Preschool Party Games

Planning a birthday party for your preschooler? Party games are

a great way to keep young children entertained and engaged in the

party. Make sure every child gets a prize of some kind so child

every goes home a winner!

Bean in Your Shoe

One player goes out of the room. A dried bean is given to one of

the players to put in his or her shoe. Play some music and have

all the players dance, each child pretending to have a bean in

their shoe. The player that left the room comes back and tries to

guess who has the bean in their shoe. If they guess right, the

person with the bean in their shoe gets to guess next. If they

guess wrong, they get to leave the room again and try again. If

they guess wrong a second time, they get to choose who gets to

leave the room next.

Hot and Cold

Have the players hide an object while one player leaves the room.

When the object has been hidden, the player that left returns to

the room and guesses where the object has been hidden. This

player must move around one step at a time while the other

players call out “Warm!” or “Cold!” or “Colder!” or “Warmer!” or

“Boiling!” until the player finds the object. The closer they

get, the “warmer” they are. The further away they get, the

“colder” they are.

Lucky Number

Give each child five buttons. The players go from player to

player, exchanging buttons with each other. They can give away as

many or few as they want, but they cannot refuse buttons from

other players. After approximately 2 minutes the leader

calls “Stop!” The leader then calls out a “lucky number” between

one and twenty. Whoever has that number of buttons wins.

Cat and Rat

This game is best for 10 or more players. The players hold hands

in a circle. One player is the rat on the inside of the circle,

and one player is the cat on the outside of the circle. The cat

tries to break through the circle to get to the rat. The players

in the circle try to prevent the cat from getting to the rat.

When the cat succeeds in breaking through the circle, the players

the cat broke between are the next cat and rat.

Balloon Race

Give each child a self-addressed postcard. Have the children

dictate to an adult notes to write on their postcard that state

they are having a contest to see whose balloon travels the

farthest. Also ask that the location, date, and time that the

balloon is found be written on the postcard by the person who

finds the balloon and that the person drop the postcard in the

mail. Place the postcards in ziploc bags and attach them to the

balloons. Set a date for when the contest ends, and launch the

balloons!

Farm Animals

Secretly give the name of a farm animal to each player. The

leader yells “Go!” and each player acts out their animal at the

same time. At the end of 2 minutes, each player calls out as many

of the animal names as they can remember. The player

that remembers the most animal names correctly wins the game.

Dog Bone

All players are seated in a group. One player is selected to be

the dog. The dog sits with his back to the rest of the players. A

bone (eraser, ball, or some other object) is placed on the floor

behind the dog’s back. One at a time, each player tries to sneak

up behind the dog and steal his bone. If the dog hears a sound

from the player trying to sneak up behind him, he “barks” and the

other player returns to their seat. If someone is successful in

stealing the bone, that player returns to their seat and hides

the bone. All of the players then say, “Dog, Dog, where’s your

bone?” The dog has three chances to guess who stole his bone. The

person who stole the bone gets to be dog next.

Break the Balloon

Each child receives a balloon. The first child to blow up their

balloon and pop it wins (show the children how to tie the

balloons before the game begins).

Blind Man’s Bluff

Choose one child to be blindfolded. Let the child wander around

the room until they touch another child. The blindfolded child

tries to guess who they have touched. If they are correct, the

other child gets to blindfolded next. If they are wrong, they get

to be blindfolded one more time. If they are wrong a second time,

they get to choose who gets to be blindfolded next.

Penny Dropping

Give each player 5 pennies. Place a jar on the floor behind a

chair. Have the players take turns kneeling on the chair and

trying to drop their pennies into the jar. Their hand should not

go lower than the top of the back of the chair. Whoever gets the

most pennies in the jar wins the game.