In my opinion, there are three key factors that will determine how successful your child’s birthday party will be: the length of time the party lasts, the number of children that attend, and the activities. If your party will be taking place at location other than your home, then you usually don’t need to plan any activities. However, the best place to have a party on a budget is in your own home with some great games. The great thing about birthday games is that they can be inexpensive and require little to no set up. Between baking the cake and blowing up balloons, you really should not have to have one more thing on your plate. So, here are some stress free games that will work great with any themed birthday party. The kids will love playing them, and , chances are, you and the other parents will enjoy watching.
Do-it Dice–Do-it Dice do take a little time to prepare, but not much. You will need two square boxes (it is important to find boxes that are as close to being cubes as possible). You can either write directly on the boxes with markers, or you can write on paper and tape the paper onto the boxes. On one box, have different actions like sticking out your tongue, jump on one foot, etc. Be creative and let your child help you come up with different actions. On the other box, write the names of different short songs that all the children will know, such as Mary had a Little Lamb, Row Row Row Your Boat, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Have the children take turns rolling the dice. Now its time to do the action while singing the song. Either you can do this as a group or let each child perform by him or herself.
Bean Relay–Relays work great for any party, especially if you have a back yard or a long hallway. Relays can be very simple and lots of fun. Have a bowl of dried beans, beads, sugar cubes, or something that can fit in a spoon. At one end, divide the children into two teams and have the bowl of beans. Give each team a spoon and a cup at the opposite end of the hallway or yard. See which team can fill up their cup first by carying the beans in a spoon. For older kids, you can also add obsticales to go around and through.
Telephone–When planning your child’s birthday party games, don’t forget about the ones that you used to play. Telephone is a great game for ages 5 and up, and the kids always get a kick out of how they message gets distorted “over the phone.” Simply have the kids sit in a circle. Let the birthday child whisper something into the ear of the person next to them. Then that person repeats what they heard to the next person, and so on. When the secret message has been pass all the way around the circle, let the last person say what they heard, and let the birthday child say what s/he originally said. Let the other children take turns starting the message until everyone has had a turn or until they lose interest.
Sleeping Pirate–Have the kids sit in a circle. Let the birthday child sit in the middle and pretend to go to sleep with eye closed and no peaking. The child should loosly hold a stuffed animal. While his/her eyes are closed, let one of the other children take the stuffed animal and hide it behind his/her back. Then, have all the children yell “Wake Up!” and let the person in the middle guess who stole the stuffed animal. Let each child take a turn being in the middle. Once the children start catching on to the game, feel free to make it a little more challenging by having one person steal it, but then that person hands it to someone else.
Scavenger Hunt–Kids love scavenger hunts. This game will take time to set up, but it is well worth the effort. A scavenger hunt can be as easy or as complicated as you want. Don’t think that going for the easier route will mean that the hunt won’t be as fun. For children 5 and under, the easiest thing to do is to print pictures off of your computer and have them “hidden” around the house. You can use pictures of the birthday child or pictures that match your theme. For example, if you have a Backyardigan themed party, then you could have pictures of each of the backyardigan characters (which are easy to find on the internet). The best way for children this young to complete the scavenger hunt is to have them all look together as a group. Put one or two picture in different rooms of the house and have the children work together to find them. For ages 6 to 8, try dividing the children into pairs or groups of three. Have a single type of object (easter eggs, stars, play money, etc.) that the children will look for. See which team can find the most. It is important to remember to set limitations on where the children can look and also to make sure that every child gets a prize. For ages 9 and up, there are two routes to choose from. The first is to have a list of objects to be found (pencil, balloon, spoon, etc) and see which child or team can find the most objects on the list. The second route is to have written clues that take the children on a journey through the house. For example, the first clue may take the children to the bathroom, where a clue will be hidden. Then that clue will lead to a different room of the house. Let the children take turns reading the clues aloud. The end of the scavenger hunt should a prize that everyone gets to enjoy or take home.
Hot Potato–Hot Potato is another classic birthday game. Before the party, let your child pick one or two of his/her favorite songs to play during this game. Have the children sit in a circle and turn on some music. While the music is playing, have the children pass around an object (ball, real potato, stuffed animal, etc). When the music stops, the person holding the object is out. For younger children, be sure that you have some sort of activity to keep them occupied while other children are still playing.
These games should help you get started in planning your child’s party. Don’t forget that there are lots of resources on the internet. Be creative, and let your child help you plan. Birthdays can be lots of fun without being high stress events. Plan activities that your child will enjoy, but don’t forget to have fun yourself!
