Classic Party Games: For Modern Kids of All Ages

Select one player to be the “Leader.” As they move around the room, they perform actions like hopping, clapping, or marching. The rest of the group must mimic every move exactly.

If a player makes the wrong gesture or falls too far behind, they are out. The last person standing earns the title of the next Leader.

Show the players a small object, like a thimble or a unique toy. Have the children wait in another room while you hide it in plain sight or a slightly tricky spot.

The kids race to find the object. The first person to spot it wins a small prize. To keep the game going, the winner can become the hider for the next round.

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Think of this as reverse Hide and Seek. One person hides while everyone else counts to 50. The seekers split up to find the hider.

When a player finds the hider, they do not announce it. Instead, they quietly squeeze into the hiding spot with them. The game ends when everyone is crammed into the closet or under the table together like a tin of sardines. The last person to find the group becomes the first hider for the next round.

Arrange chairs in a circle facing outward, using one fewer chair than the number of players. Play energetic music while the kids march around the circle.

When the music stops, everyone must scramble to find a seat. The player left standing is out. Remove another chair and repeat until only one winner remains on the final seat.

Have the players sit in a circle and pass a ball (the “potato”) to the person on their right while music plays. They must pass it as fast as possible because holding it is dangerous!

When the music stops, the player holding the potato is out. For a fun twist, use a literal potato or a water balloon if you are brave enough to play this indoors.

Write titles of movies, animals, or actions on slips of paper and toss them into a bowl.

Players take turns drawing a slip and acting out the word without speaking or making sound effects. The first person to guess correctly wins a point or gets to be the next actor. It is a fantastic way to get shy kids to open up.

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Wrap a prize in multiple layers of wrapping paper. You can place a small sweet or a funny note between each layer to keep engagement high.

Players sit in a circle and pass the parcel while music plays. When the music stops, the holder unwraps one layer. The game continues until the final prize is revealed. To ensure fairness, the adult controlling the music can watch to ensure every child gets a turn to unwrap a layer.

Blast the tunes and let the kids dance their hearts out. When you cut the music, everyone must freeze instantly in their current pose.

If anyone wobbles, giggles, or moves a muscle, they are out. The last statue standing wins the game. This is also widely known as “Freeze Dance.”

One player is “It” and stands blindfolded in the center of a circle. They spin around, point a finger, and the person they point to must step forward and shake their hand.

The blindfolded player says, “Greetings, oh Great One. How are you?” The chosen player replies, “I am well, thank you,” using a disguised voice (high pitched, robot, or deep). If “It” guesses the speaker’s identity correctly, they swap places.

You need burlap sacks or sturdy pillowcases for this classic. Have players stand inside the sack at a starting line.

On “Go,” they must hop their way to the finish line. It is harder than it looks to keep balance! The first person to hop across the line without falling out of their sack wins.

Pair up kids of similar height and strength. One child gets down on their hands while their partner holds their ankles, lifting their legs off the ground.

The “wheelbarrow” walks on their hands while the “driver” steers them to the finish line. If the wheelbarrow collapses, they must reset before continuing.

Give each runner a spoon and an egg. They must balance the egg on the spoon while racing to the finish line.

If the egg falls, the player must stop, pick it up, and balance it again before taking another step.
Pro Tip: Use hard-boiled eggs to avoid a sticky mess on your lawn, or use ping-pong balls for younger children.

Divide the group into pairs. Use a soft scarf or band to tie the right leg of one partner to the left leg of the other.

They must coordinate their steps to run (or wobble) to the finish line. Communication is key here; pairs that count “1, 2, 1, 2” usually move faster than those who just try to sprint.

Two adults hold a broomstick or pole horizontally. Players must take turns walking under the bar while bending backward, facing up.

If a player touches the bar or puts a hand on the ground for balance, they are out. Lower the bar slightly after each successful round. How low can they go?

Tie a string between two trees or posts. From this line, dangle distinct strings with food items attached to the ends (donuts with holes work best).

Players must eat the food off the string without using their hands. To make it harder, have them keep their hands behind their backs. The first to finish their snack wins.

Give each child a balloon. The goal is simple: keep the balloon off the grass using only their head, shoulders, knees, or feet.

If they touch it with their hands or it hits the ground, they are eliminated. It is a great test of coordination and usually results in hilarious acrobatics.

Assign each player a number. One player stands in the center and throws a ball straight up while shouting a number. Everyone runs away except the player whose number was called.

That player catches the ball and yells “SPUD!” Everyone else must freeze instantly. The player with the ball can take three giant steps toward any person and try to hit them with the ball (below the waist). If they hit, the target gets a letter (S). If they miss, the thrower gets a letter. First one to spell S-P-U-D is out.

Line up several buckets at varying distances. Assign point values to each bucket (closest is 10 points, furthest is 50).

Kids take turns throwing beanbags or tennis balls into the buckets to score points. It creates a fun carnival atmosphere right in your backyard.

Hide clues around the house or garden. For this age group, use picture clues (e.g., a photo of the fridge) rather than written riddles.

Each clue leads to the next location. At the final spot, hide a treasure chest filled with gold chocolate coins or small toys for everyone to share.

One child is “Grandma” and faces a wall. The other players line up at a distance and creep forward to tag Grandma.

Grandma can turn around at any moment. When she turns, everyone must freeze. If she catches anyone moving, they are sent back to the start. The first person to tag Grandma wins the round. This is often called “Red Light, Green Light.”

This is the ultimate game for calming down a rowdy party. All the children lie on the floor and pretend to be sleeping lions.

One person (the hunter) walks around trying to make the lions move or laugh without touching them. They can tell jokes or make funny faces. Any lion that moves is out and joins the hunters. The last lion lying still wins.

Place 10 to 15 small items on a tray (toy car, spoon, coin, crayon) and cover them with a tea towel. Reveal the items for 60 seconds, then cover them again.

Ask the children to recall as many items as they can. For 5-year-olds, simply shouting out the answers together is often more fun than writing them down.

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Hang a candy-filled piñata from a tree branch. Blindfold the children one by one and give them a plastic bat or stick to take a swing.

Ensure all other children stand well back to avoid accidents. Once the piñata breaks, provide small bags for the kids to gather the fallen loot.

Stick a poster of a tailless donkey on the wall. Blindfold a player, spin them around three times, and hand them a tail with a sticky back.

They must try to stick the tail in the correct spot. Write the child’s initials on the spot where they placed the tail. The closest placement wins. You can adapt this theme to anything (e.g., “Pin the Horn on the Unicorn”).

Take a single distinctive object, like a bright orange lego brick, and place it somewhere visible in the room. It should not be hidden under or behind anything, but rather camouflaged in the open.

The kids walk around the room. When they spot it, they must sit down quietly without giving away the location. The last person standing has to find it with everyone watching.

This is a simplified version of Charades. Kids take turns acting out an animal (elephant, monkey, snake) while the others guess.

You can allow animal noises to make it easier for this age group. It is hilarious, loud, and adorable.

Hide several pieces of cut yarn or string around the room. The ends should be poking out slightly to make them findable.

Players hunt for the strings. Once collected, they must tie all their pieces together. The player who creates the longest continuous rope wins a prize.

Hide a single prize in the room while one child waits outside. When they return, the other guests guide them.

If the seeker is far away, everyone whispers “Colder.” As they get closer, the group says “Warmer,” and eventually shouts “Hot!” when the seeker is right on top of the prize.

Sit everyone in a circle. The first player whispers a complex sentence to the person on their right. That person whispers what they heard to the next, and so on.

The last person announces the phrase out loud. Usually, “The purple cow jumped over the moon” turns into “The turtle chowder is coming soon,” resulting in big laughs.

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Write names of famous duos on sticky notes (e.g., Salt & Pepper, Batman & Robin, SpongeBob & Patrick). Stick one note on each guest’s back.

They must mingle and ask Yes/No questions to figure out who they are, then find their matching partner. The first pair to find each other wins.

One player is blindfolded and sits in the center holding a pillow. They spin around, stop, and place the pillow on another player’s lap.

They sit on the pillow and say, “Squeak, piggy, squeak!” The seated player must squeak like a pig. If the blindfolded player recognizes the giggle or the voice, they swap places.

One person leaves the room. The group picks a common attribute everyone possesses (e.g., teeth, shoes, hair).

The guesser returns and asks random people, “How’s yours?” Answers might be “dirty,” “crooked,” or “brand new.” The guesser must deduce what object everyone is describing.

Write ridiculous phrases like “My hamster loves opera” on slips of paper. Players take turns picking a slip and reading it to another player.

The goal is to keep a completely straight face while reading and listening. The first person to crack a smile or laugh loses the round.

Sit in a circle. One person asks a question like, “Who is most likely to survive a zombie apocalypse?”

On the count of three, everyone points to the person they think fits the description best. The person with the most fingers pointing at them wins that round (or loses, depending on the question!).

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Place a bar of chocolate on a plate with a knife and fork. Nearby, place a pile of dress-up clothes (hat, scarf, gloves).

Players roll a die in turns. If you roll a six, you must put on all the dress-up clothes and then try to cut and eat the chocolate using only the knife and fork. You keep eating until someone else rolls a six and steals your turn!

Set up a series of 60-second challenges. Examples include stacking 10 cups into a pyramid or moving candies from one bowl to another using a straw and suction.

Keep a scoreboard and award a grand prize to the ultimate champion.

Place two bowls on a table, one empty, one full of marshmallows. Give a player a spoon and blindfold them.

They have one minute to transfer as many marshmallows as possible to the empty bowl. The trick is that marshmallows are light, so it is hard to tell if you actually have one on your spoon!

Players place a marshmallow in their mouth and say “Chubby Bunny.” They add another marshmallow and say it again.

The goal is to see who can fit the most marshmallows while still speaking clearly.

This is essentially tag with a blindfold. One player (blindfolded) tries to tag the other players moving around them in a defined space.

Seekers must listen for footsteps and breathing. Once tagged, the caught player becomes the new blindfolded seeker.

Divide a large outdoor space into two territories. Each team hides a flag in their zone.

Players must sneak into enemy territory, grab the flag, and run it back to their side without being tagged. If tagged, they go to “jail” until a teammate tags them out.

You need a thick, long rope and a marker on the ground. Split the group into two even teams based on strength.

On the signal, both teams pull. The first team to drag the other team’s marker across the center line wins. It is a simple test of brute strength and teamwork.

One leader stands in front of the crowd. They give commands like “Simon says touch your nose.” The crowd must obey.

If the leader simply says “Touch your toes” (without “Simon says”), anyone who obeys is out. The game gets faster and faster until one winner remains.

The absolute classic. One person counts to 100 at “base,” and everyone else hides.

The seeker must find everyone. To make it faster for large groups, the first person found becomes the seeker for the next round immediately.

Give teams a list of items to find (e.g., a brown leaf, a smooth rock, a feather).

The teams run off to collect the items. The first group to return with a completed list wins. For indoor parties, list household items like a paperclip or a red sock.

One player (Mr. Wolf) stands with their back to the group at the far end of the yard. The group chants, “What’s the time, Mr. Wolf?”

Mr. Wolf shouts a time (e.g., “3 o’clock!”). The group takes three steps forward. This repeats until the wolf shouts “Dinner Time!” and chases the players back to the start line. Anyone tagged becomes the next wolf.

Mark a safe zone at each end of a field. One or two “bulldogs” stand in the middle. The rest of the group must run from one safe zone to the other.

The bulldogs try to tag the runners. If caught, the runner becomes a bulldog. The game continues until only one runner is left.
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Teams stand in single-file lines. The front person has a ball or wet sponge. They pass it over their head to the person behind, who passes it under their legs to the next person.

The pattern (over, under, over, under) continues to the back. The last person runs to the front to start again.

This is the floor version of Musical Chairs. Everyone dances, but when the music stops, they must sit on the floor immediately.

The last bottom to hit the floor is out. It is fast, furious, and requires zero setup.