Birthday Party Game Ideas for Kids

Planning a birthday for kids is a great time to have fun and be creative with the many ideas you can have for keeping the kids interested throughout the entire party. There are so many classic games that are great for birthday fun, as well as new games that will leave the kids just as amazed. If you are looking for some fun thoughts on how to keep the kids happy during a birthday party, here are some wonderful ideas to get you started.

Hide and Seek

This has always been a classic game, even with no birthday parties involved, so it can be even more fun when you consider how many children can get in on the game. If you plan on having a large birthday party for the kids, then this is the perfect game to play because you can have the kids hiding as a team and searching for others as a team. No one will feel left out and all the kids can have a blasts searching high and low for their friends.

Glow-In-The-Dark Balloon Race

If you want to make sure the kids can have fun, even into the evening hours and just when you think it’s too dark to do anything, you can spice up a balloon game with glow sticks. Crack a few glow sticks and place them inside the balloons before inflating them. You can use these glowing balloons as part of a relay race and make it a lot more fun to play this game at night.

Relay races are a lot of fun for the kids and you can make it even more fun by adding glow-in-the-dark accessories for the children to wear while having a simple relay race. It makes thing fun and exciting because they can still get all their energy out in the race, enjoy a great time with friends and love the accessories that this game provides to them.

Three-Legged Race

This is another classic game that keeps kids moving, but also helps them work with each other to accomplish a goal. For this game, the kids will pair up and tie one of their legs together with string or a soft rope. Everyone will stand at the starting line and when someone yells “Go” the race will begin.

Each team will have to work together to stay in sync with each other in order to run as fast as they can to the finish line. This does require a little balance so working together will definitely be a big part of this game. Every team that crosses the finish line can earn a prize according to the order in which they finished the race.

At a birthday party, you can make this even more exciting for the kids by having tasty prizes waiting for them when they cross the finish line. It’s motivation to get to the end of the game and taste a very sweet victory. Not to mention you can add in some delicious drinks for them to enjoy and keep them hydrated as well.

Bowling Indoors

For this game, you can use anything that’s close to a bottle shape or even buy plastic bowling pins that you can set up inside the home in the traditional 3/2/1 pin setting. For the bowling ball part of this, you can really use any ball that is safe for indoor play. Pillows or even beach towels can be used as the gutters and keep the game safe and fun at the same time.

To make this game even more interesting, let the kids paint the pins using glow-in-the-dark paint so they can have some nighttime fun with this game as well. You can even let them paint their ball the color they want so they can be unique and have a blast celebrating a birthday, even at night. Everyone can join in on the fun and you can have lots of fun prizes for the winners as well.

Soccer (Crab Style)

You will need a large field area to play this game and enough kids to form two teams on the field. Have each child get into the crab position to play this game and make sure they are spread out on the field. Also be sure to choose team captains because they will go face-to-face when it comes to getting the ball.

Create goals using play nets or some form of barricades for the ball to go into. Drop the ball in front of the captains and let the game begin with each team scurrying around the field in the crab position, working to make a goal. The kids will get plenty of exercise with this one, but they’ll also have fun with this amusing spin on a classic soccer game.

At the end of the game, the team with the most points wins and can collect their choice of prizes. It’s simple and fun for everyone!

Balloon Race

This is a game that kids will probably do more laughing than anything because it involves a great deal of balance, but also a lot of fun with inflated balloons. You can start by having all the kids line up on a starting line and giving each one an inflated balloon to place between their knees. Once the race starts, each child must try to keep the balloon in the exact spot while they race to the finish line.

They’re not allowed to use their hands throughout the entire race so it will be interesting to see just how creative they can get. Also, if you have a large gathering for a birthday party, you can make sure all the kids can get in on the fun by making this into a relay race. If any of the kids are having a little trouble figuring out exactly how to keep that balloon in place, you can always let them know to “jump” their way to the finish line.

Water Balloon Fight

A water balloon fight is another classic game that the kids will love, especially if the birthday party happens to be held on a really hot day. Pick out a bunch of small balloons and fill them with water. You can even let the kids help out with this part and they can get a little cooled off at the same time.

Divide the kids into teams and you can choose a lot of different colors of balloons so that each team will be able to have their own specific color for the game. The kids can run around throwing water balloons at the other teams and when a child is hit with a balloon, they are considered out. The last person (or team) standing are considered the winners and they can receive a prize.

As a side note, if it’s a really hot day and you just want a way for the kids to cool off, they can simply have fun just throwing the water balloons around with no specific goal of winning the game. Everyone can have fun, cool off and just enjoy the birthday party.

Treasure Hunt

This will probably be one of the most popular games the kids could ever play at a birthday party because it involves earning tons of prizes as you go along. Think of it as an Easter egg hunt in some ways because you would start by hiding specific “treasures” throughout the yard or home. You can write out clues on small index cards that each child will take with them in order to help them figure out the locations of many of these treasures.

To make sure everyone is included, parents can help out and the kids can even grab a buddy and help find the treasures together. These treasures can be anything that the kids might like such as candy, jewelry, accessories, gift cards, toys, small electronics, and mini trophies. There really is no limit when it comes to choosing the treasures because there are so many things that can be hidden in different areas of a yard or even inside the home.

What’s great about this particular game is that it allows literally everyone to participate, it gives the kids a good workout, they’re working on problem solving skills and they don’t even realize it, and they can work on figuring things out as a team. At the end of the game, everyone is a winner, everyone has worked hard, and everyone has had a ton of fun.

All of these games are perfect for any kid’s birthday parties because they are more than just fun games to play together. They also keeps the kids moving, has them working together as a team, and problem solving throughout the entire game. Whether they’re classic or new, all the kids will love playing these games at any birthday party.