Planning a birthday party for your four year old and looking for some fun party games? We've got loads of ideas to keep kids entertained. From indoor games to outdoor activities, these simple games will keep young children happy and make sure they have lots of party fun!
If you’re planning a four-year-old’s birthday party, you’re going to want some fun games and activities to keep the kids occupied.
At four, children have the attention span to enjoy games and can understand rules but you’ll still want to keep things relatively simple. These great party game ideas are perfect for young kids and will keep them happily entertained.
Just make sure you have plenty of small prizes such as sweets and stickers so that everyone gets one to avoid any tears.
Young children still enjoy playing on their own too, so if you don’t want to organise games, a few bubbles, balloons, a dressing up box and craft table will keep them busy and having fun.
1. Pass the parcel
The old-fashioned games are always the best!
Create a parcel by wrapping a gift in layers of paper – one for each child and one extra. Wrap a small gift such as a sweet or sticker in each layer and a bigger gift in the middle.
It’s a good idea to use a different colour wrapping paper for the final prize so you know when you’re coming to the end.
Get the kids to sit in a circle and pass the parcel round while music plays. Whoever has the parcel when the music stops unwraps that layer. Make sure each child gets a go at unwrapping a layer and turn around at the end so the ultimate winner gets chosen at random – unless you want it to be the birthday girl or boy, of course.
2. Sandy scavenger hunt
Treasure hunts outside are always great fun but if you only have a small space for party games, try this sandy scavenger hunt instead. It works particularly well for pirate-themed parties as you can search for buried treasure!
Put some little pieces of ‘treasure’ such as wrapped sweets, chocolate coins, and little toys on a tray, evenly spaced out.
Pour sand all over them, so they’re completely hidden.
Give each child a little flag with their name on (make them from co*cktail sticks with a slip of paper attached), then let them take it in turns to stick their flag into the sand.
When they’re all done, uncover the treasure – each child wins the items closest to their flag
3. Simon says
A classic! Pick an adult or confident child to be ‘Simon’. They then instruct the group to perform different actions by saying ‘Simon says pat your head’, ‘Simon says pretend to be an elephant’ etc. The sillier the action, the better!
If ‘Simon’ doesn’t say the words ‘Simon says’ before describing the action, then the children shouldn’t do it. Anyone that does is ‘out’ and the last child standing is the winner.
If you think some of your guests might be upset by being ‘out’ just play for fun without a winner.
4. Grandmother’s footsteps
Grandmother’s footsteps is very similar to that other favourite party game ‘What’s the time Mr. Wolf?’, except it doesn’t involve counting – a skill some of your younger guests might still be mastering.
One person – it can be an adult or child – is Grandmother. Grandmother stands with their back to everyone while the rest of the kids line up at the other side of the room.
When Grandmother’s back is turned, everyone creeps nearer. When Grandmother turns around, anyone who they catch moving has to go back to the beginning.
The first person to make it all the way to Grandmother and tap her on the shoulder is the winner, and becomes Grandmother for the next round.
5. Food on a string
If there’s a fun way to eat doughnuts, kids are going to be all over it.
Thread lots of food with holes in it such as Hula Hoops, Cheerios or mini donuts onto two long pieces of string.
Get adults to hold the strings up at child height. Then divide the kids into two teams.
With their hands behind their backs, they’ve got to eat all the food until the string is empty. The first team to finish is the winner.
For another food related game try the Halloween favourite, apple bobbing.
6. Parachute
You don’t need to hire in a parachute to have some birthday fun. Make your own using an old sheet.
Place a number of lightweight plastic balls on top and get kids to hold onto the sheet, make waves and see how many of the balls they can keep on there. They’ll have lots of fun watching them bounce off.
They can also take it in turns to run underneath and play lots of other fun parachute games.
You could even get the kids to help decorate the ‘parachute’, by letting them loose in the garden with an old sheet and some non-toxic poster paint.
7. Blind man’s buff
Blind man’s buff is like tag only the tagger is blindfolded.
In a large space, such as a church hall or garden, choose who’s going to be ‘it’. This can be a confident child or one of the adults.
This person is blindfolded and has to try and tag the children. When someone is caught, they then become ‘it’.
If the person who’s ‘it’ is a child, make it a bit easier for them by having the other kids call out the tagger’s name, then quickly dodge out of their way.
Be sure to play this in a wide, open space, and clear any obstacles out of the way first.
8. Pin the tail on the donkey
Pin the tail on the donkey, pin the parrot on the pirate, pin the horn on the unicorn … this classic game can be adapted to suit any children’s birthday party theme.
Get a large piece of card, draw your donkey on it and make a tail from a separate piece of card.
Blindfold each child and get them to attach the tail with Blu Tack to the spot where they think it should be. Write the child’s name where they stick the tail.
The winner is whoever gets closest to where the tail should be.
You can buy ready-made kits for playing this game. See more details here at Amazon.
9. Duck, duck goose
Get all the kids sitting in a circle then ask for a volunteer.
This child needs to walk around the outside of the circle, tapping the head of each child as they pass and calling out ‘duck’.
When they’re ready, instead of ‘duck’ they can call out ‘goose’. They then need to run around the circle to get back to the place they were sitting. The child who they called ‘goose’ when they tapped them has to chase and try to catch the first child.
If the first child gets back round the circle before being caught, they sit down, and the chaser has their turn. If not, the same child goes again.
10. Egg and spoon race
A sports-day classic. Each child has a hard-boiled egg and a spoon. They need to balance the egg on the spoon and race across the room or garden without dropping it. If they drop the egg, they need to start again at the beginning.
If you don’t want to use eggs, potatoes or ping pong balls will work just as well.
If older brothers and sisters want to join in, make it a bit trickier for them by adding an extra challenge, like doing a silly walk or keeping one hand behind their back.
For other old-school favourites try wheelbarrow races and three-legged races.
11. Dress up dancing
Choose five types of clothing or props, such as glasses, a hat, a scarf, a wig … and make sure there’s enough for every child to have one each.
The children dance around. When the music stops, call out an item. Each child then has to grab one, put it on, then keep dancing.
Carry on until they’re all dressed up.
This is a great one for the grown-ups to join in with, too. The kids will find it hilarious to watch you dancing around in a silly costume!
12. Musical statues
Get the kids to dance around to music then stop it every so often, When the music stops, they have to stand absolutely still, like a statue.
If anyone moves, they are out – the last child left is the winner. Or you can just play for fun, without making anyone out.
You can vary this game by getting the children to dance like an animal that you call out, too.
Be sure to have a camera on standby to snap the kids in their crazy mid-dancing poses!
13. Show jumping
In the garden, set up a pony jumping course. You can use things like boxes or flower pots with planks or bamboo poles suspended across them as jumps.
Give each child a rosette and let them go round the course pretending to be ponies without knocking the poles over.
Pretend to be a commentator to spur them on!
Some kids might still be getting the hang of jumping at this age, so be sure to make the course fairly simple, with some obstacles that the kids can just step over.
14. Musical chairs
A true birthday party classic! Put out a row of chairs with alternate chairs facing in opposite directions. The aim of the game is for the kids to walk around the chairs while you play some fun, upbeat music. When the music stops, each child has to sit down in the nearest chair, as fast as they can.
Each round, take away a chair while the music plays. The child left without a chair when the music stops is out. The last child with a chair is the winner.
If you’re a bit worried about chairs going everywhere, use cushions on the floor for a softer, safer option.
15. Sleeping lions
This is a good game to calm everyone down before they go home, or if things get a bit overexcitable.
Get all the kids to lie down and pretend to be sleeping lions. Their job is to stay as still and as quiet as they can, while you do your best to distract them.
Walk around and try and disturb them by talking to them or tickling them. See who can resist bursting into giggles when you bust out your best jokes.
Anyone who moves is out and can help you wake up all the other sleeping lions.
Take a look at : 33 of the best kids' party games – for the ultimate birthday party
If you're planning a children's birthday party and wondering how to keep kids entertained, don't panic. Traditional party games never lose their appeal and are a great way to keep your guests entertained. We've rounded up 33 of the best party games for kids aged 2 to 99. From retro party games to new ideas, indoor party games to outdoor children's games, let's party!
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Are you planning a child’s birthday party? Have you got any great kids’ party games to recommend? From tug of war to charades, red rover to blind man’s buff, share your faves on the forum thread below.
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