of the game is for each child to run across the forest and avoid being caught by a monster. Any child who gets caught turns into a monster too. The children will run to and fro between home and granny’s place until one child is left. The last child remaining is the winner.