Finding games that go with your theme party may be difficult, but making games up will not be if you follow a few easy tips.

There are a few games to go with your theme parties already in existence, but not enough or possibly not exactly right. So, the easiest way to have appropriate games for your theme is to design your own.

I usually star with the general categories of games and work from there. If you recall most parties there are games from the following categories such as tossing games, relay games, guessing games, childhood games, active games, skill games, rolling the dice games, performing games etc. Many more categories exist and if you think about them you will come up with tons of ideas for a starting point.

As a child I remember most kids played Pin the Tail on the Donkey. This starting point has led me to make up games exactly the same in theory and action, but with different backgrounds and objects to pin on. One such game is Pin the Nose on the Jack O’ Lantern. Easy enough for most folks to make from construction paper and just as much fun, but more appropriate for a Halloween party. How about Pin the Crown on the Princess or the Sail on the Pirate Ship or the Handle on the Tea Pot. You get the idea.

How about musical chairs, a common game at many parties? Well, now use that same idea to create a game where kids march to music and stop on spots on the floor. Those spots could be balloons for a circus party or maps for a pirate’s party, how about race flags for a small boys driving party? You can play this with kids sitting on a coffee table when they stop rather than on chairs. I used this idea to play a game I called don’t sit on the hat for a tea party. I used folders with various pictures in it, one being a fancy hat. They played it just like musical chairs. The person who sat on the hat was out each time and the remaining person at the end was the winner.

Guessing games are often played such as how much candy corn is in a glass bowl. You could fill that bowl with anything. You might be having a musical party and fill it with small whistles or a mermaid party and fill it with seashells.

Lots of parties feature tossing games. All you need is homemade bean bags and an object to toss them over, into, through or knock down with your bean bags. Make the target appropriate. I used a tea cup I made out of foam with container behind it. The bean bags were white so became sugar cubes. See how easy! A cutout in a large box could be used to toss them through. The outline could be a cloud in the sky and your bean bags could become small planes. You could even use small gliders instead.

Most parties need some sort of dice throwing or spinner game where the kids take turns and take steps to reach a destination. It can be easy to decide what is appropriate when you know the theme. A cowboy party might use the idea of getting cattle to market. You make a row of blocks and each turn gives them so many steps on that row. Make sure to have challenges for slightly older kids to make it more difficult to reach their goal. Such as they need to go back since there is no water for the cattle or there are bad guys who blocked the path. Be creative.

You can have kids pick slips of paper you previously prepared from a box and act out what is on the paper. With very shy kids this may not be as much fun so if you have some of those try it with two people instead of one. Partners will compete for prizes and parents can be the judges. Make sure with little ones, all kids get small prizes.

Games are easy, the hard part is deciding which ones to play once the ideas start coming.