Classic Children's Party Games

This was always my favourite party game as a child! It's a great game for all ages and temperaments, as shyer children don't have to worry about being loud or having to do something in front of other kids.

*** HOW TO PLAY ***
1. Before the party, choose a special gift and wrap it up. Then wrap it up again and again! If you don't want to spend ages wrapping, you could use different sized boxes instead.
2 Everyone sits in a circle and the present is handed to one of the children (e.g. the party girl or boy)
3. Play some party music. The children pass the parcel around the circle
4. When the music stops, the person holding the parcel must unwrap one layer. The music starts again and the parcel continues around the circle
5. Keep going until all the layers have been opened and one lucky child gets to open and keep the gift!

*** TOP TIPS ***
* The game should be random but try and let each child have a go at unwrapping a layer
* Wrap enough layers for the number of guests, plus a few more to allow for duplicate guests unwrapping

*** ALTERNATIVE PLAY ***
* You could have a tiny gift in each layer, such as a sweetie, so that everyone gets to win something (in which case, make sure everyone gets a go at unwrapping!)
* Alternatively, each layer could reveal a riddle to solve, a joke to read aloud, or a forfeit to perform! I remember playing a forfeit version at school and having to yodel!

*** ADAPTING TO A PARTY THEME ***
This game is easy to adapt to a theme - all you need to do is choose a themed gift! You could also use themed wrapping paper if available, and play themed music.

This is another great fun game, especially popular with pony fans!

*** HOW TO PLAY ***
1. Prepare a picture of a donkey minus his tail, and make enough tails for each guest, each with a pin or tack attached
2. Each child is blindfolded and spun round until disorientated, before being pointed towards the donkey picture
3. The child pins the tail where they think it should go
4. The winner is the person who gets their tail nearest to the correct position!

*** TOP TIPS ***
* Don't play this game with very small children who might eat or injure themselves on the pins
* If any children aren't keen on being blindfolded, get them to close their eyes instead

*** ADAPTING TO A PARTY THEME ***
Adapt to any party theme by using a picture of the theme character or object and replacing the tail with something relevant. For example, pin the ears on Mickey Mouse, pin the Omnitrix on Ben 10, pin the tie on Doctor Who, pin the tail on Peppa Pig and so on!

This fun game always used to cause a riot at parties I went to (in a good way!)

*** HOW TO PLAY ***
1. Put out a row of chairs, amounting to one less than the number of party guests
2. Play music while the players walk, dance or skip around the chairs
3. When the music stops, everyone must scramble to sit on a chair
4. The person left without a chair is out
5. One chair is removed and play continues until there is only one chair left - the person who sits on it first is the winner!

*** TOP TIPS ***
* If two players sit on a chair at the same time and an argument ensues, play a deciding game such as tossing a coin, or play the round again

*** ALTERNATIVE PLAY ***
* If you don't have enough chairs, get the children to sit on the floor when the music stops. The last one to sit down is out. This is also known as Musical Bumps.
* To add interest to the game, make players do an activity before they are allowed to sit on a chair, such as five hops or three star jumps

*** ADAPTING TO A PARTY THEME ***
To fit a party theme, think of an object relating to the theme that can be used instead of chairs. Cut out large card versions of them and get players to sit on them, removing one each round as you would with the chairs. For example, musical planets for Doctor Who, musical skulls for a pirate theme, musical crowns for a princess theme and so on!

Have some fast-paced fun with this game!

*** HOW TO PLAY ***
1. You will need a small, throwable object such as a bean bag or squashy ball, or indeed a potato (not a hot one though!)
2. Play some music. Players stand in a circle and throw the object randomly from person to person, as if the object is red hot!
3. When the music stops, the person who is holding the object (or who last touched it if the music stops when the object is mid-air) is out
4. Continue until the last person standing is declared the winner

*** TOP TIPS ***
* Use an object that is not likely to cause any damage in a free space, as play can get a little frenzied!

*** ADAPTING TO A PARTY THEME ***
Decorate the object to resemble something from your party theme, or use a toy object from the theme. Play hot lava rocks at a Ben 10 party, hot brick at a Bob the Buider party, hot wheel at a cars party and so on.

This timeless classic game can create hours of party fun!

*** HOW TO PLAY ***
1. Ask players to think of a book, movie, song or TV show
2. Choose someone to start
3. The chosen player must act out his or her chosen title with mime only, no speaking aloud
4. Generally, the player should first of all mime film, song, TV show or book, and then how many words there are in the title, before going through each word and miming how many symbols. A full list of main rules and mimes can be found HERE.
5. The player who correctly guesses the title then gets to perform their mime.
6. Continue as long as you want or for a set amount of time

*** TOP TIPS ***
* If children are unsure of how to play, go first to demonstrate the mime actions (it's probably easier than trying ti explain it all!)

*** ALTERNATIVE PLAY ***
* Instead of the usual book. film, TV, song theme, you could also have animals. video games, plays, sports and so on as mime categories
* Rather than playing individually, divide everyone into two teams
* To avoid play going on forever. you could have each player take it in turn to do a mime. Rather than the person guessing getting another go, they could accumulate points instead, with the winner being the person who guessed the most mimes correctly

*** ADAPTING TO A PARTY THEME ***
If the theme is a film or TV show, mime out different characters, episode titles, objects or actor names. If the theme is generic, act out associations with the theme, or books, films etc that are in that genre.

Similar to Musical Chairs, this game adds a fun twist to proceedings!

*** HOW TO PLAY ***
1. Everyone stands in the middle of the room, spaced apart
2. Play music, while everyone walks about, dances on the spot or jigs around
3. When the music stops, everyone must freeze
4. Whoever moves or wobbles first is out!
5. Continue until one player is left and declared the winner!

*** TOP TIPS ***
* If everyone is particularly good at standing still, introduce ways to try and distract the players, perhaps by a non-player or player who is out running in between everyone, or making loud noises

*** ALTERNATIVE PLAY ***
* Rather than simply standing still, get the children to pose in funny positions. This is more likely to result in wobbles and so play should progress faster!
* Play as above but shout out the pose children have to make!
* Make things even more challenging by adding props! Great for making it more interesting for older kids

*** ADAPTING TO A PARTY THEME ***
Shout out the name of a character, action or object from the party theme when the music stops and the children must pose appropriately. For example, yogo poses for a Waybuloo party, alien shapes for Ben 10 or Doctor Who, or an animal pose for Littlest Pet Shop

This is a classic memory game where you begin with one item on a shopping list and everyone keeps adding to it, but has to remember all the previous items too!

*** HOW TO PLAY ***
1. Start everyone off with the first item. Say " I went the shop and I bought... (an apple)."
2. The next person says, "I went to the shops and I bought an apple, and (a banana)."
3. Continue from person to person. When someone forgets the order, or gets an item wrong, they are out
4. The winner the is last person standing

*** TOP TIPS ***
* This game can get confusing, especially when people start going out, as it often helps to look at the person and remember what they said. Don't take it too seriously ,especially with little ones, and help each other out if necessary!

*** ALTERNATIVE PLAY ***
* As a twist, when people are eliminated from the game, their shopping items have to be eliminated from the list too!
* It doesn't have to be a trip to the shops. It could be "I went to the farm and I saw... a goat, a cow..." or "I went to Disneyworld and I saw... Minnie Mouse, Princess Aurora..." etc.

*** ADAPTING TO A PARTY THEME ***
Adapt this game easily to any theme! I went into space and I saw these aliens, I went on a pirate ship and I saw... I went to the pet shop and I bought... I was a princess for the day and I did this and this... the possibilities are endless!

This is more of a classic playground game, but can make a great party game if you have the space or can go outside!

*** HOW TO PLAY ***
1. Nominate someone to be the first Mr (or Mrs!) Wolf
2. Everyone else faces Mr Wolf, ideally at the other end of the room, or at a distance if outside, and calls in unison "What's the time, Mr Wolf?"
3. Mr Wolf says a time, such as 6 o'clock, 1 o'clock and so on. Everyone takes the number of steps forward that is the time, so six steps for 6 o'clock.
4. This continues until eventually Mr Wolf decides to cry "Dinnertime!". Everyone runs away and Mr. Wolf has to catch one of them. Whoever is caught first becomes the next Mr Wolf!

*** TOP TIPS ***
* You need space for this game, so pick a fairly empty room or go outside
* Make sure there is nothing that the kids will trip over or bump into when they all run away in a panic!

*** ADAPTING TO A PARTY THEME ***
Change Mr Wolf to an appropriate animal, person or character from the party theme. The phrase "dinnertime" could also be changed to an appropriate quote from the theme too.

You can have lots of fun with this classic kids game!

*** HOW TO PLAY ***
1. Nominate someone to be Simon, or play the part yourself
2. The person declares "Simon says... put your hands on your head. Simon says... dance in a circle," and so on
3. Everyone has to do what Simon says, otherwise they are out.
4. The person playing Simon should randomly give an instruction without saying "Simon says" first. Anyone who carries out the action when he or she has not said Simon says is also out!
5. Continue playing until you have a winner!
6. If you're taking it in turns, the winner then gets to be Simon

*** ALTERNATIVE PLAY ***
* To add extra fun and speed the game along a little, Simon could randomly speed up instructions to confuse players, or do another action when telling players to do something else (such as jumping up and down when telling them to stand still!)

*** ADAPTING TO A PARTY THEME ***
Change Simon to a character, animal or person from the theme, and give instructions based on the theme. For example, if holding a Waybuloo party you could have one person as a "Cheebie" and say things like "Cheebie says, drive a Nara car like Nok Tok" or "Cheebie says, dance like Lay Lau"!

Expect lots of giggles in this game!

*** HOW TO PLAY ***
1. Choose someone to be "it" first. Blindfold them
2. Everyone else must run around and try to avoid being caught by the blindfolded player. Players can shout out and tease the blindfolded player to confuse them
3. Once someone is caught, they become "it" and the game starts over again

*** TOP TIPS ***
* This game needs to be played in a spacious area with no obstructions or uneven ground that could cause the blindfolded player to fall and/or injure themselves

*** ALTERNATIVE PLAY ***
* Whenever any player is caught by "it", that player is out of the game. The game proceeds until all players are out. To begin another round, the blindfolded person is either the first or last person to be caught in the previous game
* When a person is caught, the blindfolded player must try to identify the person by feeling their face, hair, clothes etc. If they correctly guess the person, they are free and the person is now "it".

*** ADAPTING TO A PARTY THEME ***
This is not quite so easy to adapt to a theme, other than by saying that the blindfolded player is a character from the theme, preferably a baddie, and they are trying to catch everyone. For example, a pirate, an alien. a wicked stepmother!

The Kid's Birthday Party Club is a collaboration of the best party planners on the web. Here you will find unique kid's party ideas including custom favors, birthday cake recipes, trendy invitations, decorating ideas and so much more. If you've thrown a great party lately, or have birthday ideas worth sharing, write a page of your own!