33 of the best kids' party games – for the ultimate birthday party

One person is Grandmother, standing with their back to everyone. The other kids line up at the other side of the room.

When Grandmother's back is turned, everyone creeps nearer. When Grandmother turns around, anyone who they catch moving has to go back to the beginning.

The first person to make it all the way to Grandmother and tap her on the shoulder is the winner, and becomes Grandmother for the next round.

In this traditional party game, all but one of the children stand in a circle, hold hands, and then lift them up into arches.

The remaining child weaves in and out of the arches to the tune of 'In and out the dusty bluebells' (check it out on YouTube).

When you get to the chorus ('Tippy-tippy tap-toe on my shoulder'), the child stops where they are and taps on the shoulders of the person in front of them.

These two kids then form a chain and weave through the arches together.

Keep repeating the song while the chain gets longer and longer – and more chaotic!

Get all the children to sit in a circle, then pick one out.

The chosen child walks around the outside of the circle, tapping the head of each child as they pass them and calling out 'duck'.

After a while, the child chooses a 'goose!' and starts running round the circle to get back to the place where they were sitting. The ‘goose’ child has to chase and try to catch the first child.

If the first child gets back round the circle before being caught, they sit down, and the chaser has their turn. If not, the same child goes again.

This active game needs a garden or a large room or hall, and is perfect for a pirate party theme.

Clear the space as much as possible. Then put some ‘islands’ (cushions, mats, beanbags, chairs, etc) on the floor, forming an obstacle course.

The children have to go around the room, jumping from island to island, without falling into the river (touching the floor).

Whoever falls into the river the fewest times is the winner. Or, for older kids, turn it into a race to see who can get the best time!

Using bean bags can be a win-win as your children will really enjoy lounging on them every day. We like these bean bag-style chairs see more details here at Amazon.

If you're looking for something more affordable, then opt for this set of agility hoops. They come as a pack of 13 – see more details here at Amazon.

In the garden, set up a pony jumping course, using things like boxes or flower pots with planks or bamboo poles suspended across them.

Give each child a numbered rosette. Pretending to be ponies, they then race around the course without knocking the poles over.

Pretend to be a commentator to spur them on!

You can even use the poles for playing limbo after – whoever can go lowest and pass under the pole without touching it is the winner.

This is a great parent/child party game. In a big space, line all the children up on one side.

Get one or two kids or adults to pretend to be monsters in the middle of a forest.

The children have to run across the forest without being caught by the monster. If they’re caught, they become a monster, too.

Carry on running back and forth until all but one child has been caught. The last child standing is the winner.

Make individual bowls of jelly with a small plastic animal in each.

With their hands behind their backs, the kids have to race to get the animal out of the jelly using only their mouths.

The first one to produce their animal is the winner.

Best left till the end of the party!

We like this convenient set of 53 plastic jungle animals. They're made from non-toxic PVC material – see more details here at Amazon.

Thread lots of Hula Hoops, Cheerios or mini donuts onto two long pieces of string.

Get adults to hold the strings up at child height. Then divide the children into two teams.

With their hands behind their backs, they’ve got to eat all the food until the string is empty. The first team to finish is the winner.

A favourite memory game from childhood parties.

Put some small items on a tray, for example a comb, teaspoon, eggcup, scissors... about 20 objects is ideal.

Give each child a pencil and paper. Let them look at the tray for a minute, then cover it with a tea towel.

The children have to write down what was on the tray; the one with the most right answers is the winner.

As a variation, take away one item at a time while the kids aren't looking and get them to call out what's missing.

Take a fabric bag or box and put a different item in it each time, for example an orange, cotton wool, shoelace, hairbrush etc.

Ask the children to put their hand in the bag or box and guess what it is, without looking.

The children dance around to music. When the music stops, they have to stand absolutely still, like a statue.

If anyone moves, they're out.

You can vary this game by getting the children to dance like a particular animal that you call out. When they freeze, they have to pose like that animal.

Make it even harder by adding an adjective – like posh horse, mad monkey, sneaky cat.

Put out two rows of chairs, with the backs of the chairs touching.

The children have to dance around the chairs and when the music stops, sit on a chair immediately.

Each time, take away a chair while the music plays. The child left without a chair when the music stops is out.

The last child left in is the winner.

For a safe party game for young children – at a three-year-old's birthday party for example – use cushions instead of chairs.

This is a bit like musical chairs, but with no chairs required! The kids just jump and dance around, and sit down where they are when the music stops.

The last one to sit is out. The last child left dancing at the end is the winner.

Put this kid-friendly CD on full blast; it features the top disco hits that little ones love dancing to. See more details here at Amazon.

Choose five types of clothing or props, and make sure there’s enough for every child to have one each: a hat, a badge, a top, a skirt etc.

The children dance around. When the music stops, call out an item; each child has to grab one, put it on, then keep dancing.

Carry on until they’re all dressed up.

This convenient 20-piece multipack includes everything from wigs to funky hats. See more details here at Amazon.

Tell one child to shut their eyes or leave the room, then put all the rest in a circle, holding hands.

Without breaking hands, the children have to tie themselves into the most complicated knot possible by turning around, stepping over each other’s arms, going under arms etc.

When they’re ready, the remaining child has to come back and unknot them, again without breaking any links.

The fun comes when the children start falling over each other: health and safety permitting!

Put some little pieces of ‘treasure’ (wrapped sweets, chocolate coins, little presents) on a tray, evenly spaced out.

Pour sand all over the treasure, so it’s completely hidden.

Give each child a little flag with their name on (make them from cocktail sticks with a slip of paper attached), then let them take it in turns to stick their flag into the sand.

When they’re all done, uncover the treasure; each child wins the items closest to their flag.

This mini scavenger hunt is a good game for small parties.

Hide treasure in easy to reach, safe places and draw pictures or take cryptic photos of where it's hidden.

Give out the clues one at a time and let the children race to find the prizes.

An ideal game for the kids to play at an animal themed party.

Cut matching pairs of large animal shapes out of stiff coloured paper. Chop one of each pair into four pieces and hide the pieces all over the garden or house.

Split the children into pairs, and give them one animal to find, showing them the complete example so they know what they’re looking for. The first pair to complete their animal is the winner.

Get the children to sit at the table, or if there are too many, on the floor.

Give them a piece of kitchen towel, on which you place about 10 raisins, a small container and a pair of chopsticks each.

The winner is the first person to transfer all the raisins into the container using the chopsticks.

If you only have one set of chopsticks, the kids can always take turns while you time them to see who can do it the fastest.

These simple reusable wooden ones will do the job see more details here at Amazon.

What's the time Mr Wolf is very similar to Grandmother's footsteps. It's a party game that's best played with children five years old and above.

One person is Mr Wolf, standing with their back to everyone. The other kids line up at the other side of the room.

The children then ask, 'What's the time Mr Wolf?'

The wolf replies by saying a time such as 'Three o'clock'. The children have to take that many steps towards the wolf and then ask the time again.

At any time when the children ask the wolf the time, the wolf can say 'dinnertime!'. The wolf then chases the other children around the room and they try to get back to the starting line. If the wolf tags someone, they become the wolf.

Make a parcel by wrapping up a prize in several layers of paper (one for each child, plus an extra one). Put a small treat like a sweet or sticker between each layer. Make sure the prize is wrapped in different paper so you know when you're at the last layer.

Sit the children in a circle, give one of them the parcel and when the music starts, get them to hand it around the circle.

When the music stops, the child who's holding the parcel opens the first layer. Make sure each child gets a turn to unwrap a layer, then turn away for the last round so the eventual winner is chosen randomly.

An oldie but a goodie, this fun game is a classic for a reason!

Get a large piece of card, draw a donkey on it and make a tail from a separate piece of card.

Blindfold each child and get them to attach the tail with Blu Tack. Write the child's name in the spot where they stick the tail.

The winner is the child who gets closest to where the tail should be.

You can vary this game according to your party theme: pin the horn on the unicorn; pin the parrot on the pirate's shoulder etc.

A quiet, calm party game – perfect for when things are getting out of control!

Get everyone to lie down and pretend to be sleeping lions. Walk around and try and disturb them by talking or very gently tickling them ... VERY gently, you don’t want them to be out too quickly!

Anyone who moves is out. They can also then help wake up the other lions.

Get the children to follow a leader, maybe starting with an adult to get the ball rolling.

They have to copy whatever the leader does as they move around, such as hopping, putting hands on heads, jumping, running, skipping, doing silly walks, turning round, waving their arms, being an animal etc.

This works well when you need to move kids from the main party space to the tea table.

You can also play Simon Says, which is very similar. One person throws out instructions such as 'Simon says put your hands on your head.' The children have to follow the instructions, but only if the person says 'Simon says' first.

If they don't say Simon says, and the child follows the instruction, then they're out. Last one standing is the winner.

A simple – but noisy – party classic. Divide the children into two teams.

At the starting signal, the first two contestants in each team race to their basket and grab a balloon. They then sit on it until it pops! As soon as it has popped, they run back to their team and tag the next player in line.

The first team to pop all their balloons wins.

A classic you're sure to remember from your own school days!

Get the kids to sit in a circle, then whisper a short phrase to one child (or ask them to make one up). That child then whispers the phrase to the child to their left, who whispers it to the next child, and so on.

When the last child hears the phrase, they should announce to the room what they think it is. You may be surprised by how different the phrase becomes once it's gone all around the circle!

The phrase can be anything you want, from 'I like chocolate' for younger kids, to 'the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog' if you want a real challenge! Top marks for the child who comes up with the funniest phrase!

Perfect for summer parties in the garden, a good old-fashioned tug of war is a great way to get the kids burning off energy. Just make sure there's nice soft grass to land on if anyone takes a tumble!

The rules are pretty simple: first grab some rope (if you don't have any, you could twist a sheet into a rope shape). Then mark a line on the ground, and lay the rope down so the line's exactly in the middle.

Divide the kids into two teams, and have each pick up one side of the rope, with the kids facing each other. On the count of three, each team should try to pull the other team towards them. First team over the line loses!

This is a brilliant ice-breaker to get everyone talking at the start of a party.

First, write down a number of people or animals on post-it notes; one for each child. Animals are a great choice for young kids, while older ones will probably prefer their favourite celebs. Or make it a real challenge with historical figures! The choice is yours.

Pop a post-in on each child's head, so they can't see it, but everyone else can. Then, all the kids walk around the room asking each other yes-or-no questions to figure out who they are.

Now this one is genius – not only will it keep the kids occupied, but it also provides a perfect addition to your party snacks, too!

Buy or make some simple vanilla or chocolate cupcakes, and stock up on icing, food colouring, edible glitter, sprinkles and other decorations.

Then just lay it all out on the kitchen table and let the kids have a go at decorating the cakes to create their own culinary masterpieces!

For extra fun, the kids can vote to see whose cupcake is the prettiest.

Another old-school classic, wink murder is suitable for kids from about 5 and up.

First, choose one player to be the 'detective', and send them out of the room. While they're outside, choose another player to be the 'murderer' (short straws is a good way to keep things fair).

Bring the detective back in, and let the game begin! The 'murderer' should try to catch the other kids' eyes and wink at them; when they do, the child they've winked at should 'die' with as much drama as possible!

Can the detective work out who the murderer is before all their friends are down?

You'll need a big empty space with nothing fragile to knock over for this one!

The idea is very simple: one child is blindfolded, and they have to move carefully around the room to try to touch their friends. If they catch someone, that child is then blindfolded, and they swap over.

Variation: for an extra challenge, have the blindfolded person try to guess who it is they've caught; if they get it wrong, they have to keep going.

Although you may have played this more as a teenager, it makes a great game for kids, too!

The trick is to write down all the questions and forfeits yourself, to stop things getting out of hand. Then ask each child to choose 'truth or dare', and pull a slip of paper from the right pile.

Questions for the truths could include things like:

- Who's your favourite celebrity?
- Do you pick your nose?
- What are you most scared of?

And forfeits for the dares could include things like:

- Hop around the room
- Pull the silliest face you can
- Eat a slice of lemon

Just use your imagination, or get your child to help you come up with ideas before the party starts.

This is a fab one for younger kids, or if there's a mix of ages at the party.

You may remember playing parachute games at school; well, you don't need any special fancy fabric to do it; an old sheet will work just as well (though there are plenty of giant play parachutes available online if you want to get fancy).

Lay the 'parachute' flat on the ground, then have the kids surround it and each pick up a bit of the edge (if the kids are small, you'll probably want a few adults to help). Now the fun can begin!

Toddlers will love just watching the fabric fly – it's like the world's most epic game of peek-a-boo!

Slightly older kids might prefer to throw some balls on top, then wiggle the sheet to see how they jump around. You could even make it competitive, by having one team try to keep the balls on the sheet, while the other tries to shake them off!

Another classic is to call out two players' names, and have them run under the 'parachute' to swap places.

Our parties section is crammed with ideas – everything from local entertainers and venues to hire to ideas for kids' birthday party bags and party food.

And once you've been inspired, make sure you're all organised with our party checklist.