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For parents bravely hosting a home birthday party for their child, it is always best to plan a full agenda – not getting to all the games is certainly preferable to sugar-fueled kids either running wild or sitting bored! In addition to the traditional pin the tail on the donkey and pinata, here are three other kid-tested birthday party games.

Pass the Parcel: wrap a small gift in numerous layers of newspaper or wrapping paper (aim to have 2 wrapping layers per child at the party). Kids sit in a circle and slowly pass the parcel around the circle while a parent plays music. When the music is stopped, the child holding the parcel unwraps the top layer. Continue until a child wins the center prize. For older children insert small “to-dos” in some or all wrapping layers (for example: jump up and down 10 times, or quack like a duck 3 times) for extra giggles as wrappers are shed.

Flour cake: tightly pack flour into small mixing bowl then invert the bowl onto a large plate and remove the bowl. Place a gummy bear or other small candy on the top of the “flour cake” mound and ask the children to take turns cutting a small slice off the cake using a (non-sharp) cake slicer. The flour cake will become smaller and smaller until one child’s cut will eventually make the candy topple. That child needs to put his hands behind his back and retrieve the candy using only his mouth. Children will be delighted as their friend “wins” a faceful of flour!

The chocolate game: This game requires a bar of chocolate on a plate, a knife and fork, a hat, scarf and mittens, and two dice. Children sit in a circle and take turns rolling both dice. Whenever a child rolls a double, she will run to the chocolate setup nearby and put on the hat, scarf and mittens. When these are on, she can cut chocolate segments – one at a time – using the knife and fork and eat them. Meanwhile, the other children are still passing around the dice trying to roll a double. As soon as someone rolls a double the other child must stop eating, remove the hat, scarf and mittens, and return to the dice-rolling group. This fast and exciting game is over when the chocolate is gone.

While these three games do require advance planning and preparation, they are certainly crowd-pleasers for children age 5-10. As some involve food, it is highly recommended to add a request to the birthday party invitation to be informed of any food allergies at the time of RSVP (and also double-check with parents as they dropoff guests at the party).

Check LookLoveSend.com for our fun collection of birthday party invitations.