Hobbies And Interests
Balloon Bust Relay
Kids bust balloons to win prizes in this birthday game. Put small prizes in balloons, inflate and tie them. After dividing children into two teams, have the first participant in each line run to the opposite end, grabs a balloon and does whatever it takes to make it pop. For instance, he can sit or bounce on the balloon. Once the balloon pops, the child grabs the prize and races back to his team. The next kid in line repeats the first player's actions. Play continues until one team completes the relay, with all kids keeping their prizes.
Birthday Bingo
Engage kids in a birthday version of the classic Bingo game. Make a blank bingo card on 8 1/2 inch-by-11-inch paper, with five columns, five rows and a free space, and make copies. Write 50 birthday-related terms on another sheet of paper and make a copy. Cut out all the birthday terms on the copy and put them in a bowl. Give each kid a Bingo card and have them all fill their cards with 50 terms from the initial list of words. Pick one term at a time out of the hat. Kids cover spaces on their cards with coins provided to them if they have one of the terms called. When children have five marked spaces running across, down or diagonally, she shouts "Bingo" and her card is checked. Give a small prize to kids who win.
Catch the Balloon
Kids race to "Catch the Balloon" in this active birthday game. Have kids sit in a circle and number off; the kid with the highest number goes to the center of the circle, holds a balloon and serves as "It." All other kids sit and listen for the "It" kid to call their number. The "It" kid shouts a number and lets go of the balloon, leaving the kid matching the number called to race in and retrieve the balloon. If the balloon touches the ground, the kid failing to make the catch becomes "It." If she catches the balloon, the current "It" kid remains in the center of the circle and calls another number.
Musical Chairs
"Musical Chairs" is a popular birthday party game, whether in classic form or with twists. For the classic version, place chairs in two rows, back-to-back, in a line. Be sure there is one less chair than the number of kids. Play music and have players walk around the chairs. Once the music stops, kids scramble to find a chair and sit down. The player who fails to sit down in a chair takes herself out of the game. Play continues in this manner until one kid remains. As a variation, replace the chairs with paper squares and put the squares on the floor in a circle, leaving a space between each square. Play in the same manner as you would with chairs, or add a twist by including a square for every child and numbering the squares. In this version, one person picks numbers out of a hat. After the music stops, the kid standing on the number picked and called out takes herself out of the game.