You might know the feeling: It’s Saturday morning. You’re at a kids party, standing by the bounce house, eating a slice of iffy pizza and waiting for the piñata. You realize that you’ve been spending a lot of Saturdays in exactly this manner: a children’s party version of “Groundhog Day.” (Pause here for brief existential crisis.)
There’s no rule that says kids parties must contain the bounce house-pizza-piñata trifecta. They can be whatever we want, only limited by our imagination. Many of the best and most creative party ideas are actually less expensive than just shelling out for the usual stuff. Here are some cool, weird, messy, truly fun party ideas for kids that may inspire you to break out of the party-planning rut next time you’re the host. C’mon – do it for the rest of us.
Finding Bigfoot
Ages: 7 and older
The idea: Bigfoot is on the loose in the neighborhood, and kids are needed for a search party.
Materials: Fake fur, mud for footprints, transistor radio, hunting props like rope and magnifying glasses, gorilla suit
The lowdown: Have kids dress in camouflage or other Bigfoot hunting-appropriate gear. Share some Bigfoot lore, including later-to-be salient details such as “Bigfoot likes to announce his presence by knocking on trees with sticks” in order to set the mood. Provide kids with supplies, such as clipboards for recording data, magnifying glasses and/or rope, in case they need to capture Bigfoot. Lead kids around the neighborhood in pursuit of Bigfoot via clues like tufts of fur stuck on trees, suspicious-looking footprints, strategic grunting and telltale tree knocking. Get other friends and family members in on it to provide timely clues. Try enlisting the help of an agreeably hammy neighbor to tell the kids, “I just heard a radio report that Bigfoot has been spotted in the neighborhood!” For the big reveal, have a friend in a gorilla suit leap out so that the successful team can chase Big Foot down and tie him up. Have kids take photos with the captured Bigfoot and include them in thank you notes. For extra atmosphere, host the hunt at dusk, providing kids with flashlights or glowsticks to light their way.
Food: A suitably outdoorsy repast like a cookout or a Bigfoot-style diet like jerky, dried fruits and nuts. Finish with a cake in the shape of a Sasquatch footprint or a bundt cake with a surprise Bigfoot inside.
Insider’s tip: Make sure to plan activities for after the hunt. Kids will be excited after finding Bigfoot and will need a way to work out some energy.
Indoor Camping Party
Ages: 3 to 10
The idea: Host a campout anytime, anywhere.
Materials: Small tents or lots of blankets, flashlights, glow-in-the-dark stars, recording of nature sounds, tea lights, roasting sticks and s’mores ingredients
The lowdown: If you have teepees or small tents, set them up inside or have kids make old-school tents using blankets, tables and strategically placed chairs. Have kids bring sleeping bags for Who’s in the Sleeping Bag (every person but one hides in the sleeping bags, then the one party guest tries to guess who’s in each bag by feeling the outside of the bags – very giggle-inducing). Follow up with a sleeping bag sack race. Use flashlights for flashlight tag and nighttime hide-and-seek, and to teach kids to make simple shadow puppets. In the evening, gather around the campfire (a real fire in a fireplace, or just a lantern or pile of flashlights) for charades, songs, stories or impromptu performances. For maximum atmosphere, put glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling and play some nature sounds as the kids (hopefully) fall asleep.
Food: Try traditional camping fare such as hot dogs, baked beans and corn on the cob. For dessert, have kids make s’mores by roasting marshmallows over the tea light “fire” using chopsticks or skewers.
Insider’s tip: Younger and more timid kids don’t need to stay for the sleepover part, but they can still bring a sleeping bag, wear PJs and be part of the fun.
Candy Party
Ages: 4 to 7
The idea: A celebration of the awesomeness of candy.
Materials: Candy. Lots of it. Plus small take-home bags, construction paper, a Candy Land game, Hoppity Hop bouncers, soda, fruit leather and parchment paper or Jolly Ranchers and contact paper for lickable wallpaper.
The lowdown: Start with a lifesize game of Candy Land using cards from the game and construction paper as game spaces. Make individual sheets of lickable wallpaper by sticking different flavors of fruit leather onto parchment paper or melting Jolly Ranchers and painting the mixture onto contact paper. Hang the paper on the wall and have kids lick to guess the flavors. Have a bubble gum relay race by having kids bounce through a short obstacle course aboard a Hoppity Hop, while also chewing gum or even blowing bubbles if they’re advanced. Tie several strands of shoelace licorice together for each party guest and see who can eat his or her way to the end first. Set up a candy shop with several different treats, and let kids fill up small take-home bags with their favorites.
Food: Host the party in the afternoon so you can stick to sweets. Let kids decorate cupcakes with a mind-boggling assortment of candy or set up a chocolate fountain so kids can dip pretzels, strawberries, sponge cake and potato chips.
Insider’s tip: Mix candy-eating activities with action and games to avoid late-afternoon candy meltdowns.
Crybaby Party
Ages: 7 and older
The idea: The crybaby party is purposefully the most disappointing, cry-worthy party possible.
Materials: Ugly piñata, baby carrots, helium balloons, bean bags, kid-unfriendly food
The lowdown: Put a disappointing twist on party mainstays like the piñata by making your own sad-looking piñata, or buy a particularly ugly, poorly made one. Give kids a pool noodle to break the piñata, only providing a usable stick after each child has taken his or her unsuccessful turn. Fill the piñata with baby carrots or other undesirable nontreats. (Provide conciliatory candy later.) For games, try the balloon challenge (kids try to knock helium balloons out of others’ hands – and play outdoors for the greatest devastating effect), dodge ball with bean bags (ouch!), or the old tear-inducing standby of musical chairs. For best results, let kids in on the joke ahead of time, so they can enjoy this anti-party without actually crying.
Food: Non kid-friendly items like pizza with basil that needs to be picked off. For cake, bring out a single birthday cupcake, claiming that only the birthday kid will get cake. For maximum trauma, pretend to drop the cupcake. (Be sure to bring out the real cake immediately. Kids can only take so much.)
Insider’s tip: Even though only half the parents will get it – the other half will just pretend to – kids will completely catch on and love every minute.
Gross-Out Challenge
Ages: 9 and older
The idea: Teams compete for highly coveted title of “Grossest.”
Materials: Food for gross-out challenge, slime, icky substances for Garbage Picking game
The lowdown: Divide kids into two teams that dare to face the Gross-Out Challenge. Try a Gross Relay Race: Teams advance by eating gross food at each relay point. Use vaguely unsavory items such as canned Vienna sausages, yucky-colored baby food and canned beef stew (make sure to call it “dog food”). In the Slime Booger contest, kids try to make the longest booger with homemade or store-bought slime. And in Garbage Picking, contestants have 30 seconds to grab the most plastic spiders out of a container filled with bad-feeling and -smelling things, such as canned yams, cooked noodles and canned peas. For an extra-official feel, you can make badges to give to the winners of each challenge. The “winners,” if that’s the right word, will be the team that has earned the most badges by the end of the party. Award them with Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Jelly Beans in appropriately horrid flavors like earwax and vomit.
Food: Serve something appropriately vile like Worms and Dirt (chocolate pudding, crushed Oreos and gummy worms) or Kitty Litter Cake (a heinous concoction of crumbled cake and cookies topped with melted Tootsie Rolls – and served in a new litter box.)
Insider’s tip: Canned collard greens are perfect for Garbage Picking – they look, smell and feel awful.
Mall Scavenger Hunt
Ages: 11 and older (younger teams may need an adult to supervise)
The idea: A party, scavenger hunt and roaming the mall with friends – all in one.
Materials: Phones with cameras, pencils, lists of items, a small amount of spending money for each team (optional)
The lowdown: Divide kids into small teams and give them lists of about 15 mall-related tasks to complete. Make the lists a fun mix of things to do and things to find, e.g., take a photo of the ugliest clothing item, find out the price of Cinnabon bites and make a short video of everyone on your team wearing red shoes and singing a few bars of “Over the Rainbow.” Give each item a point value according to difficulty, and send teams off to get the most points in the allotted time. After the hunt, review the videos and photos with all the kids – ostensibly to add up points, but mainly so they can see the other teams’ adventures and relive their own.
Food: Give the kids a little bit of spending money and add an item like “take a break and buy yourself a snack.” Or head to a mall restaurant for appetizers and a play-by-play rehash of the game.
Insider’s tip: Have kids dress in a specific style (retro glam, superhero, ’80s, etc.) before the party, but don’t tell them about the scavenger hunt. Roaming the mall while dressed in ridiculous outfits just adds to the spectacle.
Big, Better, Best
Ages: 13 and older
The idea: Kids try to get the best item by “trading up.”
Materials: A penny for each team
The lowdown: Divide children into teams of three to five, give each team a penny, and send them out into the neighborhood for a specified amount of time with instructions to “trade up.” Teams go door to door asking neighbors if they can barter their item for something bigger or better. (For safety and fairness, make rules clear ahead of time, e.g., don’t go inside anyone’s house, no money except the penny can change hands, etc.) When teams return, offer prizes for biggest, best and greatest upgrade in a single transaction.
Food: If you want to be super hardcore, when it’s time to eat, give each person a part of the snacks (e.g., only one topping for homemade pizzas or one course of the meal) and have them trade with fellow partygoers for what they want. Or you can just give them a break and let them sit back, eat and regale the others with the tales of their heroic trades.
Insider’s tip: Sometimes people will give the teams something but won’t want to take an item in trade, so near the end of the game, teams can end up with some pretty big stuff. It’s not unusual to end up with bulky things like old bikes, sports equipment or appliances. Provide a space for teams to drop off extra stuff during the game and have a disposal plan for items.
