Birthday Party Games and Activities

Birthday parties are a sweet time to celebrate precious milestones in children’s lives.  It’s often easy to pick a theme and shop for all the matching decor, but it can be difficult to plan and organize your party activities.  The key to a successful party is to have a thorough plan with activities and games that are engaging and age appropriate.  Chaos is inevitable with children, but if you plan ways to keep them busy you are more likely to curb that chaos!  An average child’s party lasts about 2 hours.  Divide up your time using the following guide so that you can make the most of the party with some fun!  Or take the pressure off yourself and check out the Birthday Entertainment Directory featuring creative options for any party in the triad–be it a magician, princesses, balloon animals, face painting, bunnies, ballerinas, or video game trucks!

Birthday Party Games and Activities–The Arrival 

First, create a space with contained activities that immediately engage children on their arrival. This structure provides a calm yet entertaining way to start the party as well as a buffer for early arrivers and late guests.  Children who are more shy will benefit from having a warm-up activity, and children who are rambunctious will enjoy something to keep them busy, while waiting for the official party to start. Early arrival birthday party activities are highly entertaining, yet simple and can be easily adapted to any theme.  Consider setting up stations (or busy boxes) for one or more of the following activities: coloring sheets/activity sheets, themed sensory bins, legos or toy sets that match the party theme, beads and pipe cleaners that can be shaped into something to match the theme, scratch off art, or a photo booth using an Instax camera so children can take the memory home.  

Birthday Party Games and Activities–The Main 

After all your guests have arrived and enjoyed the busy boxes, open the party by gathering all the children to a central space with a warm welcome that matches the theme and sets the stage for the party.  Keep your theme in mind when building your game list, and choose relays, challenges, and treasure hunts.  A dress-up relay (get the princess ready for the ball or the firefighter for the fire), an object relay (pass the gold from the island to the treasure chest), or a water relay with balloons, sponges, or cups are sure to keep kids entertained.  Make an obstacle course, keep the balloons up, complete “minute to win it” challenges, or have two teams timed to complete a task.  A treasure hunt is a crowd favorite.  Hide the goodie bags somewhere in the house and send the children on a clued adventure. Your birthday party games should last about 45 minutes.

Birthday Party Games and Activities–The Closeout

After the games, gather the children at a table to complete crafts.  This gives children a chance to calm down with a structured activity after all the hustle and bustle of the games.  Choose from this awesome list of themed craft(s) that can be completed in 15 to 20 minutes.  Decorate tiaras or bags, paint suncatchers, make slime, create paper mosaics, craft jewelry, or even DIY these cool ninja nunchucks.  Be as messy or as clean as you desire.  Using markers or stickers to decorate eliminates the need for paint.  After crafts, switch out the plastic tablecloth for an easy clean up so that you can transition to snacks and cake. After children enjoy the food, have your child open presents, and then get the busy boxes out again for the closeout activity.  You just successfully completed planning and hosting an enjoyable and entertaining birthday party full of fun games and activities. Congratulations!