Birthday Games for 8-Year-Olds

Silent Charades

• Many 8-year-old children love guessing games, so play a game of silent charades. Write several random items related to your party, such as a police officer, a dinosaur, a balloon, an elephant or a princess, on index cards. Write two of each item on different index cards to make sure each one has a pair and mix all the cards in a large bowl. Give each child a card and tell her not to show anyone the card. When you say, "Find your pair," the children have to act out the random item on their card. Players cannot talk while trying to find their pair. The object of the game is for the two players acting out the same item to find each other. The first two players to find their pair win a prize. Keep playing until everyone finds their match.

Memory Tray

• Place several random items, such as a plastic spider, a key, a fake plants, a set of keys, an eraser, an apple and a pencil, on a large tray. Have all the children sit at a table and give them a sheet of paper. Walk around the table with the tray and tell the children to take a good look. Leave the room and tell them to write down as many items as they can remember from the tray. The child who identifies the most correct answers wins the game and a small prize. This game is not only fun for 8-year-olds, but it helps sharpen their memory skills.

Feathers

• Keep the 8-year-olds active and burning energy with a fun game of feathers. Give each player a feather and have him practice blowing the feather in the air. Bags of craft feathers are available online and at your local retail store. Tell the children they have five minutes to practice blowing their feathers. After five minutes, have the children spread out all over the play area. When you say, "Go," the players have to blow their feathers in the air. The players cannot use their hands to touch the feather at any time. Any player who touches the feather with his hands is out of the game. When a player's feather touches the ground, he out of the game. The player who can blow the feather in the air the longest amount of time wins the game.

Pass the Party Prizes

• Wrap three or four gifts for children in several sheets of wrapping paper. Have the children sit on the floor in a circle and hand the gifts to the children. Play music and tell the children to pass the gifts around the circle. When the music stops, the players holding the gifts can unwrap a layer of paper. Keep playing music, passing the gifts and unwrapping a layer of paper for each round. The players holding the gifts when the final layer of paper comes off wins the gift to take home. Award a small prize to each 8-year-old for participation in this game. By awarding each player a small prize, it teaches the children to do things they sometimes may not want to do, like giving up the bigger prizes for this game.