
*Be safe! Make sure any prizes or party favors can fit through a paper towel or toilet paper tube to avoid any choking hazards.
| Prize Walk Birthday Game
Have a birthday prize walk instead of a cakewalk. Place numbers on the ground in a circle or oval. Start the music and the birthday party kids walk around the circle until the music stops. Pick a number out of a hat or roll a dice to decide which number wins a prize. The child that is standing on the number that is picked gets to choose a small toy from the birthday games prize table. Bean Bag Toss Game Cut several circles out of a piece of cardboard, or a large box. Decorate the cardboard with things from your birthday party theme. Use beanbags or socks (filled with beans and tied) to throw into the holes. Give small prizes if they make it in the holes. |
Pin the tail on the Donkey Games
Place a poster on the wall and put a piece of tape
on the back of each object the children will be pinning on the
poster.
Blindfold children, spin them around, and point them toward the poster.
The child who pins their object
closest to the designated spot, is the
winner! Tip: Use a poster from your birthday party theme for this game.
Examples: Pin the spider on the web, tutu on the ballerina, nose on the
clown, X on a treasure map etc.
Limbo
Game
Two older kids or adults hold a pole or broomstick at child's height.
Start the music and have the children bend backwards and walk under the
pole without touching it. After each round lower the pole an inch or
two. If a player touches the pole, they are out. Game Variation:
Instead of a pole use something from your birthday party theme:
Pirate
Limbo - hold a play sword; Fairy Party - hold a magic wand.
Duck Pond Grab Game
Birthday party guests pick rubber ducks out of a wading
pool - they win a prize according to the number on the
bottom of the
duck. Write the numbers 1 - 5 (repeat numbers according to how many
ducks you have) on the
bottom of the ducks and place in pool. In back of
the pool have 5 baskets with different prizes and number the
baskets 1
through 5. Party guests pick up a duck to see what number is on
the bottom then win the prize that corresponds to that number.
If the birthday party guest picks up a duck with a number 4 on the
bottom, they
get a prize from the number 4 basket. It’s a simple game,
but children love it! Tip: Instead of ducks use floating
objects that relate to your birthday party theme.
The more ducks the better - give them away as
favors after the birthday party.
Mystery Fishing Game
For the "water" use a large appliance box, hang a
sheet across a doorway, or cover a table so that the "fish"
(and the
person in the water) are hidden from view. Tie a string to a stick and
attach a clothespin on the end
of the string. Birthday party
guests take turns "casting" the line into the "water". The person in the
"water"
puts small gifts, favors or candy on the clothespin and then
tugs the string to signal that there is a "fish" on
the line. Then
kids pull up the line and retrieve their prize. This is a simple
but fantastic birthday party game
that kids adore! Have lots of
prizes because they will all want to do this birthday party game again
and again.
Bubbles
Kids love bubbles. Blow bubbles and see if they can pop the bubbles
before they hit the floor. Then see who can
catch bubbles on their
wand. If you have older children attending the
party see who can blow
the biggest or
smallest bubble. Give away bubbles as party favors
- print out large labels with your child's picture
and
"Thank you for sharing my ___
birthday!"
Treasure Hunt Game
Choose large plastic eggs, balls, party favors or any item from your
birthday party theme* and hide around the
living room, backyard or park
while the children aren't looking. Hold up one item like the ones
you have hidden
and tell them to search and find the items. The
one who finds the most items gets to help hide the objects for
the next
round. Have children return the items to a basket and hide the
items again... and again.
Extra
... after the games divide the treasure hunt items equally and send them
home as party favors.
Ring around the rosy
Children stand in a circle holding hands and walk around in a circle
while they sing "Ring around the rosy, a pocket
full of posies, ashes,
ashes we all ... fall ... down!" After singing "all fall down",
children fall to the ground.
Then repeat!
Parade
Kids turning 2, 3 and 4 love parades. Make your own birthday party
parade by giving children musical instruments - drums, shakers, horns,
etc. and have them follow you around the house or yard playing their
"birthday song".
Or have the children follow you with
streamers or ribbons and have a dance parade. If the children all
have doll
strollers or wagons let them parade with their dolls and
stuffed animals.
Hokey Pokey
Children love this simple game and it is fun to play at a birthday
party. Have children stand in a circle. The leader begins
the song and have everyone join in. Leader puts their right arm in
the circle and sings "You put your right
arm in ... you take your right
arm out ... you put your right arm in and you shake it all about .. you
do the hokey
pokey and you turn yourself around and that's what it's all
about! While singing the song put your right arm in the
circle, take
your right arm out, put your right arm in and then shake it up and down,
then have your index fingers
point to the sky while turning yourself in
a circle, clap the last line of the song ... That's what it's all about!
Color Poster boards
Write children's names on the top of the poster board and let them use
markers, paints and/or crayons to color
all over the paper.
Tape the paper to the top of a table, or if it is nice outside make a
easel by taping the poster
board to a fence.
Dancing
One year olds love to dance. Play music and let them freestyle
dance at the
birthday party.
Freeze Dance Game
Play fast music and let the kids dance. Then stop the music (or
call our "Freeze!") and everyone must stop dancing
and "freeze" in that
position until you say "Unfreeze". Then
start over and have them dance again.
Duck Duck Goose Game
Children sit in a circle on the floor. The birthday child (patter)
starts by walking around the outside of the circle
and patting the head
of each child. Every time they pat a head they call out "duck". Then
they choose one person
to be the goose and yell "GOOSE!" when they pat
their head. The “patter” then runs clockwise around the
circle
and tries to sit down in the place of the goose before the goose
tags them. If the goose tags the patter then the
goose sits back
down and the patter starts again. If the goose doesn’t tag the patter
then the goose becomes the
patter and the game starts again. Game
Variation: Use your
birthday party theme with this game: Buzz, Buzz,
Sting
for a Bug Party; Tick, Tick, Tock for a Pirate Party
Fox and Hen Game
Have children sit on the floor in a circle. Give two bean bags to
two children that are opposite each other in the circle. Name one
of the bean bags the "Hen" and the other the "Fox". Children pass
the bean bags clockwise around the circle to see if the fox can catch
the hen.
Sidewalk chalk
Give children large sticks of chalk and let them draw on the sidewalk,
porch or driveway.
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May
New ideas from: Kenyata - New Orleans Sharon - Pittsburg Laura - Puyallup, WA Aimee Kadria - Michigan Lindsey Movin' Girl Erica2278 Chicka Gurl - MD Share Your Ideas |