Birthday Party Games for Children

When it comes to birthday party games for kids my favorites have always been the traditional ones! They have wide appeal, everyone usually already knows the rules, and they can be adapted to just about any birthday party theme.

Here are a few of my favorites and ways they can be adapted:

1) Pin The Tail On The Donkey - This game involves a blindfolded child trying to pin something on a picture of something. The possibilities are endless! For sports themed parties get a picture of the birthday child's favorite sport figure and pin a ball in their hands. You can also pin a horn on a unicorn, a tiara on a princess, and a peperoni on a pizza! This is the easiest game to adapt to your theme!

2) Pinata - Also a favorite of children, and adults, everywhere! The game remains the same no matter what the pinata looks like. A dizzy, blindfolded player is asked to swing a bat at a hollow papier mache figure filled with toys and candy. You can find loads of pinatas at stores these days, but if you live in a rural area, go to http://www.pinatas.com/ for one of the largest selection of pinatas around!

3) Water Balloon Catch - Space permitting, this is a fantastic fun time for everyone involved! If you can have your party outdoors - or at least go outdoors - you can throw water balloons. Divide your guests up into teams. The number of teams will depend on the size of your party. You can play the game one of two ways: they can throw the balloons at each other and try to get someone "out" by hitting him with a balloon (sort of like dodge ball but with a water balloon) or they can take teams of two and toss it to each other until one misses. If you decided to toss in teams of two you have to keep backing up one step at a time after each toss until someone misses the throw - then that team is out.

4) Relay Races - divide guests into teams of around three or four. Have a bucket of water and a large sponge or turkey baster for each team. Also have an empty milk jug for each team. To set the relay up, put the bucket of water and the sponge or baster at one end of the playing area. One the other side put the empty milk jug. Have the kids take turns filling the sponge or the baster up and running to the other side to fill the milk jug. Have a line marked on the jug so players will know how high they need to fill them before they are the winner. A player takes a turn then "tags" the next player as he hands off the sponge or baster. Players continue the routine until the milk jug is filled up to the line marked on the jug. You can color the water with food coloring to make it easier for players to see how far they have to go - or when they have won!

The idea is to keep the kids moving, active, and fully engaged. Give them a variety of physical activities to participate. Finally, no matter how sophisticated today's kids seem to be you can not go wrong by adapting the classics!