My niece is turning 11 yrs old in a couple of weeks and we invited about 10 of her friends to attend a small party that we are giving her at home. What are some really cool game ideas that we can have the girls play? Thank you in advance!
Do board games. The kids are old enough to follow the rules and you can still give out prizes for the winners. Another good game is a scavenger hunt. You can take them out in the neighborhood or just keep them at home.
I loved playing spoons at that age. You'd put a bunch of spoons in the middle with 1 short and when someone got a certain card hand they were supposed to put it down and grab a spoon. Then, each person would grab a spoon. We'd play that the one who didn't get one, would have to play truth or dare. Of course, a bunch of small prizes would be better. :) Especially, if parents are around. haha It was all really innocent fun, but I could see how it could get out of control and gossipy.
I don't know what card game we were playing it was so long ago. Another thing we did was dance to music and freeze when they'd stop it. My friend had a hot tub which we loved. Anyway, have a good time! I'm sure they'll have fun. Oh and another failsafe if the girls aren't into games would be a movie, depending on how long the party runs.
Twister is fun at any age!
Also, they could do hair and nails-- get a whole bunch of nail polish, fake nails, lipgloss and makeup and let the girls do eachother's makeovers. Also could do a fashion show for everyone--all the girls bring their prettiest outfit and make a runway.... endless options.
Molly
After reading Kristy's post, it reminded me of a game I played with my 3rd graders when I taught elementary school. I bought 26 toys or small gifts at the dollar store or Walmart and wrapped them all into one big package. For example, the silly string was wrapped. Then outside of that, I put the bracelets and wrapped the bracelets around the silly string. Then around the sillystring/bracelets I put the package of fun erasers and wrapped that up. So in the end I had ONE BIG PACKAGE with 26 'layers' of gifts. The kids got in a circle and we did a 'musical chairs' type maneuver. Pass the gift from child to child until the music stopped. When the music stopped, the person holding the gift got to open that layer and get the prize inside. Then they stepped out of the circle.
When I was about 11 yrs old, we played a game at my birthday party of who could get dressed in these big clothes the fastest, all while wearing oven mits. So I am wearing oven mits and must put on my dad's sweatpants, his big t-shirt, his boots, and a hat.
There's also board games like Scattergories. You could make up your own "LIST" and make it birthday themed.
Another activity, not necessarily a game would be to make your own pizzas. Have sauce and cheese and lots of toppings. Do either english muffins or get Pillsbury dough so each girl can make her own personalized pizza. Get chef hats or get Aprons and let the girls deorate their aprons with Sharpies before they cook.
Limbo! Get the original & modern versions and burn a CD.
I always loved the old scavenger hunt. You can do a digital photo scavenger hunt too where you get the kids in groups of 2 or 3 and give everyone a list and one camera (per grp). Send them around the house (or neighborhood --can limit to a 1 block radius) and they have to take a picture with one of the kids holding or standing next to the item on the list. Maybe give them a time limit say 45 minutes for 20 items.......It is really fun!
Make your own pillow cases or T-shirts. Just some white blanks, and some fabric pens. Not really a game, but they'll have fun, and a keepsake.
My mom always had us play "dirty dice." It was awesome! Here is a link that describes the game:
http://www.partygameideas.com/christmas-games/dice_gift_e...
Instead of everyone bringing a gift to put in the middle, though, my mom would purchase gifts and wrap them up. She would also wrap a larger gift (usually a bit nicer) and call it "The Thing." Whenever anyone rolled a double six, they would get to steal "The Thing." It remained wrapped the whole game, and was only unwrapped at the very end. We fought for that gift!
She would wrap things like notepads, candy and candy bars, cool pens, stickers, candles, gum, bracelets, etc. The dollar store would be a great place to check, or the "Dollar Spot" at Target.
My sister is now an elementary school teacher in Alaska, and she took the game with her up there. Her class plays it for class parties. They look forward to the game every party, and her fellow teachers have adopted it, too!
Another great game (and a lot cheaper, too!) is to blow up balloons (or have the kids blow up their own balloons) and tie them to long-ish strings. They then tie the strings to their ankles. The goal of the game is to pop other people's balloons while keeping your balloon safe. They will run around stomping, and it's really fun to watch, too! The winner is the last person with a blown-up balloon.
