Birthday Party Games for Everyone
There is one very important thing to remember about Birthday Party Games – use age/gender appropriate games or activities. You don’t want two year olds playing charades and you don’t want twelve year olds playing duck, duck, goose.
Pinata-
This birthday party game is age appropriate for everyone. Who doesn’t love a pinata, with toys or candy falling around them? Pinata’s can be home made or store bought and you can usually get a themed one. For the younger ones, you might get them to sit and decorate their own. Buy either white or brown paper bags (lunch bag size) and let them color the bags or buy stickers(the stickers could be stickers of the party theme). Once everyone has decorated their “pinata” have a bowl full of candy ready to distribute into each bag. You may need to blow the bag up a little before you hang them. Hang all the bags and let each child take turns hitting their own bag. This can also be used as part of the goody bag. For the older kids, buy one big pinata or make a home-made pinata out of paper mache. The paper mache recipe I remember is two parts water and one part flour and if the consistency isn’t pasty enough add more flour. (Check out the internet for more, or newer recipes.) You can put salt into the mix so the “mache” doesn’t get moldy. Then make your own pinata. Hang the pinata at a height appropriate for the children, and watch the free for all of everyone chasing the goodies.
Pin the tail on the donkey-
Who hasn’t played this game at some point in their life? If you want to go with a themed game change the “donkey”. Example: You are having a “Dora” party. Play pin the tail on Boots, or pin the smile on Dora. This might not be a game you would want to play with older kids. My suggestion is ask your birthday boy or girl.
Charades-
Charades can be fun for most ages. It’s a game you don’t have to put too much work into and can enjoy yourself.
Duck, Duck, Goose-
This can be an easy game you don’t have to put work into either. If you want change the name to match your theme. Let’s say your theme is Dora again. You can use “Dora, Dora, Boots”. Maybe the theme is Spongebob Squarepants. You could say “Sponge, Sponge, Bob”. The work is to choose the name of the game.
Memory game-
You can either buy the game “memory” or a themed memory game or make your own cards based on the Birthday Party Theme.
Treasure Hunt-
My daughter had a Scooby Doo birthday party when she turned three. I cut out footprints as their clues and put each child’s initial on one set. Then I scattered the clues for the child to follow. The footprints led to each child’s goody bag. That worked out well. Other ideas are to scatter or hide coins, or goodies like an easter egg hunt. You can put out fake coins and whoever gets the most wins the prize.
Place mats-
This is good for younger children. It’s also a good way to get everyone sitting down and calm down before the cake. I don’t know if you’ve seen all the place settings that are out. You can buy themed place mats that you can write on and wipe off. This is something that you can also send home with the guests.
Don’t forget these two other easy no set up games. You can have the children play freeze whether dancing or just running around. You can also play Simon Says.
These are some of the best games that can be played on any birthday party as it can be enjoyed by people of all age groups and is not limited to kids alone, the most popular being pin the Donkey’s tail as it has been played at almost every birthday in the west. For more birthday party ideas, you can do an extensive research online in order to plan well in advance before the approaching birthday of your kids which will help you prepare and save valuable time.
Regardless of what games you play, choose your games and prizes in advance. You can buy themed prizes that are themed toys, stickers, or themed candy or you can just by regular wrapped candy. Enjoy your Birthday Party Games.
