Children’s Birthday Parties | Ideas and Games
When children first arrive at a birthday party, there is often nervous excitement and anticipation. To help the children “let it all out,” fill the backyard with beach balls that were blown up the day before. Make sure you have more than one per child so there won’t be any fighting. You will be amazed at the great amount of play these simple beach balls will create. And at the end of the party, you can let each child take one home as a parting gift. Inexpensive, fun and easy – what could be better!
A slightly more messy game? Let the older children play “Wrap the Mummy” – a game involving one roll of toilet paper per two kids. Pair the children up and have them choose who will be the mummy and who will be the “wrapper.” Give them three to five minutes to try and cover the mummy completely with toilet paper. Be sure you have your video camera ready as each couple tries to find a way to wrap as quickly and effectively as possible. You will eventually see a mummy hold the end of the paper and begin to turn, wrapping the paper up and down his or her body. The mess? Once everyone is wrapped, they will begin to shred the toilet tissue and it will end up all over the yard. But not to worry! Hold a garbage bag open and tell the children you want to see how fast they can clean up the paper. Soon you will have kids running everywhere, laughing as they clean up the mummy mess.
How about some balloon popping fun? Before the party, blow up more balloons than you have kids – just in case! Then tie a string to the end of each balloon. At the party, have every one tie one balloon to one of their ankles. When the game starts, every child tries to step on someone else’s balloon. The winner is the last person to have a balloon tied to his or her ankle.
Are you the type of mother who doesn’t mind a mess in the kitchen? Purchase individual sized pizza crusts and place them around the table. Put bowls of pizza toppings and sauce in the middle of the table, and let each child custom design a pizza. This keeps the party goers busy, they have a great time doing it and love to eat their own homemade pizzas at the end!
And of course, there is always the issue of “what will the winner get as a prize?” If you have little ones at the party, feelings can get hurt if one child gets a prize and the other doesn’t. Our favorite solution? Tell the winner of the first game that they can select the first piece of cake after the birthday girl or boy. The second can choose where they sit, the third gets the first party bag, and so on. These are not “true” prizes but will make them feel like a special winner. It also keeps the other children from feeling bad that they didn’t win. Now go have fun at your birthday party!
