Birthday Party Games

This last winter my friend and I organized a kids birthday party that was a huge hit and a lot of fun. We had a carnival themed birthday party, with easy to play games. There was a go fish game, a fish bowl ping pong ball game, a bean bag throwing game, and a Lollipop Tree. There were kids from age 3-11 and everyone had a blast. What's great about these type of games compared to traditional birthday party games like musical chairs or pin the tail on the donkey, is that everybody wins! Nobody feels sad and left out cause they didn't earn a prize. Here are the materials and tools you'll need:

Cardbord presentation board (3)
Paints & Brushes or Markers (to decorate cardbaord)
Knife (to cut holes in cardboard)
Screwdriver (to poke holes in cardboard)
Glue
Small wooden dowel
Kite string
Clothespin
Fishbowls
Ping Pong Balls (3)
Small Bean Bags (3)
Lollipops
Small Alphabet Tiles
Bowl
Prizes

For the go fish game, you'll need a fishing pole, a small screen to hide the prizes and, of course, the prizes!. For the pole, drill a hole at the end of a wooden dowel. The dowel should be approximately 3 feet long and 3/4 inch in diameter and can be purchased at any craft store. Using kite string, tie one end through the hole in the dowel, and tie a clothespin, or binder clip to the other end. You may choose to paint the pole to spice it up a bit. You could also save a little time by just buying a toy fishing rod or an old used one from a thrift store! For the screen, use the standard 3 panel folding cardboard typically used for presentations or school projects. Feel free to decorate it however you want. I painted an ocean with different silly sea creatures on it. This works best if you can set the screen up on a table or chair. Have each child (with the help of an adult) hold the fishing pole and "cast" it over the screen. Another helper can be secretly hidden behind the screen to place a prize on the clothespin. With a gentle tug to let the little fisherman know they've caught something, they "reel" in their prize! Their eyes will light up with excitement! For the prizes on this and any other game here, try to find a carnival supply store online for extremely inexpensive plastic toys that you can buy an assortment of by the gross.

For the fish bowl game, you'll need some glass bowls, ping pong balls and prizes. For this game, you can use the screen you created for the go fish game as a back drop. Small glass fishbowls can be found at your local 99 cent store, as can the ping pong balls. Fill each bowl with water and place as close as possible together. Let each child try to throw the ping pong balls until they land one in a bowl. You can then hand out a prize to each winner! Now, for those a little more daring, you can make this game really exciting by using real goldfish as the prize! Make sure you know how many kids are coming, and get a few extra bowls and fish. Place a live fish in each bowl and each child can take home the fish bowl that they got the ping pong ball in! You might want to make sure it's okay with parents first and have a backup prize ready.

For the bean bag game, use another cardboard presentation board, some bean bags and prizes. You can usually find little hackey-sack style bean bags at party supply stores. Use your imagination and draw or paint circles on the cardboard that you can cut out holes of different sizes. Let the little ones stand close to try to throw the bean bags into any hole. The older kids enjoy the challenge of having to make it into the smaller holes to earn their prize. Again, everyone wins. Some ideas are simple bulls eyes, dart board replicas, skee-ball style layouts or any drawing with circles on it. I used a clown with big buttons on his shirt and his clown nose as the small hole.

For the Lollipop tree, you'll need another piece of cardboard, lollipops, and small tiles with the alphabet on them. On the cardboard paint or draw a basic tree. Using a screwdriver or drill bit, poke several holes in the branches of the tree. Stick the lollipops in the holes. Just to make it more interesting, put 2 or3 lollipops in some holes. The tiles with letters on them can be found at any craft store, but you can use anything that can be matched up in sets. Separate the tiles into two piles, each of which has one letter A-Z. Glue one of each letter under each hole on the lollipop tree (you don't have to use all of the letters, ...unless you have 26 kids). The other set of tiles can be placed in a bowl. When a child comes up to take his/her turn, they will reach into the bowl to pick their special letter. They then have to find that letter on the lollipop tree, and "pick" their lollipop(s)!

These games should produce the perfect carnival atmosphere, but you can liven it up even more by serving carnival style treats. Popcorn and cotton candy are great favorites. Also corndogs and nachos are snacks that even the adults will enjoy!.