The Ultimate in Affordable Birthday Parties for Kids and Teens

I'm always looking for fun and exciting ways to create birthday parties and keep kids entertained. Having three kids of my own, I've given many a birthday party and tried all kinds of things to make them successful and memorable. The hit show Fear Factor inspired me to create a Fear Factor Birthday Party years ago. Since then, this has become the favorite party. The stunts are great for everyone-even teenage youth groups and campouts!

First, you have to plan stunts that are appropriate for your group. I have a list below of some of my favorite stunts that have evolved over the years. However, beware! Some of them are quite disgusting! Read while you are not eating! Let the fun begin!

Ice-Water Challenge (aka "Chill Out"): Buy some bags of ice and dump them in two or more coolers depending on how many kiddos you'll have. Put some water over the ice to make ice water in the cooler. The kids line up and you see who can stand in the water the longest. Now be careful, the water is extremely cold. I always set a limit for the kids-even if they tie! For younger kids, I only go about 2 minutes. For older kids, I go no longer than 5 minutes. Their feet still turn reddish! So, be careful! However, this is a great summer one!

Flour-Wheel barrel Race: Divide the kids into groups of two. If you have a lot of kids, they can be on bigger teams. I do this in my yard. They begin on one side and wheelbarrow their partner to the other end of the yard. Once they get to the other end, there is a bowl with flour in it. The kid who is being wheeled down puts his or her face in the bowl and blows as much flour out as they can in one or two breaths. Then, they return to the other side of the yard and they either switch places wheeling each other down or another teammate goes. The team with the flour blown out first wins the relay.

Be careful, the kids need to know to close their eyes when they blow. Only put 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup of flour in the bowl. It doesn't look like a lot, but it does take a long time to blow. The kids love this. Their faces turn all white from the flour blowing out of the bowls. You'll have some terrific pictures for this!

Diaper Duty: Buy some cheap infant diapers. Cook some cheap canned chili (but don't let anyone know what it is!). After the chili is warmed, I put it in a bowl with a lid until I'm ready to use it. When we get to this stunt, the diapers are laying open on a table with a large ladle-full of chili in them with a squirt of some brown mustard. Now, if you are using your imagination, you can see how absolutely disgusting this is! The kids have to keep their hands behind their backs and eat the chili out of the diaper-all of it! I don't tell them what it is, but I make sure they know that I will not give them anything that would hurt them. I guess you can be as sadistic as you want with older kids and taunt them!

Another version of this stunt that works better with younger kids is to fill the diaper with chocolate pudding and top with raisins. This one is fun, too! Very gross, but kids do like gross! You'll have terrific pictures from this stunt as well!

Phish Food: The kids are always hoping I'm pulling out some Ben & Jerry's ice cream here, but they're wrong! I pull out anchovies and dare them to eat one! Keep water nearby for this one! Some of the kids always opt to watch their friends; some willingly come up and chew and swallow those things! The smell is horrific! This one goes over well with older kids who like to "prove" themselves! I did have one girl once who was so excited that she swallowed it. She exclaimed, "I did it! I swallowed the whole thing!" As soon as she said that, she threw it up on her plate! We gave her the "Barf Girl" award! It was priceless and she loved the award!

EGG Stunts: I've done variations of this many times. Kids like eggs. These are good old-fashioned stunts, but for some reason, they love doing this! I have done the egg toss where they find a partner and toss it back and forth. Each successful toss means they have to back up one step so that they get further and further apart. Water balloons work well here too!

They also like using a spoon to pass the egg down the line. To do this, divide the kids into teams. I like using 2 teams for this. They each have a spoon and must pass the egg to one another via a spoon. Some of the kids will figure out the trick and they have fun doing this over and over and faster and faster. If they get good at this or if they are older, have them put the spoon in their mouth, hands behind their backs and pass the eggs to one another! That is very funny to see how they contort their bodies to reach shorter or taller teammates! Lots of laughs with this one!

The Mucous Lick: This is another food stunt. To prepare ahead of time, buy jars of baby food peas or green beans. Put all the baby food in a bowl so that the kids do not know that it is baby food. They will figure it out eventually probably. However, they don't know when you tell them that they will do the mucous lick and they see a bowl full of snotty-looking stuff! On a paper plate, heap a large spoonful and have the kids put their hands behind their backs and lick away!

For younger kids, I have added things like hula-hooping contests, three-legged races, and such things like that. They have a lot of fun "sporting" their abilities!

For a birthday cake or just refreshments, add gummy worms and gummy spiders to your cake. I always print out certificates and write in funny awards for each child who attended. For example, I might have the "Loudest Screamer" award or the "Smartest Eater" for any kid who did not participate in any of the gross food stunts. You can tailor what you write on the certificate based on the kids' personalities as you run the stunts. I fill all these in while they are eating cake. Or, just print some generic certificates. I've even bought $1.00 trophies at the dollar store once for kids. They loved it and year after year, ask me to do Fear Factor parties for them. The great thing is that the party can be inexpensive this way and it keeps the kids outside and busy the whole time! They have a blast and you'll have some excellent pictures and memories!