Child's Birthday Party Games

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The saran wrap game was all the rage at holiday parties this year. The kids form a circle, pass around a ball filled with prizes and using either a timer or rolling dice, you move the ball from person to person. After watching it played, it occurred to me that this would be a great way to distribute the goody bag prizes at a child’s birthday party. Instead of taking home a ready-made bag, the kids play the game to retrieve their prizes.

The party store has a large selection of birthday party goody bag toys and treats from temporary tattoos, whistles, small plush balls, TY products, small candies, etc. Once you purchase a supply of birthday party goody bag items, lay them out on the floor, take a roll of saran wrap and begin placing items into the saran wrap as you roll a larger and larger ball. You can alternate items so that if one child has the ball longer than another, he or she will end up with a varied stash of to take home. Depending on the age of the children and the size of the group, you may want to make two balls to keep the action moving. Once you make your saran wrap ball (took about 20 minutes once all the items were laid out and in reach), all you need is a timer or dice to get the game rolling. We used oversized yard dice at our last party. They were great because they kept the rolls closer into the circle and the large numbers were easy for everyone to see.

Here’s the rules – Have the children assemble in a circle. Determine where the ball will start. We determined by giving the ball to the youngest child. Others roll the dice and the first person to roll doubles is the first person with the ball. Once you determine who is starting with the ball, the child to the right of that person will roll dice. Until that child rolls a double, the first child with the ball continues unwrapping the saran wrap ball and keeps all the prizes that are revealed. Once the child to the right rolls doubles, the ball is passed to him/her and the dice passed along to the next child in the circle.

We played this game with a about ten children in a circle. They ranged in age from 4 to 10 years olds at the holiday party this year. At first I was concerned that some of the prizes might be too young for some of the children. But the kids loved it, and at the end if they had prizes they didn’t want they either traded or gave those prizes to the younger ones. The ball was very large and everyone got to unwrap at least twice. Each child came away with plenty of prizes ranging from candies to lots of party favor trinkets. The kids were happy. The game was entertaining and it was so much more fun than just handing them a goody bag at the end. Be sure to pick up a supply of goody bags for the kids to stash their loot and let the fun times begin.

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