Game Ideas for 2 Year Old Party

For my son's 2nd birthday party last month we just rented a moonwalk and let the kids play on that and it was a big hit and all ages of kids enjoyed it. So you can try something like that.

we had an elmo party for my daughter's 2nd b-day--here's the wording i used for her invites:

Elmo loves to party
We hope that you do too
Come and help us celebrate
Cause Kaitlyn's turning two!

we didn't really do much as far as structured games just had an elmo pinata.

I had a Sesame Street party for my son. The younger kids will have a hard time with the structured games. We set up different stations for the kids. One station was a craft table where I had sun visors from Michaels. They were red and blue. I bought different colored foam sheets and cut out the shapes for Elmo and Cookie monster's eyes, nose, and mouth. The kids could then assemble the visors themselves. It was a big hit. Also, we had a table set up with 12x12 cardstock that the kids can draw/color/paint a picture for the birthday boy. After the party, we put them in an album for him. The older kids actually had a great time helping the younger kids out with the crafts. We also set out a bunch of different sized balls for them to kick around and play with. You can also do a pin the nose on Elmo or Pinata. Hope this helps a little.

Hi J.,

Go to Walmart and buy Elefun. The base is the elephants body. It has a fan inside. The trunk is a thin plastic tube that inflates. There are butterflies that fly out of the trunk when you turn the game on. The kids have little nets to catch the butterflies. When my kids were little they loved it.

The only issue you may have is sometimes the bigger kids get most of the butterflies, but taking turns would solve that. I used to have my daughter go by herself when she would get frustrated playing with her older brother.

This is a great game if just to have on stand by.

Musical chairs are always fun and then there are bubbles and sidewalk chalk.

C.

We have a daughter getting ready to turn 2, as well, and we're skipping the games. Most kids their age don't understand it well - taking her to a dance class last week was evidence enough. They still play side-by-side vs. with one another at that age.

Though it may be fun for the older kids, I wonder if the birthday girl would be lost in translation.

Good luck.

You can't go wrong with pin the nose on Elmo, the limbo and a piñata!

You have quite a different age range going on. Ages around 2 cannot really play games although the 8 yr old can. More appropriate for the 2 yr old is possibly drawing/coloring, or mom blowing bubbles, a sandbox, or a water table on supports with boats and such in it. 2 yr olds don't play with others, though they will play beside another child. Maybe you can print out a coloring sheet of elmo and have those on a table with a bucket of crayons. Also reading an Elmo story at the party is very appropriate for young children. A SIMPLE treasure hunt is another option with parents helping each child.(but this is geared toward older kids also). If you decide to rent a jumpy house, keep in mind that they are quite dangerous for toddlers when older kids are in them. Toddlers tend to spend a lot of time on the floor,TRYING to manuever. Older kids jumping with them can jump on them and break their limbs or more. (my husband is an insurance agent and says commercial places who rent these for events pay through the nose to insure them because of the high incidence of accidents that occur.) If you go this route, keep only similar ages in there at one time.
2 year olds can get overwhelmed quite easy by "larger" parties. Be careful. the rule of thumb is the number of guests should match the child's age.
You want this party to be fun for your son and geared toward his interests since he is the guest of honor. SIMPLE is a key word here. Not too loud and not too long. Make sure you throw the party when he is most rested and well fed.
Hope it turns out wonderful,
Gail

For my daughter's 2nd birthday back in August, we did not play games. We just had the kids play on the swingset and I had huge bubble wands that the parents used (less mess than if the kids used them!).

A pinata (with pull strings) would be a fun alternative to games. Or what about bobbing for apples? Or putting a marshmallow on a string and having each kid try to eat theirs off the string without using their hands? This can be done but all ages and fun because they get to eat the marshmallow!

What about decorating their own sugar cookies? Messy but fun (we did this at our family Christmas party). Or buying hats/tshirts/cups for each child and having them decorate it with puffy paint, markers, etc.