You’ve invited the Birthday guests, planned the food you’ll serve, chosen the decorations and now you need some games to keep the little party guests entertained. It sometimes seems by the time you get to the entertainment portion of your party planning, your budget is screaming “Ouch!”.
If you’re hosting a party during the spring or summer, it’s a good idea to get the kids outside. There are so many kids outdoor party games you can play that are fun and budget friendly.
12 Kids Outdoor Party Games
1. Sack races (or trash bag races)- If you don’t have paper sacks or potato sacks laying around, grab some trash bags and let the kiddos race! This also helps to get tons of energy out. Not to mention it makes for great pictures and video moments.
2. Flower Tic Tac Toe – All you need are some sticks, flowers and willing participants. Easy peasy. And fun!
3. Limbo – Why is it that this game never gets old?! I’ve been playing limbo since the 80s at our local roller skating rink. Kids love to see “how low they can go”.
4. Musical Chairs – Yep. Another classic party game kids love. You can play music that goes along with your theme or some current tunes the kids all know and love. Musical chairs might just turn into a spontaneous dance party.
5. Balloon Stomp – This game is not for those who do not like loud noises. But if that’s not an issue, this game is a blast! Blow up the balloons and tie them to each kid’s ankle. Say “go!’ and they try to stomp on each other’s balloons and pop them. The person with the last un-popped balloon wins.
6. Water Balloon Toss – If it’s hot, add some games that involve water. Before the party begins, fill up balloons with water. Have the kids choose a partner and line them all up in front of each other. Each partner tosses the water balloon back and forth to the other, taking one step back after they catch it. The winners are the ones whose water balloon doesn’t pop.
7. Name That ____ Ball Game – Have the kids form a circle. Choose a topic, such as names of candy or cartoon characters. When the ball is bounced to you, you have to shout out a name. So if it’s ‘Name That Candy Ball Game’, you could yell Snickers or Sour Patch Kids. If you hesitate too long, you’re out.
8. Nature Scavenger Hunt – Print out a list of items that can be found around your yard, such as a rolly polly, leaves or tree bark. Give each child the list and a bag for their collection. The person who collects the most items in the allotted time wins.
9. Crazy Sock Game – Do you hold on to your mismatched socks? You know, the single one that didn’t get eaten by the drier monster. If so, this is the perfect game for you. Put all of those mismatched socks in a pile. When you say ‘Go!’, the kids try to put as many socks on as they can. The person with the most on after the time is up, wins.
10. Blob Tag – Here’s a classic game that’s always a big hit. Start off the game deciding who is it. That person runs around tagging people, but when you’re tagged, you join the blob – meaning you all links arms and become one big blog trying to tag others. The last person who isn’t in the blob wins.
11. Outdoor Twister – If you have some extra spray paint laying around,you can design your own outdoor Twister game. Spray paint circles in rows on the grass. Each row is one color. You can then call out whatever you want. For example “Right hand on a green circle”. You don’t even have to use the classic Twister game colors. Just whatever paint you have leftover!
12. Knock Down the Cans – This game takes a little preparation, but it’s still very budget friendly. Save your coffee and vegetable/fruit cans for this game. Take off the wrappers and wrap them with wrapping paper, if you want to make them look nice. Stack the cans on top of each other (for example start with 4 on the bottom row, then 3, then 2, etc.). Get a baseball or some type of ball and have the kids throw the ball at the cans and try to knock them down.
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As you can see from this list of kids outdoor party games, you can entertain a crowd on a tight budget! Do you have a favorite budget friendly outdoor game to play at parties? If so, please share!
