Fun Birthday Party Games To Keep Kids Entertained
Whether you're throwing a big birthday party or just having a few friends over for dinner, hosting your kid’s birthday party can feel like a really big responsibility. There should always be something that gets the entertainment rolling. Thankfully, with these fun and inexpensive birthday party games, your children won't be bored anytime soon.
Kids' birthday parties should be a lot of fun, but it's also hard to come up with fun birthday party games - unless you have a few really good ideas in mind! In this article, you'll find some interactive birthday party games for children from toddler to about 8 years old. These birthday party games will keep kids active and entertained while not straying too far from the traditional aspect of a children's birthday party.
Considerations for Birthday Party Games
With your birthday party games list in hand, you can get started on the work of choosing which games to play. One of the most important factors in throwing a party is to think about the age group of the guests. Another thing you need to consider is the type of games that will be most entertaining for all of your guests. If the birthday party will consist mostly of adults, then you can be a bit more lenient with games and activities. Games like Jenga or Cards Against Humanity work well for adult parties because they are less child-friendly and require a lot of brainpower. For children, you should think about games that are more fun and interactive rather than ones where the goal is to keep score. For example, if some younger children are attending, they may not enjoy a quiz game or an active game. If this is the case, be sure to have plenty of goodies and prizes for them to win. Keeping these considerations in mind you will be able to throw the best birthday party of the year and you will also be able to capture lots of happy faces and memories on camera to cherish forever.
Top 15 Birthday Party Games Loved by Kids
One way to keep kids entertained at birthday parties is by coming up with games they love to play. This will keep the birthday party from being too uptight, and it will also make children feel like they're having more fun. Many birthday party games can be played. The following are 15 classic birthday party games that will make your birthday party fun, creative and keep kids entertained.
1. Pin the Tail on the Donkey
Pin the Tail on the Donkey: Pin a picture of a donkey on the wall without a tail. Ask the kids to stand in a queue and blindfold each kid. Now rotate them a couple of times, and point them in the direction of the picture, and ask him/her to pin the tail as accurately as possible. After all the kids have pinned the tail on the picture, the kid who pinned the closest to the donkey is the winner.
2. Tic Tac Toe
Tic Tac Toe: Each kid picks a symbol to represent them; it can be either X or O. Then alternately each player picks one empty space and writes their symbol in it. The first player to get 3 in a row either vertically, horizontally or diagonally wins. If all spaces are filled, then there is no winner, it is a tie.
3. Musical Chairs
Musical Chairs: Set up chairs in a circle facing outwards and the total number of chairs should be one less than the total number of kids playing. Play the music and ask kids to circle the chairs, as soon as the music stops the kids must find a chair to sit on. If a kid doesn’t have a chair to sit in when the music stops, that kid is out. And remove one chair after every round.
4. Hot Potato
Hot Potato: Ask kids to sit in a circle. When the music starts playing, give a potato to a child to pass. When the music stops whoever has the potato in their hand is out. The last kid who is still in the game is the winner.
5. Who Am I
Who Am I: Read out to kids one short description about any place, thing, animal, bird, or personality and let them guess what you are talking about. The kid who raises the hand first gets the chance to answer the question. Every correct answer gets a little surprise.
6. Pick With a Chopstick
Pick with a chopstick: Set up two tables about 7 to 8 feet apart from each other. Place a small bowl on one table with small things like raisins or cashews. Give each kid a chopstick. Let them pick these little things with chopsticks, one at a time, and transfer them to the bowl kept at the other table within the given minutes. The kid who transfers the most wins.
7. Simon Says
Simon Says: Make one adult the leader, Simon. All the kids should follow the instructions only if the instruction is preceded by “Simon says”. For example, Simon says, clap your hands. When the instruction is given without the words “Simon Says” and if any child follows that instruction, then they are out of the game.
8. Twister
Twister: Spread the mat on the floor. Ask an adult to become a referee. The referee spins the wheel, then calls out the body part and the color that the arrow points to. For example, the referee calls out: "Left hand, yellow" then all kids, at the same time, must then try to follow the direction given by the referee. Any kid who falls to do so, or touches the mat with an elbow or knee, is immediately out of the game. The last kid left in the game is the winner!
9. The Human Knot
The Human Knot: Ask kids to stand in a circle facing each other. Each of the kids should reach out their left hand and hold another kid’s hand. Then the kids should reach out their right hand to grab a different kid’s hand. When all the kids' hands are intertwined, they must now slowly begin to unwind the human knot. This will require twisting, crawling, walking through hoops of arms, and more! But remember, they cannot let go of each other’s hands at any time.
10. Red Rover
Red Rover: Divide the kids into two teams and line them up facing each other, forming a chain by holding hands. Team one decides whom to call from the opposite team, and shouts, “red rover, red rover, send (name) on over!” The chosen player then runs toward the other team, trying to break through the clasped hands of two teammates. If the player fails to break the chain, he/she has to join that team. But if they do, they will bring back one of the two players from the broken link.
11. Treasure Hunt
Treasure Hunt: The host needs to hide a series of things around the play space for kids to find, and gives each kid a clue card to find the hidden object. The kid who finds the most wins a prize. The objects can be anything of your choice.
12. Grandmother’s Footsteps
Grandmother’s Footsteps: Make an adult grandma, who stands at the far end of the room. The kids will stand at the opposite end of the room in a line. The idea is that they have to sneak up on grandma. But at any point, grandma can turn around, when she does everyone has to freeze. Any kid seen moving by grandma is either 'out' or sent back to the beginning again. The kid who touches grandma first wins the game.
13. Minute to Win it
Minute to Win it: Every kid will be given a task to do and they will be trying to complete it within a minute. Once they’ve completed it, they can move on to the next station on to the next task. There can be a total of 5 stages to win the game. For example, build a pyramid of 40 cups in 1 minute.
14. Balloon Pop
Balloon Pop: Write down some of the fun challenges on a piece of paper and then insert them into different balloons before inflating them. The kids will have to play with balloons in the air until the music stops. When it does, the kid who was the last to touch the balloon has to pop the balloon and perform the challenge written within it. It could be anything, like singing, dancing, touching the nose with tongue etc
15. Duck, Duck, Goose
Duck, Duck, Goose: Make all kids sit in a circle and then select one kid to be the “goose.” The goose stands up and walks around the circle of kids, tapping each of the other kids on the head. Each time the “goose” taps a head, he or she says “duck.” When they decide on the person they want to chase them, they tap that person’s head saying “goose” and then start off running. If they can make it all the way around the circle, back to the seat of the person that just hopped up and sit down, then they are no longer the “goose.” The person who failed to catch them becomes the new goose. If they are caught, they sit in the centre of the circle and miss being selected for further turns.
One of the most popular birthday party games is musical chairs aka Lottso, which you can play with or without music. You can also come up with your own version of a twister (turning everyone into a birthday character- decorating the floor and Jenga carousels) or pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey (attach the donkey’s tail to its backside with tape). One of the simplest, yet most popular kids’ birthday party games is Pin the Tail on the Donkey. It's simple- blindfold children, then let them pin a tail onto their own personal donkey. Another game is Musical Chairs. It may seem like just another game of tag, but players don't run around in circles continuously. Instead, they sit in designated chairs when the music stops and someone else is eliminated after another round or so.
Birthday Party Games for Extra Large Groups of Kids
No matter what you have planned for your birthday party, these games are so much fun! All you need is a group of kids, a large space for them to play, and a cup or two to drink. Have each child take a balloon and compete against each other by kicking them as far as they can. The last one with their balloon still inflated is the winner of the game.
Birthday Party Games to Keep both Adults and Kids Engaged
Everyone knows that arranging a birthday party can be really stressful. There's usually a lot going on at once and there's never enough time to fit it all in. Here are some games for your kids, plus a few other suggestions you might not have thought of. Keep 'em entertained with one of these activities!
1. Go around the room and ask each person to make up a sound they associate with someone sneezing.
2. Ask everyone their favorite candy or pastime that they do when they are bored.
3. Famous people - Ask everyone BEFOREHAND to come up with 3 celebrity names, then have them mingle at the birthday party for ten minutes before interviewing them with your scrumptious goodies!
And What about Other Activities at a Birthday Party?
A number of alternatives can keep kids entertained and occupied. One way to make an outdoor birthday party more exciting is by playing games like Capture the Flag. This is one of the few games where each team doesn't need nearly as many players as most other games, which means you'll only need three or four people per side to enjoy it. Another option for indoor birthday party games is creating an obstacle course that kids will have to maneuver around with their eyes closed.
