Birthday party games are an essential part of your party planning process. No children’s party is complete without party games. One of the most important rules when organizing a children’s party is to keep them busy. It’s a recipe for disaster when you don’t have enough activities. Children will not sit still, if you don’t give them something to do they will find something to do and not necessarily what you would have chosen.

Find below a list of indoor and outdoor party games kids will love to play! Also visit our site for a complete list of over 30 party games!

drama in a bag

1) Divide the children into teams.

2) Give each team a bag with various items such as an apple, a cup, a comb or a toy (no more than 5 items).

3) Give the children 15 minutes to create a skit containing all the items in their bag.

4) Then ask them to act out the skit. If you want to have a winner, select the team that used their items the best in the skit.

silly photo

1) Provide children with accessories such as fake mustaches (cut out of felt), glasses, wigs, hats, clown noses, fake tattoos, etc.

2) Then take fun photos of the kids to take home as party favors.

copy cat

1) Ask the children to stand in a circle.

2) The birthday boy or girl starts the game by moving a part of the body such as waving a hand, moving the hips, sticking out the tongue, etc.

3) The next child has to repeat the movements of the first child and add a movement of their own. Play continues around the circle with each child repeating the previous moves and adding their own.

4) When a child can’t remember previous moves or makes a wrong move, they’re out.

Obstacle course

You will need a stopwatch for this game.

1) Create a crazy obstacle course. There are many ways to make obstacle course fun with everyday items. a) using chairs that children have to crawl under, b) having them run around a tree, c) tagging a fence, d) sitting on or stepping on a balloon and popping it, e) stopping and blowing gum before to move in, f) throw a basketball into a hoop, g) jump rope five times, h) do 10 push-ups/jumps/flips. These are just a few ideas.

2) Have each child run through the obstacle course completing each task while timing themselves using the stopwatch.

3) The one with the fastest time wins.

duck pond

1) You will need a wading pond, a small net (a fish tank net works well), several rubber ducks (as many ducks as you have guests), and as many prizes as you have ducks.

2) Put numbers on the bottom of each duck (use a waterproof marker) and number each prize.

3 Have each child use the net to try to catch a duck. Once they’ve caught a duck, they can open the prize that corresponds with the number on the bottom of their duck.

4) To make the game more exciting, you can have a golden egg prize. Use a gold (water resistant) marker to draw a gold egg on the bottom of 1 duck. Whoever gets the duck with the golden egg wins the “Golden Egg” prize. This prize should be a bit more exciting than the other prizes.

set of marshmallow picks

1) For this kids party game, divide the kids into 2 groups or have 2 kids compete at once.

2) Have the children race to see who can build the tallest marshmallow tower in a given amount of time.

what candy is it

1) For this party game for kids, you will need several different flavors of chocolate bars such as Snickers, Milky Way, Nestlé Crunch, Kit Kat, M&Ms, Hershey Bar, 3 Musketeer, Twix, etc.

2) Melt each chocolate bar in the microwave. Divide the caramel melt into small portions for each child to taste.

3) Have the children taste each melted chocolate bar and guess how sweet it is. Whoever gets it right gets that chocolate bar as a prize. Of course, give fresh, unmelted candy bars as treats.

Memory

1) For this kids party game you will need a tray and party supplies.

2) Place various party items on a tray, such as a party hat, balloon (not inflated), streamer, candle, invitation, cupcake, etc. You will need at least 10 items.

3) Let the children look at all the items on the tray for 1 minute.

4) Remove the tray and then have the children guess what was on the tray. Whoever has the most correct answers wins.

What animal are you

1) Distribute animal stickers to each child.

2) Have each child imitate their animal and have the other children guess what animal it is.

hot potato

1) Place the children in a circle. Play music while passing an object around the circle. The object does not have to be a potato; can be anything.

2) Stop the music and whoever has the object is the winner.

3) Continue playing until one child remains. He is the winner.

gut dip

1) For this party game for kids, fill a large bowl or bucket with anything soft, like pasta or mashed potatoes.

2) Hide small objects in all the soft substance.

3) Give children a set amount of time to put their hands in the soft substance and find an object.

4) They keep what they find.

winning balloon

1) For this kids party game, place notes on uninflated balloons. Choose a couple of balloons to put notes that say winner. Inflate all the balloons and place them around the party area.

2) Tell the children to each find a balloon.

3) One by one, have each child pop their balloon to see if they are a winner.

4) Children with balloons that have notes get a prize.

balloon stomp

1) For this kids’ party game, tie a 3-foot piece of string/ribbon to a balloon and attach the other end to the party guests’ ankle.

2) Do the same for each child.

3) The goal is for the children to pop each other’s balloon by stomping on them while protecting their own balloon.

4) The last child with an inflated balloon is the winner.

Bubble boy (or girl)

1) For this kids party game, fill a kiddie pool with water and a bubble mix.

2) Place a stool in the center of the pool.

3) Place a hula-hoop in the pool around the stool.

4) Have each child stand on the stool and then hula-hoop over the child.

5) The child will be inside a huge bubble.

Musical Gifts

1) Have the children sit in a circle and play music while the children pass around a wrapped gift.

2) When the music stops, the child with the gift keeps it.

sack jump

1) Divide the children into 2 teams.

2) Line them up and give the first child on each team a large pillowcase.

3) Have both children stand inside the pillowcase holding the edges. Along the way, they must jump to a predetermined mark and return as fast as they can. They then hand the pillowcase to the next member in line on their team. Each member of each team has a turn.

4) The team that finishes first wins.

remember that verse

1) This game works better with tweens than young children.

2) Before the party put together a versus list of popular songs. You should ask the birthday boy to help you with this.

3) When playing with the children, only read one part of the verse and have the children fill in the rest. If the children are bold, have them sing the rest of the verse.

guess this

1) For this kids’ party game, place riddles on the cards, then give each child a turn to choose a card.

2) If they get the riddle right, they get a prize. (You may want to help with suggestions based on age group.)

Examples of riddles: “This is the place where I learn the most and play with my friends” (answer: school), “You can use me to help with homework, contact friends or play games” (answer: computer), “I’ m cold or icy depending on which door you open (answer: refrigerator).