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Party games for kids

This page is for parents planning a party for children aged about 4 to 10. It has 14 classic games with the rules written out, some for the living room and some for the backyard. Most use things you already have at home.

Play now on your phone:Would You RatherTruth or DareTriviaCharadesThis or ThatMost Likely ToNever Have I EverQuestions to AskRiddlesIcebreaker Questions

14 classic party games for kids

These are the party games most parents remember playing, starting with the best known.

1. Musical chairs

Players: 5 or moreAges: 4 to 10You need: Sturdy chairs and music you can pause

  1. Set the chairs in a circle facing out, one fewer than the number of children.
  2. Play the music while the children walk around the chairs in one direction.
  3. Stop the music without warning. Everyone sits down, and the child left standing is out.
  4. Take away one chair and go again. The child who gets the last chair wins.

On a hard floor, use cushions in place of chairs. Nobody gets tipped over, and there is less to carry.

2. Pass the parcel

Players: 5 or moreAges: 3 to 8You need: A small prize wrapped in many layers of paper, and music

  1. Before the party, wrap the prize in one layer of paper for each child, plus a couple extra. You can tuck a sticker or a piece of candy between the layers.
  2. The children sit in a circle and pass the parcel around while the music plays.
  3. When the music stops, the child holding the parcel takes off one layer.
  4. Whoever removes the last layer keeps the prize.

Watch the circle and time the stops so that every child gets to unwrap one layer.

3. Simon says

Players: 3 or moreAges: 4 and upYou need: Nothing

  1. One player is Simon and stands facing the group.
  2. Simon calls out actions. When the order starts with "Simon says", as in "Simon says touch your toes", everyone does it.
  3. When Simon gives an order without saying "Simon says" first, nobody should move. Anyone who does is out.
  4. The last player still in becomes the next Simon.

Tell Simon to do every action too, including the trick ones. Children tend to copy what they see.

4. Duck, duck, goose

Players: 6 or moreAges: 4 to 8You need: Room to run around a circle

  1. Everyone sits in a circle facing in, except one child who is the picker.
  2. The picker walks around the outside, tapping each child lightly on the head and saying "duck".
  3. When the picker taps someone and says "goose", that child jumps up and chases the picker around the circle.
  4. If the picker reaches the empty spot and sits down first, the goose becomes the new picker. If the goose tags the picker first, the picker goes again.

Play on grass or carpet, and make it a rule that the goose has to be someone who has not run yet.

5. Freeze dance

Players: 4 or moreAges: 3 and upYou need: Music you can pause

  1. Play music and have everyone dance.
  2. Stop the music at a random moment. Every dancer freezes in whatever position they are in.
  3. Anyone who moves or wobbles before the music starts again is out and helps you judge.
  4. Keep going until one dancer is left.

For children under 5, skip the eliminations and call out a pose for each freeze, such as "freeze like a monkey".

6. Hot potato

Players: 5 or moreAges: 4 and upYou need: A beanbag or soft ball, and music

  1. Sit in a circle and pass the beanbag around as fast as you can while the music plays.
  2. When the music stops, whoever is holding the beanbag is out.
  3. Close up the circle and start again. The last player left wins.

If you have no music, one child sits with their back to the circle and shouts "hot" whenever they like.

7. Treasure hunt

Players: 2 or moreAges: 4 to 10You need: Paper clues and a prize to share

  1. Write 6 to 8 clues, each one pointing to the place where the next clue is hidden. The last clue leads to the treasure.
  2. Hide the clues before the guests arrive, working backward from the treasure.
  3. Read out the first clue and let the children work out where to go.
  4. Everyone shares the treasure at the end.

For children who cannot read yet, draw a picture of each hiding place.

8. Red light, green light

Players: 4 or moreAges: 4 and upYou need: A yard or a long room

  1. One player is the traffic light and stands at the far end with their back to the others, who line up at the start.
  2. When the traffic light calls "green light", the others move forward.
  3. On "red light" the traffic light spins around. Anyone caught still moving goes back to the start.
  4. The first player to tag the traffic light takes over the job.

Call the next round as hopping or walking backward. It slows the fast kids down and gives the small ones a chance.

9. Hide and seek

Players: 3 or moreAges: 4 and upYou need: A house or yard with places to hide

  1. Agree on the boundaries and a home base.
  2. The seeker covers their eyes at home base and counts out loud to 30 while everyone else hides.
  3. The seeker calls "Ready or not, here I come" and goes looking.
  4. The first player found is the seeker in the next round. The last one found wins.

Set a rule that nobody hides inside anything with a door or a lid, and have an adult count heads at the end of every round.

10. What's the time, Mr. Wolf?

Players: 4 or moreAges: 4 to 8You need: A yard or a large room

  1. One player is Mr. Wolf and stands at the far end with their back to the others.
  2. The others call out together, "What's the time, Mr. Wolf?"
  3. Mr. Wolf answers with a time, such as "3 o'clock", and the players take that many steps forward.
  4. At any point Mr. Wolf can answer "Dinner time" and turn to chase everyone back to the start. Whoever gets tagged is the next wolf.

A player who reaches Mr. Wolf and taps him before dinner time wins the round. Tell the children this, or they will hang back.

11. Sleeping lions

Players: 4 or moreAges: 3 to 8You need: A floor to lie on

  1. All the children lie down on the floor with their eyes shut, as still as sleeping lions.
  2. One or two hunters walk among them and try to make them move by telling jokes. The hunters may not touch anyone.
  3. Any lion who moves or giggles gets up and joins the hunters.
  4. The last lion lying still wins.

Save this for the end of the party. It calms the room down before the parents arrive.

12. Egg and spoon race

Players: 4 or moreAges: 4 and upYou need: A spoon and a hard-boiled egg for each racer

  1. Mark a start line and a finish line about 15 paces apart.
  2. Each racer balances an egg on a spoon held in one hand, with the other hand behind their back.
  3. On "go", everyone walks or runs to the finish. A racer who drops the egg stops, puts it back on the spoon and carries on from that spot.
  4. The first across the line with the egg still on the spoon wins.

Small potatoes or ping pong balls save you boiling eggs, and they survive being dropped.

13. Freeze tag

Players: 5 or moreAges: 5 and upYou need: A yard or other open space

  1. Mark out the play area and choose one player to be "it". With more than ten players, choose two.
  2. Anyone tagged by "it" must freeze on the spot with their arms out.
  3. A frozen player is free again when another runner tags them.
  4. The round ends when everyone is frozen. The last one frozen is "it" next time.

If the tagger cannot freeze everyone, stop after a few minutes and pick a new one.

14. Keep the balloon up

Players: 2 or moreAges: 3 and upYou need: Balloons

  1. Blow up a balloon and toss it into the air in the middle of the group.
  2. Everyone works together to tap it back up before it touches the floor. Nobody may catch it or hit it twice in a row.
  3. Count the taps out loud. When the balloon lands, start again and try to beat the record.

Add a second balloon for older kids. If there are toddlers at the party, pick up any popped pieces right away.

Games to play from one phone

Open one, pick who's playing, and pass the phone around.

Would You Rather questions for kids

Pick one of two options, then see how everyone else voted.

185 questions

Truth or Dare questions for kids

Choose truth or dare and the phone deals a card. Add players and it tracks whose turn it is.

222 truths and dares

Trivia questions for kids

Read the question, let the table argue, then reveal the answer. Keeps score for teams.

193 questions

Charades ideas for kids

The phone shows what to act out and runs the timer. Tap when your team gets it.

308 ideas

This or That questions for kids

Two words, pick one, next. Vote on each and see the split.

170 questions

Most Likely To questions for kids

Read the card, count to three, and everyone points at someone.

152 questions

Never Have I Ever questions for kids

Ten fingers up. Put one down for each thing you've done.

175 questions

Questions to ask kids

Conversation starters for friends, couples, a crush or someone you just met.

78 questions

Riddles for kids

Read the riddle, let everyone guess, then reveal the answer.

168 riddles

Icebreaker questions for kids

Questions that get a short story out of anyone, for meetings, classes and first dates.

83 questions

Tools for the host

Random team generatorPaste the names, choose how many teams, and get a fair random split.

Questions people ask

How many games do you need for a kids' party?
Plan five or six games for a two-hour party, and have two spares ready. Most games on this list last 5 to 10 minutes with a group of young children. Leave time between them for food and free play.
What are good party games for 5-year-olds?
Musical chairs, pass the parcel, sleeping lions and duck, duck, goose all work at this age, because the rules fit in one sentence. Avoid games with long waits between turns. Children this young also take being out badly, so give anyone who is out a job, like working the music.
What can kids play at a party indoors when there is not much space?
Pass the parcel, hot potato, sleeping lions and Simon says can all be played on one rug. A treasure hunt also works in a small home if you spread the clues over two or three rooms. Save red light, green light and freeze tag for a yard or a park.

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Updated November 2026.