List of Birthday Games for Kids

Celebrate your child's birthday with some entertaining party games for kids.birthday image by Photoeyes from Fotolia.com

As you plan for your child's birthday party, you'll likely think first about the food you'll be offering, the balloons and streamers you'll use to decorate the party space, and the birthday gifts. But before you finish planning the party, don't forget about exciting kids' games to keep the young birthday guests entertained.

Mystery Gift Pass

Before your child's friends arrive, put a small present inside a box. Then, with some wrapping paper, wrap the box in several (at least 10) layers. Between each layer, write on a slip of paper an action, such as "Hop on one foot" or "Tell a joke." To play this game, found at www.partygameideas.com, seat all of the children in a circle. Then, start some music. The kids have to toss the box from one player to the next until you turn the music off at a random moment. The child who's left with the box in his hands has to unwrap one layer and perform the action written on the note. This process continues until the last layer is unwrapped to reveal the present; the child who unwraps the last layer keeps the gift.

To prepare for this game, suggested at www.partygameideas.com, you'll first need to make Bingo cards. Create a Bingo grid composed of five columns of five squares each for a total of 25 squares in the grid. Then, write in each square a word related to a birthday, such as "present," "candle" and "cake." Be sure to place the words in different squares for each Bingo card. Create strips of papers with these words written on them, as well. When the children arrive, give them each a Bingo card and a marker and sit them down around a table. With the strips of paper in a hat or bowl, pull one slip at a time and call the word aloud for the children to hear. The children can cross out each word they hear on the corresponding Bingo squares. After a child has crossed out five squares in a straight line (vertically, horizontally or diagonally), he calls out "Bingo" and gets a prize. Continue the game until everyone gets a Bingo.

Start this game, detailed at www.kids-birthday-party-guide.com, by telling the children to stand in a large circle. Starting with a random child in the circle, have him say the word "Ha" without any feeling, trying to be as solemn and stoic as possible. The next person in line has to say "Ha Ha" with the same stoicism. This process continues on with each child trying to refrain from laughing as those who laugh during the game have to leave the circle. The last child standing, having abstained from laughter, wins the game. To make the game more difficult, have all of the children place their heads on a partner's stomach and continue the game as described above.