Birthday Party Games for
Kids

SUMMER ICE BREAKER GAMES
MUSICAL FLOATS
Fill the pool with floats, one less than the amount of guests you
have. Play some fun summer music like the Beachboys CD.
Have the children swim around the floats and when the music
stops, they must grab one.
Only one float is allowed to each child and if two grab one
float, they are both out. If a child does not grab one, he or she
is out as well. When a child is out, he or she must tell
something funny about themselves.
Continue to play, taking away floats so that there is always
one less than there are guests. The last child to have a float
wins.
POOL LINE
The object of this ice breaker is for all of the
children to line themselves up in order according to the
criteria, without talking. You can use all different categories.
For example: line up according to shoe size, smallest first, line
up in alphabetical order according to the first letter in your
first name, shortest to tallest, etc. This game is so fun you
will want to think of quite a few categories beforehand.
BEACH BALL QUESTIONS
Before the party, use a permanent marker to write questions on
a beach ball. Questions can be: What is your favorite color? What
is your favorite movie? Who is your favorite storybook character?
Toss the ball to one player and whatever question their right
pinter finger touches is the questin they must answer. Once the
question is answered, they toss it to someone else and the game
goes on.
YOUNGER CHILDREN
ABC DUCKS
With a permanent marker, make letters on rubber ducks and then
float them in a wading pool. Each child must pick one and look at
the letter on the bottom. Then they must name something they like
that begins with that letter. IF I WERE…
Have the children sit in a circle and go around having each
one say what he or she would do if they were a fish, or a sea
gull, or a shark, etc. Go around several times until each has
played several times.
WHEN I…
Sit the children in a circle and let each child finish a sentence
you start, such as: when I go swimming…; when I see a
picture of the beach…; or when I hear about a
shark… It is fun to see what the children come up with.
THE BUCKET GAME
Give each child a sand pail that is full of water. Ask a
question like: Who likes apples? All the children that do must
pour the bucket of water on his or her head. Refill the pails and
ask more questions.
HULA LUAU ALL AGES
MY NEW FRIEND
Pair each child with another child, preferably someone they do
not know well. Let them visit with each other for five minutes
and then everyone joins in a circle. Each child then answers Hula
Luau related questions you ask about their new friend. You can
create your own questions such as: If your new friend were on a
tropical island, what would he or she do for fun? Another
question could be: If your new friend was going to a Luau, what
would he or she wear?
WHAT COLOR IS YOUR LEI?
Pass out a different color lei to each of the
children. Go around the group and each child must describe
themselves using a word that begins with the first letter of the
color of his or her lei. Sarah might say she is sweet and Hannah
might say she is happy and so on. This is a fun and easy way for
the children to get to know each other.
HOOLA HOOP GROUP
Have the children form a big circle and hold hands. Place a
hoola hoop between the hands of two people who are standing
together. They will have to let go onf hands in order for you to
do this, then have them join hands again. Play some Hula Luau
music and have the children pass the hoola hoop around the
circle, while everyone continues to hold hands. Have them go as
fast as they can. When the music stops, the person touching the
hoola hoop is out. Continue until only one person is left.
HULA LUAU TRUTH…OR NOT?
Go around the room and have each guest say three things about
themselves, two things that are true, one that is not. All the
things must have to do with the Hula Luau theme like have to do
with the ocean, beach, a hoola hoop, a luau, surfing, an island,
etc. For example: I have been to Hawaii. I love Luaus. I saw a
shark at the ocean. The group will vote on each statement as to
which is true and which is not true.
Mh2>PINEAPPLE RACEDivide the group into two teams. The
object of the game is for each player to get to the finish line
with the pineapple, which they balance one their head, without
the pineapple falling off. If it falls off, the player must say a
statement about his or herself such as: “I love
strawberries.” A statement is said everytime the pineapple
falls. Once the player reaches the finish line, they run the
pineapple back to the next person in line on their team.
You can opt to use a plastic pineapple or even a pineapple
sipper like this one. Fill it with water for even more fun.
COCONUT BOWLINGFill empty 2 liter soda bottles with water and
add blue food coloring. Set them up like bowling balls and let
the children “bowl”. Each child gets two turns and on
each turn, for every bottle still standing, the child must reveal
a fact about his or herself.· You can make our
homemade coconut instead of using a real one if you would
like.
YOUNGER CHILDREN
SEA SHELL JAR
Before the party, fill a jar with sea shells and count them.
Write the number down on a piece of paper. Pass the jar around to
each child and have them tell their name, age and how many shells
they think are in the jar. The person closest to the amount
wins.
GUESS WHO!Have the children sit in a circle. Walk around the
room and have each child whisper to you something about
themselves that has to do with a Hula Luau them. One child might
tell you that she has been to Hawaii while another may say she
would love to surf. Then read each back and have the group guess
who said what.
COCOUNT ROLLSit the children in a circle and hand one child a
coconut. Have them roll it to someone and while saying their own
name and a description of themselves that starts with the first
sound of their name. Like: caring Cara. The child that the
coconut rolls to must then do the same. Play until all the
children have had at least two turns. Each time they must think
of a different description. Depending on the age of the group,
you may even want to help them think of options and they can pick
the one that best describes themselves.· You can
make our homemade coconut if you would rather.
SHOVEL AND PAIL
ALL AGES
PAIL PASS
Before the party, write some questions on slips of paper and
put them in a sand pail. Pass the pail around the group and have
each child pick one piece of paper. Go around and have everyone
read the question and answer it. Examples include: What is your
favorite thing to do in summer? What was your favorite summer
vacation? · If your guests are too young to read
their own questions, read the question to each child as it is his
or her turn.
THE SPONGE GAME
Divide the group onto two teams and let them pick names for
their teams like: the Sand Crabs or the Beach Combers. Line each
team up and give the first person on each team a large sponge and
sit a bucket of water beside each of them. You can use duck
shaped sponges as seen above for even more fun. Designate a
finish line and sit two sand pails there. The object of the game
is for each player to soak his or her sponge with water and run
to the sand pail at the finish line where he or she will squeeze
all the water from the sponge into the pail and then run the
sponge back to the next player in line. The first team to fill
their sand pail full of water wins the game.
WHAT AM I?
Purchase a package or two of 3-D magic capsule grow sponges in
animal shapes. You can purchase them online or at many dollar
stores. Fill a pail or bucket with warm water and have the
children form a circle around it. Give each child a capsule. The
children shut their eyes except for the child whose turn it is.
That child will go to the water and put the capsule in the water
until it forms an animal. Then the group can open their eyes
while the child acts out the animal and the others try to guess
what it is.
PAIL OF SHELLSBefore the party, fill a sand pail with lots of
sea shells. Count them and write the number down. Pass around the
pail and let each child guess how many shells are in the pail.
The closest one to the correct number wins.
FLIP-FLOP GAMESALL AGES
FLIP-FLOP SCRAMBLE
Fill a box with flip-flops in all shapes and sizes. You can
purchase them at dollar stores or thrift shops for next to
nothing. Have the children scramble to find a set to put on. Not
only is it fun to watch them try to find them, but interesting to
see whose is too small, too large and just right.
MY NEW FRIEND’S FLIP-FLOPSPair the children with someone
they don’t know or don’t know very well. Have them
spend five to ten minutes getting aquainted then ask each to
finish this sentence about the person he or she just got to know.
“If ______ was at the flip-flop store and could pick any
pair of flip-flops, ______would pick_______ones
because…” The child might say that Gracie would pick
pink princess ones because she loves pink and is very into pretty
and fancy things.
THE CANDY GAMEHave the children sit in a circle and pass
around a bowl full of flip-flop candies and have each child take
as many as they want. Then go around the circle and for each
candy, or package of candies, the child must tell something about
his or herself.
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WHAT SIZE ARE YOUR FLIP-FLOPS?
Have the children line up according to flip-flop size,
smallest to largest. The tricky part is, they cannot talk while
doing so. This ice breaker helps children learn to communicate,
non-verbally.
GETTING TO KNOW YOUPurchase enough flip-flops for every guest
to have one pair. You can find very inexpensive ones at dollar
stores or thrift shops or even use ones you have on hand. Pass
out mix-matched pairs and then have everyone find the two
children wearing the missing match to theirs.. They will then
find out the name of those children and introduce them to the
group.
FLIP-FLOP RELAY RACE
Divide the group into two teams. Designate a start and finish
line. The goal of the race is to put one flip-flop on and hop on
the flip-flop foot to the finish line. Then the child must say
his or her name and the name of one other child on his or her
team, then hop back the same way and pass the flip-flop to the
next player who will do the same.
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