Many children love the opportunity of having a party for their birthday. The fun they can enjoy with their friends, the excitement of being the centre of attention, and most importantly, the party games they will play. But while many parents are aware of the games that an indoor kid’s party might involve, what can you do outside to make that kid’s party extra special? I wanted to share with you some of the outdoor games for a kid’s party that any of us could include. Find more outdoor games for children here.
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I’ve done a few outdoor parties for my own children now and I find a mixture of nature crafts and fun outdoor activities like party games works best. Outdoor parties are a great option for summer parties for kids of all ages.
Relay games
One of the first options you could consider is relay games. This is where you will split the party into teams equally. So numbers would depend on how many you have in attendance. Then they can relay race against each other doing different things.
For example, you could have a box of ball pit balls mixed in different colours in one large area such as an empty paddling pool. Then assign a colour to each team.
The first team to put all of their colour balls into a container at the other end of the garden is the winner. You could also do things like egg and spoon races where they switch the egg and spoon to the next person after running or navigating different obstacles that you have put in place. There are loads of possibilities for relay games.
Buy outdoor games
Another great option for kids pirates is buying specific outdoor games and setting them up across your garden or outside space. There are many classic games that you may recognise from years gone by that have been adapted and enlarged specifically to enjoy outside. Here are a couple of examples:
- Jenga
- Twister
- Connect Four
- Dominoes
- Bowling
Find more ideas in my post on garden games for kids.
Make your own competitive outdoor games
If you feel that you are quite creative then why not give making your own outdoor games ago. You will find plenty of tutorials online that can guide you but I have come up with a few simple ideas to get those creative juices flowing:
- Throw a hoop to a target – Simply get some sticks that you can place into the ground and find something that has a hoop shape. This could be a large hoop your children play with or anything that is a ring shape. The idea is for them to throw the hoop or ring over one of the targets. You can allocate points to each target.
- Football targets – If you have a net and a football already outside then why not create some targets and ask your party attendees to kick the ball. Tallying up the number of points they win depending on what targets they hit.
- Fairground games – A great source of inspiration is the games you might find at a typical fairground. Throwing a bean bag at a stack of cans, Throwing ping pong balls into holes, that sort of thing. You could even use cups and create your own sweet pong where a ball needs to land in one of the cups to win a sweet or a prize.
Classic party games you can do outside
Throwing a kid’s party is not easy, but doing it outside gives you the benefit of space. But that doesn’t mean to say that those classic party games we know and love can’t be enjoyed when organising an outdoor kid’s party. Here are some of the ones that can be enjoyed outside:
- Pass the parcel – There is no reason why you can take pass the parcel outside. Get the children sat in a circle and let them pass that parcel around until the music stops. Then once the layer is unwrapped start again until the prize is revealed.
- Musical statues – Your party is likely to involve some music, even if it is outside, so why not get the children to play musical statues. This is an easy one as it doesn’t require too much set up and you can just let the kids dance until the music stops.
- Musical bumps – You could also enjoy musical bumps. When the music stops the last person to sit on the ground is out. You continue until there is only one person left.
- Musical chairs – Make a line of chairs with one less than the number of party guests. Whilst the music is playing the children walk in a circle around the chairs. When the music stops the children find a chair to sit on. The only child that doesn’t get a seat is out. Room a chair and repeat until you are down to just 1 chair and 2 children. The winner is the one who sits on the last chair.
Find ideas for kids party songs here.
The floor is lava
Another great outdoor game that you can play at your kid’s party is the floor is lava. Essentially you let your kids roam free and then shout “3,2,1 the floor is lava” and then the last person who is unable to find a place which means their feet are not touching the ground is out of that round.
You continue until there is one person left. You can mix this up a bit by playing music in between and encouraging the kids to dance rather than roam as they may be tempted to try and cheat. You know what kids are like! This is definitely a fun and more modern game to play at a kid’s party.
Parachute games
Parachute games are fantastic for groups of children. You can pick up a kid’s parachute up really cheaply and that is pretty much all you need for this fun outdoor party game.
Have a pinata
This is a great game for outside and one kids will love to get involved in. You could buy or even create your own pinata. This is usually a fragile hollow figure or shape that is filled with sweets and prizes. The kids need to hit the pinata to reveal the sweets. They may only get one go each, and they can collect the rewards of what falls to the ground.
Treasure hunts
This game takes a little bit of inspiration from Easter and hunts in general, but a great classic game to play with kids at a party is a treasure hunt. You could hide sweets and prizes all over your garden and outside space and let the children search for them until they are all found.
You could also do a treasure trail or even a map and send your kid’s on the hunt by solving different clues they come across. You can make these as simple or as complicated as you like and they can be tailored to suit all age groups.
I hope this has given you plenty of inspiration for some of the outdoor games for a kid’s party that you might want to try.
More outdoor games for kids
If your party will be continuing after dark then here are some great party game ideas – Outdoor night games for kids.
Find loads more ideas for Outdoor group games for kids of all ages here.
If your party guests are only young, you might like to read this guide to Outdoor games for toddlers.
More kids party ideas
- Is your child unicorn mad? Find out how to host a unicorn party here.
- Many of these outdoor games for kids are perfect for kids’ parties.
- This is a delicious and simple kids’ birthday cake.