Toddler Birthday Party Game Ideas

Hi, just few hints.
If you thing you can make them sit, safety scissors and glue are things that my 3 years old like. And I thing olter kids like that to. Aldo you need to be there and watch it. And you can make anything from just paper-masks, party hats, toys like cars, dolls...
Or origamy is an option. Get one tape from library, lears something cool and teach them.
Balloons are always cool.
If you want more activity, try "bowling" in any form.Tent is fun for kind too. You can build it, or have it ready and let them play.

Some b-day party games for little ones. Think old fashioned bozo buckets, drop clothes pins from a certain height into a vase( this can be more challenging if you use a narrow opening or less if you use a wide mouth vase)Bean bag toss. Or pick a duckie from a pond. You change duckie to fit a theme. Have a great party.

J.
Mom of 5(yes really)

pass the parcel is a popular game at home in ireland. You get a tiny gift and wrap it up perhaps in one color tissue paper and then put another layer of paper on it in another color and then some more layers (maybe 3 or 4). The children pass the parcel while the music is going. When the music stops, the child with the parcel in their hands opens a layer of paper. Then the parcel goes around again with the music. The child who opens it to get the gift, gets to keep the gift. You can do it so that every child wins once. Children like the game more than musical chairs as noone is out.

Hello Kristen! How about musical chairs? Or we even did a limbo with a dougnut. We put the doughnut (they each had their own doughnut) on a string and they had to see who could finish the doughnut while it was tied to the string, however, you could not use your hands. It is harder than you think! Good luck!

A good game that most toddler, and I guess adults like to, is pin the tail on the donkey. You might have to break the game down or have an older child model the game one for the 3 years old, but it should be succcessful

Hello K.,

I found that at this age, kids don't need any scheduled games. They are content to grab toys out of a box and play with them. So my suggestion is to save your creativity for when your child is older; that's when children really crave stimulation. At this age, children are very self-sufficient. For my son's 4th, I put out pieces of clay with spaghettis sticking out. The goal was to thread Cheerios over the top of each one without breaking the spaghetti. It entertained the kids for almost the whole party- they loved it! So relax and let their imaginations lead them. You'll be working hard in a couple of birthdays- believe me!

Sasha
(2 kids)

I found toddlers to be very tactile so anything that they can throw or touch would be great. I remember when mine was that age, I made a makeshift "grand prize game" from the Bozo Show...with bowls and put fun things in each so that if they made one or all, they got a reward. it was a riot with kids and adults alike. if you are not familiar, the game had 6 buckets lined in a row with numbers on them, and you would throw a ping pong ball into each trying to go to bucket number six.. i used bowl and a bean bags because the margin for error was greater. have fun with whatever you choose

Well I remember when I was young we played Clothespin drop.

You get a jar put it on the floor, put a chair next to it, have the child kneel on the chair and have him drop the clothespin in the jar....Of course the smaller the jar opening the harder it is, sometimes as we got older we used a ladder...made it harder the higher we got.

Hope this helps.

Just think old fashioned. There's the pass the ball over the heads and under the legs of kids in a line, and after passing the ball the first person stands in back. the first line that gets everyone through it wins. There's water balloon (or ball or regular ballon for the youngers) toss, where you toss to a partner and after each toss take a step back, team passing farthest wins. There's musical chairs (and many variations, we did ours like a train)as well as duck duck goose. Three legged race, potato sack race, hot potato, (but instead the potato could be a piece of coal, (what I did for my son the train fanatic) We also did pin the number and the smoke stack on the train (had a coloring page magnified at the local copy store. We colored with markers and construction paper, then had it laminated. So if your son is into sponge bob, I'm sure there's lots of funny stuff they do in the show that you could somehow incorporate the old fashioned games into your theme.

Get a pinata ....... I know they have them at target now too.

Musical chairs is always fun for that age group.

Have fun!

Kristen -

I remember some of the "old" games we played at birthday parties. One was a glass milk jug (you could use a flower vase or wine carafe with a 2-3" opening. The old wooden clothespins and a kitchen chair. The kids kneel on the chair over the back and the jar is on the floor. they cannot lean over (straight backs!) and drop 6 clothes pins in the jar. Hand/eye Coordination skills!! The one with the most hits in the jar wins!
Another one is the navy beans or jelly bellys on a teaspoon to race with out dropping any.

Don't forget the bean bag toss too!

Have fun and hope you get some more great ideas ! A mom of a 23 year old!

I am a clown and so is my husband. We do games for all ages and some of them ae simple enough you can make them yourself with a minumum amount of money and time. A simple ring toss can be made with a case of water and bracelets. A lollipop tree can be made with a ceiling tile and some permanent markers and an nail. Draw a tree on the tile and buy a few bags of lollipops. Use the sharp object to push holes in where you have drawn the top of the tree. Mark some of the lollipops with a marker on the very bottom of the stick and put them in the holes. Put some unmarked lollipops on it also. If the child picks one of the marked ones they get a prize if they pick the unmarked tehy get the lollipop so eveyone wins. Oriental trading company has alot of inexpensive kids games you can buy as well. Have fun.
JenBo the clown

I've had a lot of luck at partygamecentral.com

Good luck!

One game my children find to be a whole bunch of fun and worth lots of laughs.

Tie a curly ribbon to a long balloon onto each childs ankle. Everyone runs around trying to pop everyone elses balloons. The last one with one still intact wins a little prize.

I was at a toddler party when I saw two very fun games:

1. String a large marshmallow (regular roasting size)to a long licorice string (the really thin, rope kind). Make enough in advance for each child to participate. Loosely tie the children's hands behind their backs. Put the string end in the each child's mouth. The first child to eat the marshmallow wins.

2. (not earth friendly but fun) The standard TP your partner game. Group children into team's of two or parent/child and then give each team a roll of TP. The first team to wrap one partner in tp wins.

Have fun at the party!

How about games like 'Hot Potato' or 'Musical Chairs'. Very simple and fun for most age groups!

Hi Kristen is your theme spongebob? you could have a crabby patty craft, like make your own crabby patty....or maybe get a cardboard box and cut a hole in the top and have a been bag game, maybe decorate the box like spongebobs pineapple or like mr. crabs' restuarant and make little crabby pattys as the bean bags? Jaust a few ideas...hope that helps!

At home parties are great, the only secret to pulling it off is "keep em moving". Get creative, use themes in the games and crafts. You can keep them simple or get elaborate. Kids love hunts. You can leave clues on little "sponge bob" pieces of paper. Bozo buckets is fun. Drop the clothes pin in a bottle. Bean bag toss (make enough so each child can take one home. Make them out of sponge bob material-cheap!) Mummy wrap is a blast and only requires toilet paper. Use the internet, books (to get your creative juices flowing) and you'll have a great success. Have fun.
L.

Bozo buckets, make the 3yo line closer. Use candy or trinket prizes.

Hello,
I am not sure if you had any responses yet, but I was just at a party where there were children ages 2-7. They played Limbo, hot potatoe, and musical chairs. I also think Freeze dance is great for kids of all ages. My daughter is 3 and my son is 7 and they both participated and had fun!
Good luck!

i went to a 3 yr old party where they decorated their own treat bag with markers and stickers at the beginning

sometimes crafts are easier than games
she brought in kid picnic tables and put table clothes under them

How about hot potato or musical chairs? Sometimes the old school stuff still works.

Hi-what about "hot potato" with a stuffed sponge Bob? My kids love playing that.

My son is going to have a similar party. We are going to buy Yellow Sponges and decorate them to look like sponge bob. Just need to get some eyes from a craft store, and other small items for nose, mouth, ears, etc...buttons, beads...whatever. The kids will glue them on. Also going to have a Jelly Fish hunt - blowing up small balloons, gluing streamers on them, - put one small toy or candy inside and let the kids catch with nets. (We'll see how that goes) Dad is making "crabby patties" as well.

S.

Hi K. I just recently gave a party for my two year old with lots of older kids(5-8). We played bozo buckets, freeze dance and simon says. Have fun!!

my mom always wrapped up a party favor (something like bubbles or chalk) a million times in all different wrapping paper (used up a lot of christmas scraps, newspaper, etc.) It was like hot potato - when the music stops that kid gets to unwrap a layer & the last kid gets the prize (even if they all get one in a goody bag later). this game became famous with all of our parties & my girlfriends still talk about it!!

Here are few ideas:

pinata
freeze dance
"bozo buckets" of some kind
egg hunt (if it is close to Easter)
guess how much of "X" is in a jar or basket (candy, m&m's, etc)

You could also do some kind of craft or activity that suits all ages.

If you are going to do prizes, I shop at the dollar stores and the stuff is not great but definitely appropriate for games and stuff.

Have a fun party!

how about getting a spongebob pull string pinata. all kids love them and you can get some healty snacks to put in it and it would be very easy for everyone involved. good luck.

for my son's second birthday, he was one of the youngest. We did games that were geared more toward the median age of the guests, but my son had a blast trying to play them and did surprisingly well.
1. water balloon toss (with partners)
2. simon says
3. red light/green light
4. had a dance contest (every participant got a medal... most unique, best turns, highest jumper, most enthusiasm....) kids loved it!
We also did pinatas. that is always a favorite!
Try Oriental Trading Co (0nline) for good favor ideas... excellent pricing!