What are some great games for children's parties?

Question

I have a group of 5 - 8 year olds coming this weekend and want to keep the games short but fun.

Answer 1

Where's the ball ?
Put a ping-pong or table tennis ball on the edge of a table. A player is blindfolded. He/she stands with his/her back to the table. At the command he/she makes 5 steps forwards, turns around 3 times, comes back to the table and tries to blows the ball off the table.
It's really funny to watch when the players blow the ball off the place the ball has never been.





Grab a toy.
Put small toys on the floor. As the music plays everyone walks around the circle, following the leader. When the music stops everyone must grab a toy. The person who hasn't picked a toy is out. The number of toys should be reduced every time. The winner is the person who stays till the end of the play.




Desert Islands
This is similar to musical chairs but played with pieces of paper placed on the floor.
But remember to place one less piece of paper to the number of players. ( Eg. If there are 10 players, place 9 pieces of paper)

When the music stops the children have to stand on a piece of paper.

The player not standing on a desert island is out.

Always have one less desert island than players.

The paper (islands) should be colourful and not too small.





GOAL !
Put a balloon on the floor, the blindfolded player who is taking the penalty stands about 6-7 steps away from the balloon. Spin the player round 3 times before they kick the balloon towards the goalie. It's fun when the player having made those 6-7 steps kicks the air, because he went in the wrong direction. The winner is the player who kicks the balloon.




BURSTING BALLOONS
The balloon is tied to the left leg of players. The object of the game is to burst a rival's balloon with the right leg. Do not play this game with small children.




WHOSE SHADOW IS THIS ?

Put a white sheet on the wall. One of the players sits down on the chair facing the sheet. At the opposite side of the room there is a lamp on a table. All the players walk between the lamp and the guesser in turn. The guesser must try to identify the others by their shadows as they walk past. The players try to change their shadows. The player who is recognized becomes the guesser.




WISPERS
The players must wisper a difficult phrase to the last player in the row. Usually when this phrase comes to the last player it is distorted or gets changed.




Do the Opposite !
Have a list of things for the players to do e.g. walk, run, sit down, hop on left foot, wave your right hand, quiet, noisy, stand still, jump up and down, scream, dance etc.
The game is to do the exact opposite to what you are saying.

Gradually remove all those players who get it wrong,

The last player remaining is the winner





Jigsaws Puzzle
This can be played either as a team game or for individual players.
Cut out pictures from old magazines.

Cut or tear into smaller pieces to form a jigsaw pattern.

Put each into a separate box or bag .The team or player that completes the picture correctly first is the winner.





Musical Bumps
All the players have to run, jump, skip, hop,dance etc. while the music plays,
When the music stops they have to sit on the floor as quickly as possible

The last one to sit down is out. Continue the music until you have a winner.






Guessing game
Collect about 10 boxes before for party, eg shoe box size, cut a hole in the top big enough to put your hand in, cover the boxes label or number them so you know which is which. place a different object in each box.
Blindfold all players, get them to put their hand in the box one by one and guess what they are feeling

Eg:- erasers,cotton wool, toy soldiers, playdough, toy spider, marbles, toothbrush, dinky cars,sugar lumps.

You can further use your imagination and The list can be endless but don't go for anything too messy.





Hoopla
Make a cardboard hoop ring that can easily fit over large cold drink bottles.
Paint or decorate the hoops and the empty bottles,

3 hoops for each player. Put 3 bottles on the floor, and

mark a throwing line on the floor with chalk or stick tape.

Each player takes turns to throw the hoops onto the bottles the one with the highest score is the winner.

In case of tie, a re-match between the players decides the winner.





Musical Statues
All the players have to run around while the music is playing,
When the music stops, the children have to stand as still as a statue for as long as the music is not playing.

The first child who moves is out, repeat until you have a winner.





LAND and WATER

This is a game which calls for attention and is real fun to play. On hearing the word "land" the players jump forward, on hearing the word "water" backward.
Then the word "land" can be suddenly changed into "bank". The actions of the players must be the same as after the word "land" i.e jump forward.

The word "water" may be changed into "sea", "lake", "river", etc. The player who gets it wrong is out.






SPOON RACE
Each player must run a certain distance, holding a spoon with a big potato on. The players run in turn. If the potato falls down, the player must put it in the spoon again and continue to run. To run without a potato in the spoon means to break the rules. The player who covered the distance in the shortest time is the winner. Instead of a potato you can even try a lemon.





Aiming
On cardboard draw or paint a simple dart board with rings and points.
Give each player 3 balls made from plastacine, put a tape on the floor for the throwing line or draw the line with chalk.

The players take turns throwing to the dart board, aiming for the centre ( Bulls eye)

The player with the highest score is the winner.



What's the time Mr Wolf?
One player is the wolf. The Wolf has to stand at one end of the room facing away from all the others. The children creep up on the wolf shouting "what's the time Mr Wolf?"
Mr Wolf shouts back 2 o'clock, half past 4, 6 o'clock etc. but when he shouts "dinner time" all the children run. The one caught then becomes the wolf, and the game goes on this way





Statue !
Played with music, all the players move round while the music is going on, when the music stops the players have to stand like statues, anyone who moves is out, start the music again and repeat as many times as you want. The last one is the winner.




Three blind mice
One person plays the cat, the others stand in a circle around the cat, the cat puts their hands over their eyes and repeats "three blind mice, see how they run" as many times as they wish. When they stop and say "see how they run NOW" The mice run away and the cat tries to catch them, the one to be caught then becomes the cat & the game goes on this way.




Passing the parcel
Passing the parcel round to music, when the music stops the child with the parcel takes off a layer of paper, the child who takes off the last layer gets to keep the prize.
Make sure you have enough layers so everyone gets to take off a layer of paper: put sweets or small prizes in-between the layers so you don't have any tears or sad faces.





Red Blue Green fun
Red means fast, blue means normal speed, green means go slow. Choose different activities hopping, jumping, walking, dancing etc. Shout out the colors and activity.




Pinning the tail of the donkey
Draw a picture of the back of a donkey without the tail on a big piece of paper or cardboard draw on a big "x" where the tail should be, and paint a separate tail that will be pinned.
Each guest is blindfolded in turn and lead to the donkey, spin them round 3 times near the picture, then they have to "pin the tail to the donkey".

The one who has put their tail closest to the "x" is the winner. Either make different tails for each guest or mark the spot with the players name.





Poker Faces
Make 2 equal teams.
Call the teams different names eg 1 and 2 or apples and lemons.

Play music, after a time switch off the music, shout out one team name, that team has to make the other team laugh, smile or move any part of their face etc, the players that are not "poker faces" are counted as1 point each, the team with the lowest score at the end of the game are the winners. Repeat as many times as you want the game to last. Alternating the team names shouted out.





Ring-a-ring of roses
All children stand in a circle and join hands, they then skip round in the circle singing "ring a ring a roses, pocket full of posies, a tisshoo, a tisshoo, we all fall down". The children then all sit down on the floor, singing " the cows are in the meadow, eating buttercups, a tisshoo, a tisshoo, we all stand up". The children all then stand up. Repeat as many times as required.




Round the Mulberry Bush
Everyone stands in a circle with one person in the middle , all sing "here we go round the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush the mulberry bush, here we go round the mulberry bush, on a cold and frosty morning". The person standing in the middle makes up the next verse e.g. "this is the way we brush our teeth, on a cold and frosty morning". If children are too young to be able to make up their own verses, have a list ready so you can read them out.




Simon says
Mum or helper says "Simon says" hop on one foot, clap your hands, run round in circles, stand still, jump up and down,laugh out loudly, etc, the list can be endless. You can play this game so many different ways eliminate anyone who is slow to react, so you end up with just one winner. Stay on one theme e.g. making the sounds of animals, doing the actions of animals e.g. elephants, monkeys, birds etc. Or keep everyone "in" and do not eliminate anyone. This will keep everyone happy :-)




Tug of War
Divide the players into 2 teams. Tie a ribbon or hanky on the middle of the rope. Put 2 lines on the ground so the players stand behind the lines, pick up the rope and on the word GO the team that pulls the other team over their line is the winner.




KANGAROO JUMP
Each player must cover a certain distance jumping with a tennis ball between their knees. If the ball falls down, the player places it between their knees again and continues to jump. The player who covers the distance in the shortest time is the winner.




BALANCE
You must pass 10-20 meters long with the book on your head, having a glass full of water in your left hand and another book in the right hand. At the same time you must roll a ball with your feet. The fastest is the winner.

Answer 2

Party Games For 6 Year Olds

Answer 3

Party Games For 7 Year Olds

Answer 4

pin the tail on a cat or dog or some other animal that your child likes. A good game to play is pass the parcel, put little gifts inside each wrap( that way every child gets a prize) and a bigger prize in the last one. Another game is statues, the childen dance to music, that they like, when the music stops they have to stop and not move the person who moves sits down and helps you see the next child who moves when the music stops again and so fourth the last child standing is the winner. My children and their friends loved these games. As a the children leave the go home give them a lolly bag each with a small gift inside this way everyone is happy,not just the ones that have one prizes with the games. I hope this is of help

Answer 5

With little effort, you can make this a party other kids will remember - not because the games are different, but because of a bit of imagination in presenting them

GET A THEME

Kids, today we are not going to the swimming pool, or the park, or the bowling alley ... we thought we would take you:-
"Around the World"
or "Under the Sea"
or "Inside a Cartoon"

then each of the games you decide on is another aspect of the theme you chose.

We had "Around the World"
Mexico had Donkeys we pinned the tail on
Germany had tall athletes, so stilt races (looped cord to hold onto poking into solid tin cans for each foot)
China had chop sticks to get ice cubes out of a bucket of warm water before it melted
Hogwarts was in the UK, so a young wannabe magician did a couple of tricks.
Musical chairs can be from the country you have music for.
Australian Pass the Parcel had numbers on each layer of paper, and you had to imitate an different animal from Down Under. Introduce each one with, "Crickey, its a Kookaburra that laughs"

Have fun and be creative where old favourite games may come from.

Answer 6

1-the marshmallow stuff:you see how many marshmallows you can fit into your mouth without eating them on the way.
2-chocolate'n'dice game:sit in a large circle, in the middle(if you had 11 people) you'd have 2 or 3 blocks of chocolate. there would be 1 dice and some dress up clothes. ok so what you do is take turns in rollong the dice, when it lands on 6 the person who gets the 6 has to put on thedress ups(maybe just some gloves or a hat) and that person has to eat as much chocolate with a knofe and fork(one block at a time) until someone else rolls a 6...do you get me?

Answer 7

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cut out a card board ghost with an open mouth that is fairly wide. Have the kids toss bean bags (made mine with felt and rice) to "feed the ghost" This is always a hit: Put in a small paper bag fun/silly "tricks" printed on slips of paper. Have a big bowl of "treats" to the side. Tell the kids they can take turns doing a trick for a treat. favorite trick - act like a piece of popcorn! Hardest trick for most - say the ABC's backwards. Dry Bobbing for apples. If you don't want to have all the water - Tie the apple stems to string and hang from the ceiling or tree limb. try to have an apple for each kid to try and get loose from the string. Sundae decorating -- Have a few cans of whip cream and some sprinkles (MM's colored sprinkles, marshmallows...) and chocolate syrup. Then buy a bag of those individual serving cups of ice cream at walmart/store. Have a volunteer mom posted at this station! I used 2 litre drink bottles filled with about an inch of water as bowling pins and a bouncy ball (about 6-8 inches) as the bowling ball. I had BAD luck with pinyata's and so has several friends - One kids always gets hit in the head and then they step all over each other trying to grab the candy. Try to avoid a pinyata One year I made the pizza dough the day before and shaped them to all look like pumpkins. Then I used yellow cheese and red sauce to make it look kind of orange. That's a bit of work though If you go online and type in "Halloween games, Kids" you will get tons of them.

Answer 8

I had a pirate party for my girls 7th. We did pin the stuff on the pirate, it was a killer !!!
I traced around the birthday girl and painted it up as a pirate with lots of bits missing, we had 14 kids at the party so I need a different bit for each kid,
the usual blind fold and spin around 3 times involved
the missing bits were....
the parrot for the shoulder
a golden hoop ear-ring
the eye patch
the lips
a mostache
the belt buckle
a shoe
a sword
a bag of coins

I can t remeber them all but it was way good

all made of cardboard with a thumbtack glued to the back

Yes I did have a lot of time on my hands

Answer 9

Trying to remember way back when I was young, I seem to remember musical chairs, Simon says, treasure hunts and my favourite pass the parcel. While I'm sure there are loads of kids games these come with fond memories.

Answer 10

You can hire a clown, who will keep them entertain with party tricks for a 1/2 hr or so.
Hide and seek: Hide a small gift that they have to seek to find.
Pin the tail of the donkey: Draw a donkey on a large piece of paper, cut out a tail so the kids can pin the tail on. Put adhesive tape or blu tak so the tail can be pinned on, it is to dangerous to use a pin at there age. Get enough size sticks for each child to pick up, hold them if your fist so they can only see the tops of them, let each child select on, the one who has the longest stick goes first and so on. Blind fold each child when it is there turn to pin the tail and then get them to pin the tail. The one who pins closest to the donkeys end wins the prize(gift). Make sure you mark on the paper donkey each child's name when they pin the tail that way you know at the end who to give the prize to.

Answer 11

At a 7-year-old girl's party, I invented a SCREAMING competition. They loved it. But the parents and neighbours didn't like it much.
Each girl takes her turn to take a deep breath and scream.
First prize to the loudest. Some are unbelievable.