For more ideas please visit these websites:
http://www.awesome-kid-birthday-parties.com/childrens-party-games.html
http://www.carnivalsavers.com.
http://www.awesome-kid-birthday-parties.com/childrens-party-games.html
http://www.carnivalsavers.com.
Floating Duck or Boat
Find about 15-20 small, cheap floating items and mark on the bottom of a few of them your award system. Fill a small wading pool or washtub and place them in. They get one try to pull out an object that is marked. Horse Race Required: Board, tape, dice, movable items Prepare a play area on a board, desktop or table. Use removable tape or to mark off six columns on the board with a start and finish line. Each column should have 5-8 squares depending on how long you want the game to last. Next, number each column. Find 6 movable play pieces that can fit in each square as they move across the board. Fun items could be small beanie babies or any other popular item. Consider that they’ll be touched by many players if used for a carnival game. Have each player assigned to a game piece and numbered column. Now roll the dice. The player in the column that matches the number rolled gets to move his piece one square down the track. The first player to move his piece to the finish line is the winner. Jell-O or Pie Eating Contest Required: A bowl of Jell-O for each kid (it’s good to have a couple extra on hand) Plastic sheeting (optional for a fast and easy clean-up) Pie tins (see variations below) Whipped cream in a can (see variations below) Prepare one bowl of Jell-O for each kid. Put down the plastic sheeting if you choose to use it. Place the bowls in a straight line on the floor (on the plastic). Have each child kneel down and place their hands on the floor beside their bowl. On the word“Go!,” all the players begin eating their Jell-O hands-free. They are not allowed to use their hands at any time during the game. The first kid to lick his bowl clean is the winner. Pee Wee Limbo Required: 3 chairs, 2 with rungs, 1 broom stick Put the two chairs with rungs at one end of the room with the chair backs facing each other. Lay the broom across the top of the chair backs. Place the third chair at the other end of the room. Have the kids line up by the single chair. Start the music and ask the kids to follow each other as they go under the broom and then back to the single chair. Lower the broom onto the chair seats and have the kids repeat. Next, lower the broom onto the chair rungs and ask the kids to crawl under it. Parachute Play Required: One large flat sheet , Music Have the volunteers grab onto the edges of the sheet. Tell them to raise the sheet up into the air so it fills up like a parachute. As it billows up, kids get under the sheet while the music is playing. Kids take turns running underneath the parachute, so they swap places with just one kid at a time under the sheet. Volunteers holding the sheet bring it down when another volunteer stops the music. Any kid that gets caught in the parachute can join in again. |
Hula Toss
Hang hula hoops from the ceiling/tree by ropes and have players throw small footballs or flying discs through the hula hoops. You can mark off throwing levels for various ages. For the older participants you can even have the hula hoop swing back and forth as a moving target. Knock Down Arcade Game Required: 2 saw horses, one 2x4 piece of lumber, hinges, Fun Gripper Bean Bags or Fun Gripper Baseballs, paint and blocks of wood Design 6 to 8 blocks of wood cut outs that will be mounted on one side of the narrow end of the 2x4 with light weight hinges. Use light weight wood that knocks over easily; you can shorten the length of the 2x4 if desired. Make them in different shapes, colors or design. Find a willing artist in your group that will make it look attractive. You can even have the 2x4 painted with a theme that goes with the blocks. Idea like serpent with animal knock downs. Mount the blocks with hinges at 45 degrees so that they stay on top of the board and can fall backward once hit with a ball or bean bag. Give participants three balls to knock down the blocks from a designated distance. Old Man and the Sea Required: A blue blanket or tarp, a spring-tension curtain rod, fishing poles (Sticks, string, and paper clips or clothes pins for the hooks, prizes for each kid, silly throw-back items Hang or spread out the blue blanket. Have the Old Man (an adult) hide on one side in “the sea”. Each kid takes a turn and casts over the top of the blanket. The Old Man on the other side pulls on the line and attaches either a prize or a funny “throw-back” item. Something that the child wouldn’t want to keep (i.e.: an old shoe, an empty soda can, a baby bottle, etc.). Interchange the catching of one of those items with prizes. Treasure Chest Fill a small square or rectangle container with birdseed and place 10-15 pennies within the seed. Allow the participants 1 minute to find as many pennies within the time frame. Award players based on the total amount of pennies they have found. You can have them close their eyes to complicate the game if need be. Party Mural Required: A very large piece of plain paper, Heavy duty tape, Crayons, markers Stickers or colored label stock Tape the paper to a wall and put the craft supplies nearby. Have the kids draw outline around each other. Then have them color in the outlines and decorate them with the stickers and/or any other materials. |
Dinosaur Dig
Required: A sandbox or a large plastic container with low sides (1 container for every 3 kids), Spoons, small plastic shovels, and small strainers , A variety of small trinkets or well wrapped treats, Poster board and felt-tip pens. Bury some “bones” (pipe cleaners or popsicle sticks) in a sandbox or plastic container. Also bury a special treat toward the bottom of the sand so the kids don’t find it right away. If you’re using more than one “sandbox”, hide a treat in each one so each kid has a chance at finding a prize. Give the kids spoon, shovel or strainers and have them pretend that they are archaeologists digging for dinosaur bones. Let the kids know that there’s a special prize hidden in the sand and the kid that finds it wins that prize. Once all the bones are uncovered, have the kids put together their dinosaurs. If they’re using pipe cleaners, they can twist and bend them into spines and ribs. With Popsicle stick, just have them glue them into dinosaur shapes. Have a few simple dinosaur picture books around so the kids can copy them. Also have plenty of extra dinosaur bones on hand so the kids don’t run out of supplies. Award ribbons to each dinosaur when the kids are finished. Make up categories like “most creative”, “best constructed”, or “scariest”. Don’t forget to display them in the party room. Sock Frenzy Required: An assortment of socks, 2 blindfolds (optional for relay race variation), Chalk to two lengths of rope (for relay race variation) Gather all the players together and have them remove their shoes and socks. Next, have the first two kids sit on the floor and put the socks between them. Before they’re blindfolded let each kid can take a sock and get it ready to pull on. When you say “Go!,” they have 60 seconds to see who can put the most socks on one foot. After one minute have the two kids stop and count how many socks each one has on their foot. The kid with the most socks on one foot wins the round. Then have the next two kids play. Continue until all the kids have had a chance to play at least one round. If you want, you can have a play-off until you have one winner. Variation: Sock Frenzy Relay Race: Divide the kids into two teams. Use either chalk or rope to make two parallel lines on the ground about 15 feet apart that mark the length of the playing area. Place two piles of socks at the far end of the playing area. Have the team members from both teams line up at the start line. The first players must run to their baskets (at the far end) and put on all of the socks and then run back to the start line, and take them off. The next team members must put all the socks on and run to the basket and take all the socks off. The game continues like this until both teams have completed the race. The winning team is the one that crosses the finish line first. |
Snatch It!
Required: A variety of small toys or candy for each player (a different one for each player) A table Place all the objects on the table. Let the kids quickly observe and try to memorize the items placed in front of them (time for observation varies by age.) Ask the child to turn away. Choose another kid (host of the game may do it as well) to “sneak” one of the treats off the table and hide it in her lap. Then have the first player turn around and face the table and try to determine which item is missing from the table and who snatched it. Allow her a few guesses and then have the “sneak” confess and show the stolen item. Return the item to the table before the next round begins. The player who snatched the item gets to lead the next round. Select another kid to snatch the next item. Variations: To make it easier for younger kids just have them guess the snatcher. After every wrong guess, have the guesser close his eyes while the snatcher sneaks another item off the table. Continue to allow guesses until the sneak, with a lap full of goodies, is identified. Place more items on the table to make the game more challenging for older kids. Sense-Sational Required: A variety of things that are fun to touch – cooked pasta, toy slime, popcorn, kernels, etc. A variety of things that are fun to sniff – flower, perfume, baby lotion, chocolate chips, etc. 1 small brown paper lunch bag for each “touch” and “sniff” items 1 small zip-lock plastic bag for each “touch” item 1 small jar or container (baby food jars work great) for each “sniff” item – no lids needed Place all the tactile items in zip-lock bags and then place each item in it’s own paper bag. Place a small amount of each aromatic item in its own jar and then place each item in its own paper bag. Have the kids sit in a circle and choose one kid to get first. Pass him the first “touch” item. He must reach into both bags (Outer brown bag and inner zip-lock bag) and touch the item without looking out it or saying what he thinks it is. (The other kids will be very interested in her reaction.) She will then pass the bag to the next kid, and so on until the bag has been passed around the circle. After everyone has guessed take out the item so the kids can see if the guessed correctly. Start the game with a new item OR have each kid do it individually (taking turns.) Variation: The kids are asked to smell each item with their eyes closed and try to identify it. Feely Bag Required: A pillowcase, Ball of newspaper or shredded paper, A variety of objects with distinctive shapes and textures (about 3 items), like a banana, toy train, and sunglasses. Fill the pillowcase with the paper and the items that you selected. Hold the pillowcase closed at the top leaving an opening just big enough for a kid’s hand. Have the first kid in turn feel the objects and guess what they are. After everyone has had a chance to feel the objects, take each item out of one by one and let the kids call out the name of each object. |