Bouncy Castle

There’s nothing worse than have a house full of bored kids at a party for one of your children, and you can’t think of any way to entertain them.

Kids are getting smarter these days, and you can’t always just assume you can set them free in the back garden and let them entertain themselves!

Of course, as they get older their ways of entertainment are going to change, so here are a few party ideas for some different age groups.

Ages 3 - 12

Treasure Hunt
From a young age, your kids are going to want sweets; and lots off them too, probably. So instead of just dishing out a bunch of sweets in a bowl for them to go crazy on, why not make a game out of it?

Treasure hunts are always fun for kids, especially when they discover new sweets. They can then swap and race each other for collecting the most candy, and then of course proceed to eat it.

Sometimes it’s fun to put a time limit on the treasure hunt, and then the child that collects the most sweets wins a special prize.

Perhaps a prize that isn’t a lolly of some kind is a better idea.

Bouncy Castle
Bouncy castles are constant entertainment for children, and are also a brightly coloured and fun way to bounce around!

Consider hiring out a bouncy castle for the kids to go crazy in. The younger children are going to prefer the bouncy castle than the pre-teen kids.

Sometimes the bigger bouncy castles that fill up a larger space of your back yard are a better idea for the bigger kids, or if you’ve got a pretty large party and lots of kids to entertain.

Tie the Donut
A great game at parties is Tie the Donut. For the game you’re going to need enough donuts for each child at the party, and some regular twine or string in which to tie the donuts. Loop the twine around the donuts, and then up on a beam or another string so that the donuts hang down to about the average height of the kids.

Then kids then have to eat the donuts from the string without using their hands. This of course is hilarious to watch, and fun for the kids as they all compete to eat the donut off the string before anyone else does.

Once again, a small cute prize for whoever wins is a fun idea for those participating.

Pin the Tail on the Donkey
Pin the tail on the donkey is a classic game that will probably never become extinct. Watch the children all squeal with delight as they watch their friend grow ever close to pinning the tail on the donkey!

The person who gets closest should be rewarded some how too! This makes the game more exciting and giving an incentive for the kids to pin the tail.

The games can be made yourself with some cardboard and some crayons; however you can buy the sets at newsagents, supermarkets and of course at party supplies shops!

The Chocolate Game
Another fantastic game for kids, but should probably be more appropriate for kids at about 5 or 6, when they’re starting to understand dice, and numbers a bit better.

What you’re going to need:

A block of chocolate. Plain Cadbury is usually the best.

• One die
• A plastic knife and fork. (Avoid real cutlery, to avoid real accidents, if the children are a bit older and can be trusted with stronger cutlery, then by all means use a real knife and fork).
• Some dress ups. Usually about 4 items, try finding an old hat, a tshirt, some shorts and some socks. The sillier the garment, the funnier it tends to be for the kids.

Encourage the kids to sit in a circle, then place the dress ups in the middle, as well as the block of chocolate on a plate with the plastic knife and fork.

The rules are:

• The number 6 is a magic number. The die gets passed around in a clockwise position, each child rolling the die once. If they get the number 6, they then have to jump up and put on all the dress ups, and start cutting away and eating the chocolate with the knife and fork. They can’t use their hands, and must keep using the cutlery!
• They can’t start cutting again until they’ve finished the piece of chocolate they’ve already eaten. They are able to keep eating the chocolate until the next person rolls a 6.
• Then, they must quickly take off all their dress ups and hand them to the next person to dress up in.
• The game keeps on going until the chocolate is gone. Just by odds alone, there isn’t going to be a vast amount of chocolate consumed by the kids, especially if there are 6 or more participants within the game.

The Smartie Sucker Game
For this game you’re going to need a few boxes of Smarties, some plates, straws and a glass jar.

Break up the children into groups of three, and give them all one straw each. Then, empty the box of smarties onto a plate and make sure that the number of smarties is even, one each for every team. Also place next to the plate a glass jar.

Then, what each member must do is place the straw in the mouth, and their hands behind their back. The teams then have two minutes, to suck up as many Smarties as possible onto the straw, and then into the glass jar. After each person has picked up ten Smarties with their straw and placed it into the jar, the next person has a go.

This continues on until the two minutes is up and then the amount of Smarties in each jar is counted.

The winners of course, are the ones with the most, and then they get to eat the Smarties themselves!

Unfortunately these games aren’t going to cut it when you’ve got teenage kids at a party, and can’t entertain them.

Here are a few ways to entertain teenage kids, and still seem cool enough that you don’t embarrass them, as every teenager assumes will happen.

Age 13 - 17

Truth or Dare
This game is a classic that will also stand the test of time. Every teenage girl wants to know who likes who, or who’s kissed a boy but usually are still too shy to ask at this age. The boys aren’t going to care as much, and are more likely to choose ‘dare’ in order to get them to do something disgusting like eating worms. Either way, the game is going to be a success!

The rules:

• Each person asks another person ‘truth or dare’. The person asked then has to choose between answering a question (usually a personal one) and a dare (that is usually ridiculous)
• The game typically doesn’t end, but will dissolve when something interesting or funny happens and the kids get distracted.

Celebrity Heads
For this game, you’re going to need to be a little creative and think up a bunch of celebrities, typically ones that your guests are going to know.

Then, either write the name of the celebrity on a sticker, in which to stick on the participant. On their foreheads is the best idea, as they can’t see above their eye level!

Three people will then be the celebrities, and take turns asking everyone else yes or no questions about their celebrity.

Questions like ‘Am I male or female?’ are a good starting point, and usually branch out from there. The first person to guess who they are wins a prize. The game then keeps going until all three have guessed who they are correctly, and then the next three people who wish to go can then become new celebrities.

Unfortunately at this age it will become increasingly difficult to entertain your kids or encourage them to participate in actual activities, as most of the time they’re just going to want to hang about. The boys are going to be more likely to play Xbox or Playstation, so encouraging a competition out of a racing game on one of the consoles, the winner of course obtaining a prize is a great idea.

The girls are going to want to hang about and engage in idle gossip, or do each others hair. You can also encourage a beauty competition and give the girls 15 minutes to do each others makeup which you’ll then judge on the best.

After the age of 16 or 17, you might find it pretty hard to encourage your children into activities. Parties are going to be memorable times that your kids will hopefully treasure for the rest of their lives, so it’s important that you think of lots of fun and creative games and things to do to make your kid feel like they’ve had the best party ever.

There’s nothing worse than a bunch of bored kids at a party hanging out at your house, so make sure you’ve got the entertainment covered! Keep the kids constantly entertained, while it might seem like a lot of effort for you, think about how fast the time will fly for the kids, and how much fun they’re having.

In the end, the smile on their faces might be reward enough!