Is your kid’s birthday coming up, but the budget’s a bit slim for a party? With some creativity and a little bit of planning, you can make your kid’s day feel truly special.
Here, we’ve gathered the best ideas for a celebration without breaking the bank, including some fun (and memorable!) boy activities for birthday parties.
In this article, we’ll go over a wide range of party games that will deliver a fun experience for your birthday boy and his friends while only needing a few basic household items to get started.
Read on below to get a list of fun activities and classic party games that are sure to be a hit with any group of kids.
Best Party Games
If you’ve run out of fun ideas for what to do for your kid’s birthday party, don’t worry — we’ve done all the research for you. No matter how young or old your child is, there is something here for everyone!
Treasure Hunt
This fast-paced birthday party favorite uses pieces of paper where you write clues to guide participants through your house or yard.
Each clue will lead them closer and closer to the ultimate prize!
Finding the treasure chest encourages them to use their critical thinking skills, making it fun for everyone, including young children!
Three-Legged Race
This classic game is an excellent addition to birthday parties that isn’t just fun but hilarious to experience AND watch for all ages.
To get started, you need to set up your backyard or take a trip to the local park. Next, you’ll need to provide something that to tie the participants’ legs together — a rope, a burlap sack, or whatever you have lying around.
Then you mark a start and finish line. Next, pair up the children and get the inside leg of each child tied to the other.
Line everyone up, count them off and let them go.
The first team to cross the finish line wins.
Charades
If you’re looking for a game that both little kids and adults can do, then charades is a perfect game for your child’s birthday!
This classic birthday party game will also work well if you’re hosting a themed party for your little boy; the kids can pretend to be characters from Star Wars or your kid’s favorite book or video game.
Tug of War
For a great game that involves all your little guests, Tug of War will make for one awesome birthday party. Great for small groups or a large group of people. You just need a rope and a large, open space to get started.
Just place two groups on opposite sides of the rope and start pulling; the first team to get their opponents over the line wins!
Marco Polo
The classic water game can actually be played on land, and it’s just as fun! Try playing using funny voices for even more fun and hilarious laughs with the party guests — the perfect way to spend a summer birthday.
There’s a wide range of variations to try, which can work with toddlers and bigger kids.
Obstacle Course
To get started, create an extensive obstacle course in the party’s venue or your backyard using the everyday items you have lying around your home.
You can even choose surprise items that may block the players’ paths to make the game more interesting!
Hot Potato
Everyone loves a good game of hot potato. This promotes hand-eye coordination in children while burning off their energy, and you can up the ante by giving away goodie bags for the winner of every round.
What’s in the Bag?
This simple game is a great way to change the party’s pace; it provides a slower pace, but just as much excitement.
Prepare a big bag with goodies inside and have all the kids line up and guess what’s inside the bag one by one. The participant who provides the right guess gets to pick a prize!
This makes it a great game for a toddler birthday party.
Simon Says
Everyone knows how to play Simon Says, and it’s easy enough to set up for any kind of birthday party.
It’s not only challenging for kids, but it can also be a big cause for laughs and funny scenarios if you call out the right commands!
Dress up Race
This super fun game gets everybody involved!
Your guests must compete in a race where they pile and pile clothing and accessories on their bodies, both trying to get everything on before the other. You can customize all the different pieces they need to wear to fit any birthday party themes.
Water Balloon Toss
Best played during warmer weather, water balloon games can be set up outside on your lawn for an exciting and fun way to spend the day.
You can also pair up your guests and see how far they can throw the water balloons to each other before dropping or breaking them.
Musical Chairs
Pick out some fun music, set up some chairs in the middle of the room, and you’ve got a quick and easy birthday party game for your kid and their friend to have loads of fun. The last one with a chair is the winner!
All that’s left is to get the participants ready to dance.
Egg and Spoon Race
While this great party idea can get messy really quickly, it’s perfect for an outdoor party and makes for a lot of laughs.
Start by asking the guests to place their hands behind their backs, while holding the flat end of a spoon in their mouth. Next, balance an egg in the divot of each spoon, and let them loose!
The goal is to deliver the egg to the next person on the opposite side of the playing area faster than the other team, but they can’t break the egg! This game always delivers hilarious results.
Opposite Day
This game is closely related to Simon Says, but instead of following the given instructions, participants need to do the opposite. For instance, if they’re told to raise their left hand, they have to raise their right hand instead.
While there are no props or prizes involved in this game, it can get hard fast, so you can get multiple rounds in before the kids get bored.
Minute to Win it
Taken from the popular TV game show, your guests will have a blast playing a wide range of games that are fun and challenging. Getting the games set up won’t cost much, especially if you use everyday items around your home to do it.
There are also plenty of games for you to choose from, each of which can be played by kids, teens, and even adults if they wish to join.
Baseball
If you’re looking to celebrate with a sports theme, you can be sure that it will be a home run!
If you live close to a sporting facility or have a wide backyard where you can play baseball with your kid and his friends, this is a great option.
Scavenger Hunt
Hosting a scavenger hunt is a fun way to keep kids entertained without wasting too much money. It also allows them to stay active, running around your backyard in search of clues and looking for hidden nooks and crannies.
Bubble Wrap Race
There’s no denying that this game is a lot of fun, and any kids over 3 years of age are welcome! To begin, you only need some bubble wrap and open space around your home.
The game is simple — contestants just need to cross the sheet of bubble wrap on the ground without popping any bubbles. How easy is that? Plus, games don’t get cheaper than this unless they’re free!
Potato Sack Race
On your mark, get set, and go! Potato sack races are action-packed — line up your little racers behind the starting line and watch them hop to victory.
If you can’t source potato sacks, you can use drawstring laundry bags or pillowcases as an alternative.
Limbo
Crank up the music to see how low you can go! with each round that players pass, lower the limbo stick closer and closer to the ground.
Need to save some serious money? No problem– there are tons of options for a DIY limbo stick, such as pool noodles (which are great for a pool party), PVC pipes, or a broom.
You can also add a bit of flair to it by wrapping the stick with colorful wrapping paper, streamers, and ribbons.
The Floor is Lava!
This crazy and fun game involves using the kids’ imaginations, where small teams must cross a ravine full of lava! Of course, all you really need are pillows or mats, which participants can use to travel from one point to another.
To bring a little creativity to your party, decorate the playing space using paper flames.
Bobbing for Apples
This game doesn’t have to be restricted to the Halloween season, and you can add your own twist to make it more suitable for birthday parties.
Get the party started by filling a large bowl with water and then filling it with apples. Each participant will need to be blindfolded and have their hands behind their backs as they try to get apples using just their mouths.
Bingo
Board games are always popular, and everyone knows how to play bingo!
If you’re looking to save more, you can just print out bingo cards to play with. You can also use paper chips to mark spaces, and you’ve got yourself simple board games using nothing but paper.
As a bonus, this also makes everything recyclable!
Hide & Seek
Another one of the classics — hide & seek is still one of the most fun games to play today. With one kid acting as the seeker and the rest as hiders, kids simply need to find the perfect place to hide to ensure they aren’t the first person to be found.
It’s always fun to find the best hiding places, especially if the playing area is big with plenty of little places to squirrel away into!
Hula Hoop Contest
This one is pretty straightforward — all you need to provide are a few hula hoops to get the party started. To determine a winner, have all the participants start hula hooping all at the same time and give the last person with a spinning hoop the reward.
Things to Consider
When you’re looking for the best party games for your child’s birthday, be sure to consider what your child and party goers want. You know your child best, so try to line up a bunch of games that will ensure he has a great time.
While we all want our child’s party to be full of joy and fun, there are a few things you need to consider aside from the number of children when you choose the best games for your child’s party.
- The kids’ age: Be sure to think about the ages of your guest list and pick out activities that are best suited for their age group. If you’ll be hosting younger children between the ages of 2 to 4, ask parents for advice on lighter activities. Older kids, such as 6-year-olds, will have more energy, so be sure to pick activities that will let them unleash it!
- Your kids’ interests: Some kids will be more interested in sports than others, so what might be the perfect party for you might not be the same as their definition of perfect. Be sure to consider what your boy loves and stick with it!
- Weather: The climate during the day of the party may not be perfect; it’s a great idea to have an indoor backup plan in mind.
- Ask for help: Some home party games can get messy, so it’s a good idea to get a few helping hands from the other kids’ parents. They can help clean up after games or help you set everything up, leaving you with plenty of time to focus on hosting.
Conclusion
Now it’s time to have fun! No matter which fun birthday party ideas you want to host, make sure everything is ready to go and have plans ready in case of rain. Because kids love being on their feet, it means tons of fun and excitement for your son’s birthday party, and who doesn’t love that?
Get ready for them to go nuts, and don’t forget to get a piece of that birthday cake!
