Birthday Party Games

Hi K.,

That's a pretty wide age range, but they are all still pretty "little" kids so a lot of the old standards I think would still be fun for them all:
-Musical chairs (an older child/adult could help the little ones so they can also join in)
-Pass the Parcel (wrap a small gift in a many layers of wrapping paper and pass the gift around to music. When the music stops, whoever has the gift gets to unwrap one layer. You can manipulate the game so each child has a chance to unwrap a layer. Whoever unwraps the last layer gets to keep the gift as a prize).
-Pinatas are always fun for any age! A tip I've found useful is to draw a circle around the pinata that the kids cannot enter, only the one with the stick. This helps to create a safe distance so no one gets wacked! Another tip is to line up by size and let the littlest hit first (usually without a bandana) and as the kids get older/bigger they are blindfolded.
-Hide the Candles - you can print out and cut out about a dozen or so pictures of birthday candles. Then let the birthday boy/girl hide the paper candles all around a room while the others hide their eyes & then all the guests get to hunt for all the candles.
-Coloring Table - a good time passer if guests arrive early or for a time filler during the party, is to have a coloring table with all sorts of photo copied pictures of birthday related pictures and a bunch of crayons/markers/colored pencils whichever works best for the age group.

Hope some of these ideas help :) Have fun at the party!

I run a small in home daycare and get lots of craft ideas and games from Michael's craft store and DLTKkids.com

I don't personally know of any games, but I have a mom who is a clown. She is wonderful with little ones. Her price is right. If you are around the Madison area, she would be able to help you out (for a fair fee...), provided the party is on the weekend.
email me if you would like more info...
____@____.com
---K.

The old games are fun! Drop clothes pins in ajar from a stool. Have them wear mittens and try to open a piece of gum(the older ones. Simon says! Freeze! Kids that age are entertained easily! But make sure you keep them busy at all times or it is mass Chaos! Have a blast. F.

I have found alot of great ideas on the Family Fun Magazine's website.

Are you planning a themed party? Sometimes it's fun to take the "old school" games and have them wrap around the theme. For instance, we had a Thomas the Engine game, I painted a huge Thomas the Train and played pin the whistle on Thomas. Other games like tag, duck, duck, gray duck work well with thems too. Also online resources often will give you many ideas for themed party ideas. If it is not a themed party, then I'd suggest the typical party games, pin the tail on donkey, pin drop/bean bag toss, treat bag hunt etc. I LOVE to plan parties and events, if you have more details on the party you're planning, decorations, theme (if their is one), send me a message and I can see what creative games I could come up with.

Savannah

I was at a birthday where the kids decorated a foam visor. They had a good time.