Birthday’s are special and fun for just about everyone. Well, I mean, sometimes the parents feel overwhelmed-especially afterwards when it’s clean up time. Parents deal with it though just to see their child(ren) smile and laugh, and be proud of their party. The kids love their friends to brag about a party they went to and make others want to be invited to the next one.
There are several subjects to plan for a birthday party. One of them is games. You can choose from several games. Traditional games, like Pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, and Hit the piñata. Or you can go with Darts or Back To Back.
Hitting the piñata has always been a favorite. It has always been a fun game. It’s even better when you get middle school kids together and an adult is up a tree. The adult plays with the rope and is constantly moving the piñata around. You can make them or buy them. Cost for the piñata varies.
Freeze Dancing is another good one. This game can be played at any child’s age group. You have to be able to deal with their kind of music though. Get your group of kids together in the middle of the room, put on a CD, and hit play. After about 30 seconds or so (time can be as much or as little as you want) hit pause. That’s the kids’ signal to freeze. If anyone moves even a little, they are out. Then you hit play again. This continues until one person is left and they get a prize. The only cost to this game is the prizes.
ABC Birthday is a great game for younger children. You can use adults to help with the young children. Everyone sits in a circle and someone starts out with saying one word that has to do with a birthday like ‘presents’, or ‘cake. In a clockwise rotation, you continue this pattern. If a word is repeated, that child is out. This continues until there are only two children left. Those two are the winners. You can hand out ribbons or prizes. The only cost of this game is prizes.
Darts is a good game. (There are different dart games to play, like sports themed) It emphasizes on math skills. You get a piece of paper out, write down all the kids’ names. Each child throws three darts. You write down the number corresponding to where the dart landed. Including, doubles and triples. Each child goes twice. You add up the numbers and the three kids with the top totals win. You can ask each child to add their own score (the adult checks of course) for educational purposes. You can buy a dartboard at any sporting goods store, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and many smaller stores. There are also different ones to choose. The cost of this game varies.
Scavenger Hunt is a time consuming game for the children. The age group varies. You must hide your item before the kids get there. Then you take out index cards and write down clues. The clues are to the next clue. You can put out as many as you think the kids can handle. Either you can let kids fend for him/herself or you can put them in groups (if there are enough kids). You will give the kids the first clue verbally. They will then search out the next clue. That clue will bring them to their next clue. And so on, and so on. The first one to bring you the item wins first prize. You can give them prizes. This game should have a prize to the two kids who finish the game. This game will only cost you the amount of the index cards and prizes. Should you need to buy the item you’re hiding, that will be added to the cost.
Back To Back is an interesting game. It teaches the kids to work together. You get the kids into groups of two or three. Have them sit back to back and lock their elbows together. Next, have them try to stand up together. It may take a few tries. Each two groups join that are successful. Keep this up until there is one large group. They will continue until the large group can stand up at the same time. There is no cost to this game.
There are many themes to choose. It will make a nice party, great. You can use my resources or go to partydirectory.com. You can also Google ‘birthday party’ or whatever kind of party you want. You can mix and match. Let’s say your child’s birthday is on a holiday. You can combine traditional birthday party games with that holiday’s games. It will be lots of fun. Don’t forget music, invitations, napkins, plates, silverware, cups, food, drinks, and an awesome cake and ice cream. You should count on a 3-hour party on average. If you include food, you will be amazed at how many of his/her friends will be able to come.
