Birthdays on a Budget ~ Games People Play

Lightning McQueen Pinata

I Love Party Games! Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Pinata, Limbo, etc.

One year, I found a Christmas pinata on clearance. I bought it, sprayed it white and added a picture of a puppy, which was the theme of my daughters birthday.

   You can also make your own Pinata. You can make a paper mache figure that matches your theme, Instructions Here
   We do the same thing for Pin the Tail on the Donkey. I find a picture or draw a picture that matches our theme then, blind fold the child, give him a good spin and let him tape an item to the picture. It could be a tire for a Cars theme, a crown for a Princess theme, etc. 
   We love doing the Limbo and that's as easy as getting a broom handle and some fun music. 

Some other GAMES:

• Sticker the birthday boy/girl (a mix between marco polo and pin the tail ~ someone blindfolded calls out "Happy" and the birthday child says "Birthday" and the blindfolded child tries to put a sticker on the child.
• Treasure Hunt
• Balloon Races
• Face Painting and Balloon Animals
• Battle at Sea (You need 2 huge boxes (divide into 2 teams), and ping pong balls or water balloons (for a water party) One team at a time and when the other team has "launched all its missiles, tally up the number that made it into the other teams ship)
• Boomer-Whiz (hide a toy in plain sight and find it ~ Make it a toy to go along with your theme ~ The birthday child hides a toy and when it's hidden says "Boomer-Whiz" then the others find it and whomever finds it becomes the new hider
• Relay Race ~ Race to dress-up, Shoe Pile (race to get their shoes out of a pile),
• Charades
• Minute to Win It Games Blueprints Here 
• Hot Potato
• Hula Hoop or Jump rope contest
• Animal Safari or Seashell Hunt (use little plastic animals, dinosaurs or seashells to hide around the yard)
• Follow the Leader
• Red Light, Green Light
• Fishing for Favors (set up a fishing game for the goodie bags)
• No Lose Musical Chairs (when you take a chair away, no one sits out, but they sit on someone elses lap. The end of the game is when everyone is sitting on one chair)

Outside Games

• Bail Out The Boat ~ Use Sponges or Cups to move water from a big bucket to a cup with a line on the top
• Aim and Squirt ~ Use a Strong Water Gun or a hose with a nozzle to take turns squirting a beach ball across the finish line
• Bucket or Flower Pot toss with water balls
• Bubble Fun (from little blowers to Hula Hoop size blowers)
• Water Balloon toss

Balloon Games

• Balloon Bop ~ Have children hit balloon over a string and earn two points each time for a set amount of time.
• Balloon Stomp ~ Put wrapped lollipops in the balloon before inflating, inflate and then have the children stomp on them to get the prize
• Catch the Balloon
• Floating Balloons (keep the balloons in the air the longest

For tons of other games and instructions, go here