What Games to Have at a 10th Birthday?

Prize Auction

• Gather several prizes to auction off in a prize auction game. Place the items on a table. Have some of the items out in the open and some in paper sacks so you cannot see what is in the bag. Use items, such as stationary sets, small electronics, candy bars, costume jewelry and gift cards. Give each child a certain amount of money, such as $100 (fake money). You will hold up one item and have the children bid on it; the highest bidder gets the prize. Play until each prize sells.

Noise Game

• Have all the children sit in a circle and select one player to go first. That player has to walk around the circle and stop directly in front of another player. He must look at the player and make a grunt, squeal or audible noise with his mouth. If he makes the player laugh, that player is the new "it." If he does not laugh, "it" has to move on to another player. The noise cannot be longer than two seconds and players cannot use real words. Award a prize to any player who does not laugh the entire game.

Eyewitness

• Have an adult dress up in funny clothes and accessories. Some ideas for dressing up include a wig, large sunglasses, gold shoes, a mustache or beard, large gold earrings, a big hat and bright-colored pants. Have all the party guests sit in a room and have the adult walk through the room twice, making sure the guests see her. When the adult leaves the room, tell the children she committed a crime and they are the eyewitnesses. The party guest who can write down the most facts about the "criminal" wins the game and a prize.

Floating Toys

• For a hot summer day, try a game of floating toys using two small plastic swimming pools. Divide the players into two teams and have them line up at a starting line. Tell everyone to take off their socks and shoes. Place the two filled pools at the finish line about 15 feet away from the start line. Put 20 floating water toys in each team's pool. When you say, "Go," the first player in each line must race to the pool and remove a toy using only her feet. Have the players sit on their bottoms on the outside of the pool and use their feet to grab the toys. After a player has one out, she must run and tag the next player in her team line who must do the same thing. The first team to all the water toys out of its team pool wins the game.