From the article: Active, Indoor Party Games for Birthdays and More
What do you do when you have a houseful of party guests—indoors? Indoor party games for kids can save the day. What are your family's favorites? Share Your Party Game
Egg cracking contest
- For Easter this past year my mother decided we should play a new game after the family dinner. The whole hide-and-hunt for eggs was getting to be old since all the grand kids are now nine years or older. So, she came up with Egg Cracking. We drew numbers from slips of paper she had placed inside an Easter basket that she passed around as we were still sitting at the dinner table. She held the basket over our heads so we couldn't peek inside. The numbers paired us for the first challenge. Hard-boiled eggs are used in the game. Each person holds an egg in their hand and the matching pair take turns knocking (gently, or harder, whatever) into each other's egg. The first egg that cracks is eliminated. Yes, a hairline crack counts as a crack! The winners of the first round are then paired off and a second round commences, a third round, and however many rounds you need until one person comes out the winner. My brother-in-law won. He was given a potted petunia plant as his prize. Ha!
- —Guest lila
Noises
- Noises is a great fun game for kids. Each child makes a funny noise and the others try not to laugh or smile. Once someone laughs or smiles they sit out.
- —Guest Jazmin
Spider Webs
- This takes a little set up time, but my kids and their friends always loved it when we wove a spider web of yarn across a room. Grab a bunch of party favors, one for each kid and attach a length of yarn (30 ft or more) to each. Deposit a prize someplace in the room, then wind the yarn around furniture, up and over, back to the starting point. Repeat with each strand until the room is, well, a spider web! When the kids arrive, hand them the ends of the yarn and have them follow it to the prize. It takes forever and involves much wriggling across the floor -- very fun for gradeschoolers.
- —parentingyoungadults
Balloon Relay
- There are a million variations on the relay race. Try having kids walk with a balloon between their knees until they reach a chair at the end of the room, at which point they must sit on the balloon and pop it. Kids love getting to pop the balloon, and since they can't really run with a balloon between their legs, it's not as rowdy as some relay races.
- —SusanAdcox
