5 Great Birthday Party Games

If you have ever planned a children's birthday party, you know that party games can be hard to come up with. The old standards of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" and "Blind Man's Bluff" just don't cut it anymore!

The key to a successful party is to keep the games fast-paced and interesting. This means involving everyone at the same time. Whereas in the past a birthday party consisted of just a handful of kids, today dozens of guests are invited. It would be unfair to expect them to wait for turns with so many children! So the games in this article are made for everyone's participation.

1. Swingers. These games require a little advance preparation. Tie five pieces of unwrapped candy such as toffee, etc. at regular intervals on a piece of string. They should be about every three or four inches. Make one string for each guest and hang them from the ceiling. The top candy should be within easy reach of the children. They have to keep their hands behind their backs while trying to eat all five pieces off the string. The first one to finish wins.

2. Treasure Hunt. This is a classic, but makes it better by hiding the clues inside candy wrappers. Divide the group into teams of three or four and hand them each the starting clue that has a riddle on it. For example, "I melt in the sun, Find me or I'll run." Could refer to a chocolate bar sitting on the porch. There should be at least ten clues before the final "treasure" which might be a stash of goodie bags, or a piñata, etc.

3. Puzzle Games. Get a large piece of Styrofoam board for every four guests. Paint each board a different color, solid red or blue, for example. Now, use a bread knife to cut the boards into strange shaped pieces. For 4-5 year olds, three pieces is enough. 6-8 year olds can handle four or five, and from there on up, six or seven pieces should work.

4. Now, scatter the pieces from all the boards around the backyard. Designate each team an area to assemble their puzzle. Three members will work on assembly while one person can run out and get the other pieces. The first team to find and assemble their entire puzzle wins.

5. Untangled. Have everyone stand in a big circle, with their hands in the middle. Each child should grab someone else's hand. Now you enter underneath all those hands and start tying people together with pieces of yarn. Just tie loosely around their wrists using a three foot long piece of yarn. When every wrist has a piece of yarn, it is time for them to start untangling themselves, without removing the yarn. This will result in giggles and shrieks as everyone crawls up and over each other in an attempt to free themselves. There are no winners in this one, it is just for fun.

With these unique games you can keep kids happy and occupied for the duration of the party. So start planning and preparing for some fun party games.