Party games for mini party?

[howmanyhats]

It's DD's birthday in 2 weeks. We've invited 4 of her friends for a garden party, the parents will drop at the garden gate, so it'll just be 6 of us, to be covid compliant (assuming everyone turns up!).

Can anyone recommend party games that are good to play with small numbers? The DC will be aged 7 - 9. Thanks :)

(We don't have a trampoline, but we do have a fair bit of space).

Hi, we're hoping to do similar for my daughter's birthday. I thought I could give out the party bags at the start, and fill them with bubbles, chalk and party poppers or those blowy paper horn things so that they can use them as entertainment. Happy for to chalk all over the patio for one evening.

Maybe splint into 2 teams and do adult courses, running races and quizzes.

Other than that what about giant bubbles, some throw toys etc. Poundland always have a huge range of cheap garden stuff.

Then a buffet picnic with hotdogs and burgers.

Thanks for the suggestions :)

Bubbles! Thanks, you've reminded me, we did had a giant bubbles set in the garden the other year and they went down really well. The bubble mix ran out quickly though, I'll get extra.

Chalk's a great idea, thanks. Blowy paper horns?! You're brave

I think I'll do biscuits to decorate too, that always keeps them occupied for a bit!

I think DD would like some organised games. She likes duck duck goose and parachute games at sports-centre parties but they need loads of people (and a parachute obvs!). I'm not keen on games where kids get eliminated one by one as is just seems unnecessarily competitive.

We usually do musical statues but instead of eliminating kids who move, we call out a shape they need to be a statue of when the music stops ("a dog" "the happiest person in the world" "a square" or whatever) and the best one each round gets a prize. It's more of a laugh and ends up in fewer tears IME!

But, other than that I'm having a bit of a brain blank!

What else can you do with 7-9 year olds that doesn't take many people? They're growing out of the really young games but they're still up for a prize IME.

Can you do pass the parcel with just 5 DC? I guess you can? It's not the most exciting game, though, is it?!

Cross post! Yes, giant bubbles are ace aren't they?!

Some races would wear them out a bit wouldn't they? Good idea

Giving the party bags out at the start is a good idea, maybe put a game in each or a craft activity. With SD still in place, maybe something that can be done together whilst spaced apart. Or there’s a quiz, treasure hunt etc.

Maybe lots of blankets and hot water bottles etc if the weather turns as it’s been freezing out lately and cold isn’t enjoyable for most.

with DC that age we always bought white paper party bags and did decorating them as a first activity. It works well as it's something people can get stuck into on arrival while you wait for everyone else.

Ooh, a treasure hunt is a great idea! I loved them as a kid.

Has anyone got any tips on organising a good one?

Is it best to have them working together to get a prize to share, or competing? Or were you thinking more about just hiding prizes like an easter egg hunt.

The ones I remember that I loved from when I was a child were clue based I think but the details are hazy now.

We did attempt a treasure hunt for DS once where the DC had to find letters and work together to understand what they spelled out, to find the treasure, but it didn't go as smoothly as I imagined! They needed a lot of help to do the cooperative bit!

Perhaps that was just that particular bunch of DC though?! And there were a lot more of them so much more chaos!

Hot water bottles and blankets is a great practical suggestion thanks :)

What about pass the parcel but there is a little treat under each wrapper?
Also something like pin the tail on the donkey. The old games are the best.
A mini talent show (you could have jokes etc to hand out for those who don't want to sing but they all love doing the floss or similar at that age)
But of a disco?

@Woodlandbelle

What about pass the parcel but there is a little treat under each wrapper? Also something like pin the tail on the donkey. The old games are the best. A mini talent show (you could have jokes etc to hand out for those who don't want to sing but they all love doing the floss or similar at that age) But of a disco?

Good idea, thanks. We did pin the tail on the Pikachu a few year back, that went down well :)

lego building competition if you've got enough lego. Give them all a mix of bits and 2 minutes to build a duck or a car or whatever

Parachute is fine with small group. We use at my special school and it's usually 6-9 people and a number of the kids aren't the best at keeping hold!

If you have the time and energy you can paper mache 5 balloons and fill with sweets and make your own piñatas. Obviously that requires somewhere to hand them -washing line?

And always a great game when they start getting a little mad and hyper because it channels their energy.

DD and her friends really enjoyed crafts at that age (Baker Ross is your friend!). But that would rely on reasonable weather (and not too much wind).

I always find a theme helps - can be as simple as a colour so everything including the food is for example yellow. You can find treasure hunt clues to use online or take very close up pictures for each place that they have to find/match. Second baker Ross for good crafts. Had big success at that age mixing crazy non-alcoholic drinks using science pipettes for adding the cordials/juices etc.

A treasure hunt with clues that they can solve together is always fun. We used to have the last clue as a set of clues in envelopes, one per child, to find their own treasure. They would all help each other to solve their individual clue.

Hunt the thimble is good in a small group where they all call out cold/warm/getting warmer etc. You could use a wrapped sweet instead of a thimble.

Skipping games with a long rope so 2 skip at once.

French elastics. If you join in to hold the elastic, you could have 2 sets.

Dance chain. In a circle, the first person starts with one move eg stepping side to side, then the next person joins in and adds a move eg stepping side to side and then doing the twist, then the next person adds in and adds a third move eg stepping side to side while doing jazz hands, then doing the twist. You keep going adding more moves until someone forgets a move, then start again.

What's the time, Mr Wolf? or Grandmother's footsteps.

Pictionary. You can make your own cards and use a kitchen timer or phone if you don't have the game.

Pin the tail on the donkey.... I remember that from my 8th bday (because I cheated....oops), there was also one involving chopping up a bar of chocolate blindfolded. Same era but more my mums thing, a beetle game. You had to shake a dice and each number corresponded to a part of a beetle... 1 for body 2 for head etc. Beetle had to be made in sequence, winner was 1st to finish.

I run a church kids group for this age. Things that go down well:
Human bop it. There's a good one here m.youtube.com/watch?v=gofB5SyLJd4
Change the action. Send one kid away and pick another to lead actions (clapping, jumping, patting head etc). They all copy, and the first kid has to guess who is changing the actions.
Would you rather - ask kids to pick between 2 things eg peanut butter or jam. They run to one side of the garden for one, and the other for the second. Then get the kids to think of their own, the sillier the better!
Traffic lights - run for green, walk for amber, stop for red. Rather than getting them out, let each child choose another colour and add an action, and they can take it in turns to shout out the colours.

We're doing similar in a few weeks for DDs 7th bday, we've got some garden games like a ring toss, bean bag throw, big inflatable shark boxing thing and a couple of others. Bubbles, chalks, and we've been collecting big sticks and old sheets for den making.

We're going to stick a load of sausages and burgers in the oven and do an easier less dangerous version of a bbq and then an ice cream bar for afters where they can go crazy with toppings.

Having a theme as suggested above is a great idea!

Writing a message in symbol code and hiding the letters with symbols (ie a = triangle) can work as they run off to find things but bring them back to solve the same message. Or paint wooden clothes pegs different colours and each person has to find their own colour - not much brain work but much simpler! (And clothes pegs are easy to hide in all sorts of places)

Here’s a link to some parachute games:-

www.pelinks4u.org/teaching/para.htm

The assault course sounds fun.
Add a bit where they have to get dressed in mum/dad’s big boots, coats, gloves etc. Then go to a tray on the floor with a knife and a huge slab of Cadbury’s choc. They have to cut some
Off and eat it.

They could even make a sandwich even. Haha.
Look for something in a massive bowl of cooked spaghetti (worms)

How about wrapping each other up in loo roll. The mummy game

A wool maze is fun. Either in groups or individually. Have a different colour for each group/ person with a treasure at the end.

Something like this might go down well.

What about an activity that they can take home as a party gift. So bracelet making, sunflower pot (decorate pot), something else from Etsy?

Or for more messy play, make wildflower seed balls (mud, wildflower seeds and flour) or bird seed fat balls. Give yourself environmental points