Fun Party Game Ideas for Kids

Players are divided into teams of two or three, and given a list of things to find, as well as a bag to put them in. The team to find all of them first (or who finds the most after a certain period of time) is the winner! For safety, make sure that boundaries are set and there is a supervising adult.

A classic party game! Get a chocolate bar or a cheap toy, or some other unbreakable prize, and wrap it in layers of newspaper. It's best to get small wrapped lollies and put one in each layer of the parcel as well. The players sit in a circle, and pass around the parcel, with someone (usually the supervising adult) playing music in the background. When the music stops, the person holding the parcel gets to unwrap one layer, keeping any prize they unwrap. The parcel continues to be passed around until all the layers are gone.

This requires lots of balloons... preferably at least thirty. Before blowing them up, put a slip of paper inside each balloon. All except one say "TRY AGAIN". The other says "WINNER". Players must run around, popping the balloons and retrieving the pieces of paper from inside them. The person who gets the "WINNER" balloon wins.

Each player gets two balloons- one tied to each ankle. They must run around stomping other people's balloons, without getting their own balloons popped. Once a person has had both their balloons popped, they are out and cannot stomp on anyone else's balloons. The last one with an un-popped balloon wins!

Get small wrapped chocolates or lollies and hide them in an area, making some easy and others more difficult. The children must then try to find the treats. They get to keep what they find. Alternate ending for younger children: all the lollies are pooled together at the end and divided equally to avoid tears.

Things needed: a block of chocolate, dice, knife, fork.
All players sit in a circle with the block of chocolate, knife and fork in the middle. Players take turns rolling a die. When a player rolls a six, they get to go into the middle of the circle, and eat the chocolate- but they are not allowed to use their hands! They must cut it up with the knife and fork, then figure out a way to scoop up the chocolate onto the fork into their mouth. The player continues eating as much chocolate as they can until somebody else rolls a six. Then the person who just rolled a six takes up the spot in the middle with the chocolate, and the old one takes a seat back in the circle.
The game continues until there is no chocolate left.

Another classic! When it's their turn, players will be blindfolded, given a paper cutout that looks like a donkey tail and spun in circles before being directed towards a poster on the wall of a donkey. Guests must then try to pin the tail in the correct spot.

One person must act out something (usually a book or movie title), and the others must guess what it is that they're trying to act out. The first person to guess correctly is the winner, and it's their turn to act next. You could also add a prize for correct guessing, like a lolly or chocolate. Click here for a list of fun charades ideas for kids.

One player must cover their eyes and count to thirty while the rest hide. The player must then find all the people hiding. For a twist, you can play the "sardines" version of the game: one player hides, while all the rest count. They must then separate and try to find the hiding player. Once a seeker finds the hider, they join them, also hiding. This continues until all but one seeker has found the hiders.

There are a few different ways to play this. I'll outline two:

1. Team Game. Divide the kids into teams of two. There is a "drawer" and a "guesser" in each team. Each team's drawer will be given the same prompt to draw, and the guesser must guess what it is they are trying to draw. The first team to have the guesser correctly say what the picture is wins the round. After each round, the drawer and guesser switch roles. You can have teams larger than two by adding more guessers.
2. Non-team game - this is the better option for large groups. One person draws something, and everybody else must try to guess what it is. The person who gets it right first gets to draw next.

Click here for a big list of pictionary ideas.