Party Games And Activities for Children's Parties.

Party Games

Organizing Your Party Games

If you are having a children's party, have a couple of other adults to help keep thing running smoothly.
Plan the games to transition easily from one game to the next.
For example, plan several sit down games together and then several active games next.
Get everyone's attention.
Explain the rules of each game as it is played. Groups will cooperate better if they know what is going to happen.
Arrange competing teams so they are equal in strength and skill.
Change the activity before the group gets bored.
Change the rules to meet the situation.

Rules for Children's Games

Duck, Duck, Goose
In this game, kids sit down in a circle facing each other. One person is "it" and walks around the circle. As they walk around, they tap people's heads and say whether they are a "duck" or a "goose". Once someone is the "goose" they get up and try to chase "it" around the circle. The goal is to tap that person before they are able sit down in the "goose's" spot. If the goose is not able to do this, they become "it" for the next round and play continues. If they do tap the "it" person, the person tagged has to sit in the center of the circle. Then the goose become it for the next round. The person in the middle can't leave until another person is tagged and they are replaced.

Freeze Tag
In this version of Tag, one person is still "it", but when they touch someone, that person is "frozen" in place. They cannot move and must stand with their feet apart. The only way they can become unfrozen is if a person crawls under their legs. Play continues until all the players are frozen. Then the last person to be frozen is "it" for the next game.

Hide and Seek
First you pick someone to be it (the person to seek) then he/she turns around and counts with their eyes closed at the "base" while the rest of the people hide. Then "It" says "Ready or Not, Here I Come" and rushes to find everyone. Then the people try to get to base without getting tagged or else they are "It". If the person who is "It" doesn't get someone in three tries he gets to pick a man to be it!

Hide the Button
This game is normally played inside the house. It was a game taught to my sisters and I by the babysitter. The babysitter or whoever the group decides, will be first to hide the button. The rest of the group "the hunters" will go into another room or hide their heads on a couch so as not to see where the "Hider" is putting the button. Since the button is small, it is easy for the Hider to walk around the room pretending to be putting it one area, then placing it elsewhere. The Hunters are listening to the Hiders directional footsteps. After the button is hidden, the Hunters come out and start their search. The Hider will help the group with phrases such as: "Susie is getting warm, warmer, hot!" "Billy is getting colder, cold, ice cold." Of course when one person is getting warmer the rest will normally all gather around that person. The person who finds the button is the new Hider. It's a great indoor game. Have Fun!!!

Hopscotch
Hopscotch is a wonderful hopping game that can be played on a bare patch of ground or on a floor indoors. There are hundreds of variations of the diagram that can be drawn. Use your favorite version to have children play. Use chalk to draw a hopscotch pattern on the ground or use masking tape on a floor. Create a diagram with 8 sections and number them. Each player has a marker such as a stone, beanbag, bottlecap, shell, button, etc. The first player stands behind the starting line to toss her or his marker in square 1. Hop over square 1 to square 2 and then continue hopping to square 8, turn around, and hop back again. Pause in square 2 to pick up the marker, hop in square 1, and out. Then continue by tossing the stone in square 2. All hopping is done on one foot unless the hopscotch design is such that two squares are side-by-side. Then two feet can be placed down with one in each square. A player must always hop over any square where a maker has been placed. A player is out if the marker fails to land in the proper square, the hopper steps on a line, the hopper looses balance when bending over to pick up the marker and puts a second hand or foot down, the hopper goes into a square where a marker is, or if a player puts two feet down in a single box. The player puts the marker in the square where he or she will resume playing on the next turn, and the next player begins. Sometimes a dome-shaped "rest area" is added on one end of the hopscotch pattern where the player can rest for a second or two before hopping back through.

Jacks
Basic Jacks: Flip for who goes first. Then work your way up from onesies to tensies and back down to onesies. Begin by throwing the jacks out on the floor. Then, taking a ball (you can use the little ones that come in the sets or we always preferred the "Pinkies" (tennis-ball sized pink rubber balls) you throw the ball into the air, pick up the correct number of jacks and letting the ball bounce once, catch the ball while still holding the jack(s). You can only use one hand. Your turn continues until you miss the ball, miss the jacks, move a jack, or drop a jack you've just picked up. Then you are out and it is the next person's turn.
For instance, on onesies, you'll pick up one jack at a time, until you've collected all ten. (You may put the jacks you've collected into your other hand or on the ground before you try to collect more.) On twosies, you pick them up two at a time. On threesies, you pick them up three at a time, with one left over. You pick up the leftover(s) by itself. If you pick up the leftover before you've picked up all the evenly grouped jacks, you are putting the horse before the cart and therefore must call "cart" as you take the leftover jack(s). On Foursies, there are, obviously, two groups of four and two jacks in the "cart." Fivesies has no cart. Sixsies has one group of six and four in the "cart." And so on. If you throw the jacks and two (or more) are touching it is Kissies and you have the option of picking up the kissing jacks and dropping them to spread them out. This is sometimes advantageous; sometimes not.
FLIPPING: By flipping, we mean you take all the jacks in the palms of your two hands held together, throw them into the air as you turn your hands over so that the backs are now upwards with index fingers touching to form a surface onto which you will catch the jacks. Now, throw the jacks into the air again, this time returning your hands to the palms up position at which you started. Catch all the jacks? Good. When flipping for first, the player who drops the least goes first. If none drop, the you take turns flipping until someone drops one, determining who goes first. You may also decide to flip at the beginning of a game.Flipping is done on your first turn only, and only until you drop a jack. The level at which you drop the jack(s) must be played from those dropped jacks. You continue from there. Thus, if you drop 2 jacks on your third flip (threesies), you would have to pick up the two jacks together (since at threesies you are taking them three at a time) and then continue with foursies. How far you can flip is decided at the outset of a game:flip only to fivsies, flip to tensies, flip all the way, and no flipping. The Winner: The first player to complete the agreed upon steps. In Basic Jacks, the first player to complete the challenge of going from Onsies to Tensies and back down again to Onsies.
BEYOND BASIC JACKS: Fancies are specialty jacks rounds. At the start of a game, the players will decided how many and what kinds of fancies will be included. There was a huge collection of fancies that were just common knowledge when I was a kid. Some fancies are short: a simple chant with a certain pattern of activity that composed the whole fancy. Some fancies are long: a certain, trickier way of picking up the jacks that was performed from onsies to tensies. Thus a game might be agreed upon: "Flip to tensies. Five fancies; two long, three short." meaning players can flip as far as tensies, but must play tensies back to onesies no matter what, then complete two long fancies and three short fancies in order to win.

Red Light/Green Light
In this game, one person plays the "stop light" and the rest try to touch him/her.
At the start, all the children form a line about 15 feet away from the stop light. The stop light faces away from the line of kids and says "green light". At this point the kids are allowed to move towards the stoplight.
At any point, the stop light may say "red light!" and turn around. If any of the kids are caught moving after this has occurred, they are out.
Play resumes when the stop light turns back around and says "green light".
The stop light wins if all the kids are out before anyone is able to touch him/her.
Otherwise, the first player to touch the stop light wins the game and earns the right to be "stop light" for the next game.

Red Rover
In this game, the kids form two opposing lines and attempt to "break through" the opposing team's line. At first, two teams are chosen of equal size, and they form two lines, facing each other and holding hands. One side starts by picking a person on the opposing team and saying "Red Rover, Red Rover, send right over" Jason then lets go of his teammates and begins a headlong rush for the other line. His goal is to break through the line by overpowering the kid's hold on eachother. If Jason breaks through, he chooses one person for the opposing team to join his team, and they both go back and join in their line. If he fails to break through, Jason becomes part of the other team. Each team alternates calling people over until one team has all the people and is declared the winner. Note that since all the players are on the winning team at the end, there really are no losers in this game.

Simon Says
One person is chosen to be "Simon" the others stand in a strait line. The simon then calls out an action for the children to follow. It can be anything like.... touch your toes jump 10 times on 1 foot...... The simon when giving an action can simply state the action by it self..."touch your ears" and whoever does it is out and has to sit down. Or the simon can say "Simon says, touch your ears" and them everyone must follow the instruction. You can vary the actions according to the age group of children you are playing with. The last person who is standing can then be "Simon"!

Spin the Bottle
A group of boys and girls arrange themselves in a circle, alternating boy/girl/boy/girl. Put a Coke bottle in the center. Each player takes turn spinning the bottle. Whoever spun the bottle has to kiss whichever person of the opposite sex the bottle was pointing at.

Steal the Bacon
The object of Steal the Bacon is take the "bacon" back to your own side without being caught. In this game, two teams are chosen, and one umpire is selected. One object is required to the bacon. (a glove is a common choice) The members of each team are numbered. They form two opposing lines and place the bacon in the exact center between them. The umpire then calls out a number. The players on each side who are assigned that number are the players for that round. No other team members leave their side of the field. Neither player may touch the other until someone touches the bacon. Once a player touches the bacon however, the other player may tag him/her. If a player is able to grab the bacon and carry it back over to his/her own side, that team scores a point.
VARIATION: in some games, points are scored by carrying it to the other teams side or either team's side) If a player is tagged after touching the bacon and before he/she returns their own side, the team that tagged him/her scores a point. Note that the sequence of play usually involves the two kids running out and hovering over the bacon, waiting for a slight advantage to grab it and run back before the other player can react. The game is over when a predetermined number of points are scored, or when all numbers have been called.
VARIATION: The umpire can call more than one number, in which case several players from each side participate. In some games, players may tag any player on the opposing team, in others, a player may only tag the player on the other team that they share a number with.

Stick Ball
The game is played with a baseball bat and ball (usually a tennis ball so we didn't break any windows). There are no teams, just one person up to bat and everyone else in the outfield. The person with the bat tosses the ball up and hits it. He/she then places the bat on the ground in front of him/her. The person who gets the ball rolls it at the bat from the place where the ball was picked up. When and if the ball hits the bat it pops up into the air. If the batter does not catch the ball, the person who rolled it is then up to bat. If someone in the field catches a hit before it touches the ground, they are automatically up to bat.

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