Wooden Block Stacking Game
A classic party game, this simple stacking set is perfect for older kids and small groups.
Be careful of tiny toesthe tower will fall at the end of the game.
Fun Kids Party Entertainment Ideas
Lauren Miolene
Contributor
Youve already picked the theme, venue, and sent out invites to your childs friends and classmates, but what about the entertainment? Don’t skip out on this important party planning step! Booking fun and exciting kids party entertainment is crucial to ensure that the day is memorable and special.
From fun activities to bookable kids party vendors, youll guarantee a lot of fun will be had with these childrens party entertainment ideas.
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Small Outdoor Birthday Party Ideas
1. Make a splash! Get out the blow-up pool, blow up the beach balls, and make your own beach party! Water table activities and sandbox fun will round out your little luau. Dont forget the ice cream cones!
2. Create a backyard carnival. Set up stations for face-painting, plastic bottle ring-toss or corn hole, temporary tattoos, and lawn games like croquet or DIY mini golf . Added bonus: Find a brave adult who is willing to take a few whipped-cream pies to the face!
Small Indoor Birthday Party Ideas
3. Turning three? Have tea. Never underestimate the power of a dress-up tea party: Have each child bring a favorite doll or stuffed critter as a date. Head to the dollar store and grab some dress-up jewelry , make herbal tea cooled with frozen fruit, and offer plenty of finger sandwiches and cakes.
4. Party with some popcorn and a movie. Throw a movie party with silly costumes so kids can act out their own stories after the showing. While blockbusters are a perennial party-theme favorite, why not try and break the mold with a lesser known film?
5. Bring the love…the puppy love. If youve got a toddler who holds a fondness for furry friends, make your own pet adoption shelter and play veterinarian! Head to the thrift store for gently loved stuffies, have a pet adoption area and check-up area , and even offer each guest a certificate of adoption for each new pet they get to bring home.
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Birthday Party Games For Tweens
39. Balloon Dare: Pre-prepare a collection of inflated balloons, each with a small piece of paper with a dare written on it. Players take turns to choose a balloon, pop it and complete the dare. Some dare suggestions: Sing Im a Little Teapot with all the actions, bite into a lemon slice, peel a banana with your feet, do a crab walk across the room, cartwheel 3 times, try not to laugh for one whole minute , sing Humpty Dumpty with a mouth full of marshmallows, act out a scene from your favourite movie.
40. In or Out?: Divide party guests into teams of four or five. Each team will need a large hula hoop. All team members stand inside the hoop, holding the hoop at waist level without using their hands. On Go the teams must work out how to all team members outside of the hoop without it touching the ground, and without using their hands. Should the hoop touch the ground, the team must start again from the starting position. First team to successfully complete the challenge are the winners.
42. Bubblegum Bubble Blowing Competition: Give each participant a piece of your favourite bubblegum and award prizes for the biggest bubbles blown within a given time limit.
Fun First Birthday Party Games
Home> Fun & Play> 15 Fun First Birthday Party Games
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Your childs first birthday is worthy of a celebrationfor parents and baby alike. Your little one went from a tiny newborn to a curious crawling toddler, full of personality. Mom and Dad managed to survive all of those sleepless nights, too. Make your babys first birthday party especially memorable by planning a few games and activities that will engage kids and adults alike. Check out these fun first birthday party games as you plan your event.
Contents
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Spa Party: Manicures And Pedicures
Spa parties are so fun for little girls and what better activity than a nail station set up for manicures and pedicures! Let each little girl go home with a nail polish as a coordinating favor!
You can take it one step further and break the guests into small groups and have little spa stations they can rotate like facials, manicures, pedicures, hair, etc.
Indoor Activity #: Play Thief
Prep Time: 0-5 minutes
Hours of Entertainment: 15-20 minutes
What Youll Need:
- Coins
- Small toys
The game of Thief is a great way to get a rowdy group of kids to calm down because it requires silence from all of the players except one. Its a thrilling, Winner Takes All game, with a heap of candy as the big prize. One player gets assigned to be blindfolded, and the other players take turns trying to steal their treasure without getting tagged and called a thief! by the blindfolded player. And, like most things in life, the person with the most candy at the end wins.
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Just For Fun Party Games
10. Guess the Jellybeans: Before the party fill a large glass jar or clear plastic container with jellybeans or other small sweet, counting the number of sweets as you add them to the jar. Each party guest can make a guess as to how many jellybeans are in the jar include a simple record sheet for guests to write their guesses on. The guest with the closest guess wins the jar of sweets! Hot tip: Choose a colour or type of sweet/lolly that complements your party theme!
11. Hoop Pass: You will need two hula hoops for this game. Divide party guests into two teams, each with an equal number of players. Teams stand with team members lined up side by side, holding hands. Give the team member at the start of each line a hula hoop to hold in their free hand. On Go team members must pass the hoop over their bodies and along the line, without dropping hands . The first team to get their hoop to the end is the winning team!
13. Indoor Basketball: For this game youll need a bucket and a rolled up sock. Players take turns throwing the sock into the bucket. When a player scores, he or she takes a step back and throws again, repeating this action until they miss the bucket. The player who successfully shoots the sock into the bucket from farthest away is the winner.
For more Just For Fun! birthday party games ideas, check out our list of Classic Kids Party Games.
Indoor Activity #: Whats In The Bowl
Prep Time: 1 minute
- A bag of uncooked rice.
- A blindfold.
- A collection of small objects from around the house: coins, pieces of crayon, marbles, goldfish crackers, a pen lid, the cap to the toothpaste, whatever you got. Just remember to keep an eye on all of these things when youre done, as some may still be a safety hazard for kids.
- Prizes for the winners.
- A timer .
Whats in the Bowl? is a kids party version of the classic baby shower game in which blindfolded guests fish for tiny safety pins in a bowl full of uncooked rice. Obviously, since you dont want kids collecting dangerous needles and/or drinking Mimosas before noon, the bowl is filled with other small objects. The concept, however, remains the same. Each kid takes a turn and the goal is to either: a) fish as many items as possible out of the bowl in the shortest amount of time, or b) guess what each item is entirely by touch. In both cases, you keep score and award the winner a prize.
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Indoor Activity #: Ping
Prep Time:
- Ping pong balls
- Prizes. For the full carnival effect, roll with stuffed animals.
Anybody whos ever played beer pong knows the deal here , except in this county fair version of the game each cup is worth a certain point value. After labeling the inside of each cup with a random number from 1-5, set up 15 Solo cups on the floor in a 5-row pyramid . Put a piece of tape on the floor several feet away, behind which the shooter should stand, and have each kid throw five ping pong balls. Add up and record the total points for balls landing in the cups before moving on to the next child. After a set number of rounds, add up the total scores and declare a winner. Final thought: if you have the time, glue all the cups to a giant piece of cardboard before the party that way its ready to go and cups wont accidentally get knocked over.
When Is The Best Time For A Toddler Birthday Party
I have always found that the best time for toddler parties is the morning.
Everyone is fresh and there is less risk of those dreaded late-afternoon meltdowns. Both my children napped from 1-4pm
Because of our long afternoon naps, the traditional 2-4pm parties never worked for us and any later just gets difficult with early dinners and Bath times.
From polling my mom friends, we have found that a 10am-12pm seems ideal for the 2 and 3 year old age range.
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Dancing With The Stars
Dancing with the Stars: birthday party game edition. Pair or group the kiddos into teams and have them create their own choreography to the song of their choice. When its showtime, have a panel of judges rate the dancers with number cards. The winning team gets to teach the rest of the group their showstopping dance.
Indoor Activity #: Musical Hoops
Prep time: 0-5 minutes
What youll need:
- Multiple hula hoops
A spin on the ol Musical Chairs, Musical Hoops lets kids dance until theres one last child standing, without removing all the available seating from your living room. Place one hoop per child on the floor and hit play on their favorite music as they march around. When the music stops, they jump into a hoop. Each round, a hoop gets removed . In the end, the whole group has to squish into the last remaining hoop by any means necessary a toe, a foot, a hand. The player is safe as long as a body part is inside the hoop.
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Dress Up Humble Supplies
Use what you have on hand to make plain party supplies feel special, as they typically cost half as much as decorating supplies. For example, use a hole-puncher to jazz up paper plates and napkins .
You can also rely on some stickers to decorate plain balloons. Buy a few essential items to establish the theme, like a special foil balloon, then stick to affordable basics for everything else.
Pin The Tail On The Donkey
This simple birthday party game requires a few simple materials. A blindfold and a donkey poster with tails that can be pinned on. You can get cheap pin the tail kits from most dollar stores or party supply stores!
How to play: Hang the donkey poster on a wall or door. Each child takes turns being blindfolded and trying to pin the tail in the correct spot. The child who gets closest to the correct spot is the winner!
Tip: It helps to have different coloured tails or to name the tails so you remember whos pin is which.
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The Most Important Thing About A Kids Birthday Party
I think the most important thing to keep in mind when you are planning a birthday party for your child, is that the birthday boy or girl has a fun and special time with their friends!
That’s what will make them feel special, and what they will remember years from now!
I believe that birthday parties should be centered around the activities that the kids are going to do together. The games they are going to play, the crafts they are going to create.
So when considering a party theme- think more about what the kids are going to do- rather than the character on the paper goods!
But before we even get to planning a theme- there are a few things you should think about first:
Giants Wizards And Elves
This is a unique birthday party game that you probably haven’t seen anywhere else. Players are on teams that meet in the corner of the room, and each group is either a giant, wizard, or elf. There are a few fun rules that everyone needs to follow to make it all work, and let me just warn you, it includes some shouting. This fun game could easily be used as an icebreaker. It would be perfect for a wizard-themed birthday party.
There’s no reason why this birthday game has to be just for kids. Adults can get in on the fun in a totally silly spontaneous way. This is really perfect for any large group.
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Host A Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunts are a great way to keep the kids busy and let them run around! You can host a scavenger hunt indoors or outside . Theres nothing more exciting to kids than running around for the next clue in a birthday scavenger hunt! See more of this idea and TONS of birthday scavenger hunt tips at House of Mahalo!
Musical Chairs / Bumps / Statues
Another old favourite, youll need one less chair than the number of kids playing. They run around the chairs and when the music stops try to grab a seat. The last one left without a chair is out and sits out the rest of the game. Remove one chair and continue.
Musical Bumps: everyone has to bump down onto the floor when the music stops. Last one down is out.
Musical Statues: everyone has to freeze when the music stops. Anyone who wobbles is out.
Can be adapted to the theme of the party e.g. Musical Toadstools if fairy theme.
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Set A Birthday Party Budget
Kids birthday parties do not need to be expensive! In fact- most of the home parties we’ve thrown over the years have cost less than $100. Here are some tips to streamline the cost:
- Run the games, activities, and crafts yourself vs. hiring out the entertainment
- Plan your party in the afternoon and offer snacks and birthday cake vs. a meal
- Have the party craft also serve as the party favor
- Don’t spend money on pricey themed paper goods and decorations! Buy solid-colored paper goods that are cheaper, and allow you to use leftover pieces at future parties! Decorate with inexpensive balloons or steamers
I have lots of tips on how to plan an inexpensive kids birthday party at home- and include budget planning worksheets, party timelines and more in my book: How to Throw an Awesome Kids Birthday Party at Home for Less Than $100This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you.!
Diy Party Entertainment With Group Party Games
Sometimes retro parties with good old fashioned party games, jelly and ice-cream are the best.
They can also save you a ton of money that you would otherwise spend on hiring entertainment.
The downside? You have to provide all the entertainment yourself.
But weve made it easy for you by putting together 15 fun and fab party games to keep all your party guests entertained!
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Kids Activities For Birthday Parties
While games are always a winning choice for entertaining kids at birthday parties, having an activity can also be a great way to keep the children busy and happy for the duration of the birthday party.
I love to have some type of make and take activity at kids birthday parties since it gives kids the opportunity to do something creative, plus they get to take home the item they made too. A fantastic alternative to lolly goodie bags!
Here are some great ideas for birthday party activities for kids:
- Make a fairy garden
- Tie-dye a shirt or socks
- Jewellery making
- Bubbles
- Fossil dig
For more fun options, check out these kids birthday party entertainment ideas and balloon party games for kids!
Things To Consider While Choosing Birthday Party Games
Choosing what games to set up for little kids seems quite easy, but there are certain things to understand before you do it. In order to ensure that nobody in the party is left out, here are some things that you may want to consider when you choose games.
- Focus on the average age of all the children attending the party and choose games that can be played by all the children, and not a select few.
- If you have planned a themed party, dont be afraid to stray from the theme a little when you choose a game especially if the game could clearly be a lot of fun.
- Limit intellectual games, and instead, try and have a lot of light-hearted games to keep the excitement alive. Children have enough intellectually stimulating plays in the school and at home.
- Keep the games short. Dont drag them for too long, as kids will get bored of them. Long games are unlikely to get much attention, and will only drag down the spirit of the party.
- Avoid making the games gender specific. Try to choose games that do not dabble with gender stereotypes. Dont have games like princess dressing sessions, unless you are sure that everyone can take part in it.
- Plan well and prepare ahead. Handling multiple kids can be a challenge. Plan in advance about how each game should go, to avoid any chaos.
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