Party Games


Hosting a children’s Christmas party can be stressful. The children are usually very excited at the prospect of new toys from Father Christmas. Of course excited children doesn’t always mean giggly, energetic children; it also can mean sulky children as they experience a spectrum of emotions as part and parcel of the festive excitement. The Christmas party host or hostess has to be prepared for a number of situations.



Games are a great way of breaking the ice particularly if the children are shy and don’t know each other. Always include traditional games such as pass the parcel, pin the tail on the donkey and blind man’s buff which have been passed down the generations and are timeless classics. But why not intersperse those with name badge-making, and party hat colouring for a modern twist.

In the past ideas for parties tended to be confined to the good old-fashioned games and jelly and ice cream tea-parties. Today’s they are so much more sophisticated and range from themed parties – such as Pirates and Princesses - to activities such as ten-pin bowling, laser games and cinema or theatre outings.

The date is set, the invitations are out, and now you’re preparing yourself for a house full of active, energetic children to entertain. Have no fear! With a few simple, well planned out innovative game ideas, you can not only throw a fun and memorable party, but actually sit back and enjoy the interaction and entertainment yourself.

There are several great game ideas for kids of all ages that won’t break the bank, can encourage teamwork and bonding, are exciting, challenging, and educational, and are sure to put smiles on the faces of all of your party goers, whether it be at the next birthday party, slumber party, family get-together, class party, holiday party, or other event.

To get you started on your way to hosting a great party, we have suggested just a few of our favorite easy-to-set-up and fun-to-play party games for kids…

We have all been there. The day is planned down to the final point, the picnic is prepared and the outdoor activities will be fun. Then it rains. Here is one cheap solution to that inevitable question: What do we do now?

Weather on holiday is something we cannot control and planning for unexpected days of rain can not only help relieve boredom but can also prevent a rather large dent in the bank balance. The easy option when it rains is to seek out some indoor entertainment which can, especially on a rainy holiday, add up.

So why not stay in? Spend some quality family time instead playing an enjoyable fun game. The indoor treasure hunt. Okay if you are camping this may not be the best solution and you may be best to stick with the reliable and dependable board game.

Listen and Move

Place party shapes on the floor in a circle. For example if your theme is Knights the shapes could be shields, swords, and castles. Children walk around circle while
listening to music. If the music is loud the children move fast. If the music is quiet the children move slow. If the music stops, the children stop on the closest shape.
Young children like to play it this way. To make it more challenging for older children have 1 less shape than the number of children. Continue remove
shapes as the children are ‘out’.

Port and Starboard

On the command (from the list below) the children have to do the appropriate action. After a while, start removing the last player to comply, untill only one
remains.

  • Port (Run to one side tof the area)
  • Starboard (run to the other side)
  • Captains Comming Aboard (Stand to attention and Salute)
  • Submarines (Lie on the floor)
  • Hoist the Mainsail (run on the spot - like climing the rigging)
  • Mess Deck (Sit cross legged on the floor - ready for lunch)
  • Davey Jones (Climb a tree, stanbd on a chair - anything so that you are not on the floor)
  • Up Periscope (Stand up straight and old hands to eyes as though looking through binoculars)

Chinese Whispers

Sit everyone in a circle. Whisper a long phrase to one person. They, in turn, whisper what they heard to the next person, and so on. The last person announces what they heard.

Pass the Parcel

Wrap a bar of chocolate (or some other gift), in a layer of paper. Now wrap it in another layer and repeat until you have about 10 layers. Finally wrap it in gift paper (so it looks nice).

Sit everyone in a circle and play a short snippet of music.

When the music stops, the person holding the parcel
removes ONE layer of wrapping. Repeat until the last layer of wrapping has been removed.

The winner keeps the present.

The Chocolate (or Jelly) Game

Sit everyone in a circle and place a tray in the middle with a hat, scarf, gloves, knife and fork, die and a wrapper bar of chocolate. In turn, players throw the die. If they throw a SIX, they must put on the Hat, Scarfe and Gloves before they start
to unwrap the chocolate with the knife and fork, ad then start to eat it.
To speed up the game add a second die and require a Double SIX.
The Jelly Variation is to turn out a set jelly onto a plate and eat it with the knife and fork.

Musical Chairs

The old favourite. With one fewer chairs than people, a short snippet of music is played while the people move around the room. When the music stops everyone tries to sit on a vacant chair. (Only ONE person per chair) The person who doesn’t find a chair is out. One chair is taken away and the game continues until only one person (The Winner) is left.

Memory Game

On a tray, place about 10 to 15 small items (e.g. pencil, watch, comb, shoe lace, spoon, toy car, etc.) and cover with a cloth. Sit everyone in a circle. Place the tray in the middle of the circle and remove the cloth for 60 seconds. Everyone has to remember the objects. When the time is up, replace the cloth.
In turn, each person has to name an object on the tray. The first person to fail to name an object, repeat an object or name something not on the tray is out. The tray is then removed and some or all of the objects replaced, and the
game re-started with the person following the one who is out. If the game is too easy for the group, add more objects or reduce the time.

Musical Statues

This is like Musical Chairs, but when the music stops, the players have to keep still. Anyone who moves, quivers, shakes etc is out. The winner is the last one still playing.