Party Princess Games

Picking Up Rubies

• Before the game, fill a medium-sized bowl with grapes. Divide the group into two teams and line each team up behind the bowl of grapes, or "rubies." Directly across from each team's line, 10 or 15 feet away, place another empty bowl on a table. Give the first player in each team a toothpick. When you say "Go," the first player quickly tries to insert the toothpick into a ruby and race to the other bowl to drop it inside. If a ruby falls to the ground, the player has to pick it up again using only the toothpick. The player then heads back to her team and hands off the toothpick to the next player in line. The first team to have all of its rubies in the opposite bowl wins the game.

Find the Glass Slipper

• Begin the game by gathering up all of the party guests' shoes, as well as some shoes around the house. You want enough to make a large pile. To play the game, you need to have one ornate, fragile-looking dress shoe to represent the glass slipper from the fairy tale, "Cinderella." Line all of the players up a few feet away from the shoe pile. Show the players the "glass slipper" and then tell all of them to turn around while you hide it within the pile of shoes. Once hidden, turn the players back around. When you say "Go," the first player in line runs to the pile of shoes and has five seconds to locate the glass slipper. After that time passes, the next player in line does the same. Continue until one player finds the shoe and becomes the winner.

Mystery Princess

• A twist on the classic parlor game "Who Am I?" Prepare for this game by writing the names of famous fairy tale princesses on separate index cards, punching holes in them and threading ribbon through. Examples include Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. Attach one index card on each of the party guests' foreheads by tying the ribbon around the top of their heads, making sure that they haven't read what is written on their own cards. Tell the players to mingle and ask each other yes or no questions to figure out what princess they have written on their own cards. Continue the game until everyone guesses the answers.