The trick to coming up with fun birthday party games is to not over-think them. Simple is best. Here are a few suggestions for fun birthday party games for either children or adults.
Egg Toss All you need is one egg for each team of two people. Have your party attendees divide into pairs. Have the partners form two separate lines, so that each team is standing face to face, only a few inches apart. Give one partner for each team a raw egg.
The game begins with the first partner holding the egg passing it to their teammate. The teammate passes the egg back to the original person, and they step back one step. They then pass the egg back and forth once more, then step back another step. Eventually, the teams will have to toss the egg as they step farther and farther away from each other. Once a team’s egg gets broken, they’re out. The team who keeps their egg safe the longest wins the game.
Definitely play this one outdoors — it can get messy. Also, it may help, particularly with children, if you draw some sort of line as to how far teams step apart in each round. This will make sure everyone is stepping back the same distance.
Bake Me a Cake
This one is fun, especially for children. Gather together an assortment of craft supplies and Playdoh. Supplies can include construction paper, wax candles, glitter, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, buttons, yarn and more.
Break the group into teams of three to four people, and give each team a pile of your craft supplies and Playdoh. Each team gets eight to ten minutes to “bake” a birthday cake from the provided materials. (Obviously, there is no real baking involved.) The birthday boy or girl gets to pick his/her favorite “cake” after the alloted time, and the “bakers” of that cake are the winners of the game. Encourage innovation and creativity!
Simon Says (with a twist) This game is very similar to Simon Says, however this game is played in teams of two. Divide your group into teams of two people. Give each team an apple or a small, blown-up balloon. Have them hold the apple or balloon between their foreheads, without using their hands. The leader, or Simon, then begins giving the teams commands, like “four steps to the left” or “jump three times”. The teams must complete the commands without letting their apple or balloon fall. To make it more tricky, remind them not to follow the command unless the leader says “Simon says…”. You could also make this game more messy for outdoors by using water balloons, eggs or something else that will make a lot of mess when it drops!
Honey, I Love You
This game will have kids and adults alike rolling on the floor with laughter. Have your group stand in a circle. The first person to take a turn looks to the person on his/her right and says “Honey, I love you, but I just won’t smile.” The person is not allowed to smile AT ALL while saying the phrase. The person hearing this phrase then has one chance to say “Honey, please smile” using any tricks except for touching to make the person smile or laugh. You’ll need a very objective judge to gauge the winner! If the person smiles, he or she is out. If not, the person trying to make them smile is out. Do this until only one person is left, and he or she is the winner.
