*VERY* simple party games to play at toddler party please, any suggestions?

[Disenchanted]

Have pass the parcel down already.

The kids range from 3.5 yrs to 13 months and just want very simple games as an excuse to hand out the toys I have as 'prizes'.

The 3.5 year old is probably the only one who will have any concept of whats going on The next one down is only 2! and then it gets younger and younger!

Night Glitter.

I would substitute trophies for scary non organic chocolate to freak out the parents

Wouldn't do pass the parcel until over 3. My ds is 13 months and wouldn't know who to pass it to or why. He'd just hold onto it and cry if anyone took it off him! Some really good ideas on here though.

I sometimes set out a treasure hunt with Duplo blocks (works well in a garden). To make it fairer you could tell the 3.5 yr old that (s)he has to search for blocks of a particular colour, while the younger ones are allowed to find any colour. Then when they've found the Duplo blocks they can build towers with them (and get prizes for that).

Sleeping bunnies can work with 1 and 2 year olds too.

You could also have a craft table with very simple craft eg gluing decorations onto party bags with glue sticks, gluing things onto a 'teddy' or 'animal' shape cut out of card, or colouring sheets.

and IME musical bumps works well for little ones, but musical statues doesn't

In stead of pass the parcel, pass a ball round and whoever gets the ball gets to leave the circle and pick a prize out of a bag ... that way the circle gets smaller and all get a prize by the end!

Ok, I feel better now. I went to a 3 year old birthday party with my 1.5 year old and found it most stressful that she couldn't/didn't know how to participate in the party games: pass the parcel, make a face on a balloon etc.. and by the time we got to the singing, she just lost interest and we both got quite frustrated: me at trying to explain how to get involved and her feeling pressured to do so and annoyed at why other kids had toys she wanted to play with!

Keep it simple and free flowing I say, so everyone can have a good time!

Loving the fishing game & pass the ball(s) idea plus maybe a decorate a hat table. Planning an easy Christmas party for my son, who will be 21 months & his friends and their siblings up to the age of 11. Organising it now as ds2 is due mid Nov & I need to have it sorted before my brain goes to mush again!!! Now must write these down & not lose the list.......

One I found went down well was I got one of those wooden jigsaw puzzles where you pull the piece out by a knob. I put them in a box mised with shredded paper. When they pulled one out then had to match it on the jigsaw. On the jigsaw I put lots of little prizes, and they got the one where their puzzle piece went. I've also done it with a string tied to the jigsaw piece so they just pull it out. And then be flexible with the prizes as some of them will spot what they want, so you swap it over.

You can also do a game where you say "who can moo the loudest?" (my experience is the mums love this) and similar and give a prize out. Include things like "who can be quietest/stillest?" Who has a dinosaur on his socks?" and you can make sure everyone gets a "prize" even though they don't want to join in. I found this great for getting a lot of reluctant toddlers going. They're often happy to say they have a dinosaur on their sock (or whatever) and if they don't their mum can, and are thrilled to get a prize.

Maybe the kids are a bit young but one of my most popular party games was to fill a sleeping bag with balloons and one by one the kids had to bounce on the bag with their bottom to try and burst a balloon - if they did, they picked a small choccy bar and queued up for another go. I can see potential health and safety issues though...

We played a nice game at one party where there were coloured A4 pieces of paper on the floor and when the music stopped they had to stand on one. The mum had cards with the colours on and would turn the top one over. All those on blue for example would get a sticker.

Simon says is quite good for small ones.

Pass the parcel needs a bit of help to keep the parcel moving - but not impossible.

Treasure hunts with pictures. the first clue might have a picture of a fireplace - so they all go to the fireplace where there's another clue and so on until the last clue leads them to some goodies.

Making party hats - cut out some crowns in strips - then have stickers and pens to decorate.