Birthday Party Games: Kids Birthday Party Game Ideas

Bringing a Few Old Fashion Birthday Party Games Back to Life

Mary Starr Johnson-Gerard, Ph.D.
It seems like many times these days, kid's birthday parties or birthday parties for people all ages are hosted at businesses where there are lots of things for kids and or adults to do at their birthday party. Such places have arcade games and jungle gym play equipment. Other places often used to host a birthday party are fast food businesses with large indoor play equipment to entertain children during the birthday party. Don't you think it would be fun to take a step back in time and host your child's next birthday party at home and play old fashion birthday party games? If you think it would be fun to try an old fashion birthday party, read on.

Birthday Party Game #1: Bingo

One birthday party game that is fun for children of all ages, even senior citizens, is BINGO. Bingo games can be bought at toy stores and dollar stores most of the time, but you can also make your own bingo game with very little effort. To make your own birthday party Bingo game purchase several sheets of letter size card stock and run them through a printer to add the five columns and 5 rows grid. You can make two cards per sheet of card stock. Cut them apart and print a letter from the word BINGO at the top of each column of the grid. Be sure and color in the center square under the N column as FREE. You can hand print the numbers with a black marking pen. Write the numbers 1 through 15 under the B column (this will take 3 cards). Be sure and mix up the series of numbers across the three cards. Do the same thing with the rest of the letters and numbers. The range of numbers for the rest of the letters is: I = 16 to 31, N = 32 to 46 (remember the FREE spot), G = 47 to 52 and O 53 to 68. Make more than one set of cards so kids can have two cards playing at once.

Buy some small wooden disks at a craft store and write the numbers 1 through 68 on them (put one number on each disk). Put these in a container to use to pull out and call numbers during the game. Take a legal size sheet of paper, that has a grid with all of the BINGO letters across the top and all of the numbers under each letter. Use this to organize the numbers as they are called. Use buttons, soda pop-tops, popped corn, mini crackers or cookies as markers.

Birthday Party Game #2: Pin the Tail on the Donkey

Another good old fashion birthday party game is Pin the Tail of the Donkey. To make this birthday party game, use a large sheet of flip chart paper and draw a donkey with markers. Make several donkey tails out of construction paper and write each child's name on a tail. Put a piece of double stick tape on the back of each tail. Use a scarf to blindfold each child one at a time. When a child is blindfolded, turn them around 3 times and line them up with the donkey. Leave the tail on the donkey for each child after they try to fit it where it goes. The child whose tail is closest to where it belongs wins. This birthday party game can be adapted to pin the tail of whatever you choose. Keep it a donkey, though, if you want an old fashion birthday game.

Birthday Party: Spin the Bottle

Spin the Bottle is another old timey birthday party game that is fun for kids to play at a birthday party. If you can find a 16 oz glass soda bottle use that to spin (that's what was used in times past). You can also use a shampoo bottle or a 2 liter soda bottle to spin. Have all of the kids sit in a circle and let the birthday party honoree spin first. Before spinning, the birthday party honoree has to say what special trick they want the person, who the bottle top points to when spun, to perform. That person gets the next turn and says what trick they want the next winner of the spin to perform.

Playing old fashion birthday party games at a kids birthday party is fun and it gives kids an opportunity to experience a bit of the past.

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Published by Mary Starr Johnson-Gerard, Ph.D.

I am a Ph.D. Educational Psychologist with over 35 years of experience in the fields of human development, behavior, and learning. I have hands on experiences as well consultative experiences in all areas. I...  View profile

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