Birthday Party Games

With so many birthday party games to choose from, you will need to think about the number of guests, the space available, and the educational impact your games could have. It is a good idea to have a mixture of quiet and noisy games, as too many riotous games will quickly lead to the children getting of control, which will spoil the party.

Quiet Games

Quiet birthday party games do not necessarily have to be boring but you will need to find ones that will keep the children engaged. Quiet games also do not necessarily have to mean sitting down, and children will enjoy the challenge of traditional games played under strict rules of silence. For a bit of variety, try playing:

• Sardines –Sardines is all about stealth and quietness, and is a reverse of hide and seek. Instead of having one person hunting and everyone else hiding, you start by sending one person off to hide while all the other players stay in one room. After a count of 20, the players then go off in search of the sardine. When they find the hidden player, they very quietly join them in their hiding place. The game takes its name from the feeling of being in a pack of sardines when everyone has joined you in your hiding place. The first player to find them starts the next round. Sardines requires the children to think about space and how many people will be able to fit in with them without giving the game away. This will prove essential when it comes to making logical plans and choices back in school.

• Book Pictionary – Standard Pictionary is one of the great birthday party games, but try making all of the answers titles of books to add a little twist. Players can state how many words are in the title, and can use any drawing to get their team to say the name of the book. Make sure you pick books that all of the guests know and provide plenty of paper and pencils. This will help increase your guest's knowledge of popular books, as well as developing their creative skills in drawing.

Noisy Games

Noisy birthday party games tend to work best if you can play outside in a large yard or field. Playing them inside gives you the control over where your players can go but can raise tensions as well as noise to uncomfortable levels. Some great outdoor party games to play include:

• Flashlight tag – You will need to wait for darkness to play this game and you will need to make sure that you have enough spare batteries for a long game. You' will need to turn off any indoor lights to make sure that you get close to total darkness outside. One person, chosen to be 'it', stays near the house. The other players run around and hide, and at set intervals the player who is 'it' turns on their flashlight and holds it still. Any player caught in the flashlight is out. Being able to cope with disappointment will really help at school where it's essential for children to be able to bounce back and try again if they fail

• Two and out – Sit the group in a large circle and distribute some soft balls or beanbags roughly one for every four five players in the game. The player who starts with a beanbag can only pass it to the player directly on their left or on their right, and must get rid of it as soon as possible. If a player gets two or more beanbags, the game stops. You can choose them to be out, lose a life or have to do a forfeit before starting the next round.

The idea of making birthday party games educational may sound strange, but you can teach your child all sorts of useful social skills, as well as some basic bits of math and English, while allowing them to have fun with their friends at the same time.

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