Top Five Birthday Party Activities For Under 5s
Entertaining kids at home is always a challenge. It has parents stressing over everything from the cake to the decorations. However, the kids need to be entertained by birthday party activities!
If you’re not looking at outsourcing your party to professional kids birthday party venues such as Wannabees Family Play Town, we’re giving you some great ideas on some fun activities!
Birthday Party Activities
Here are our top 5 birthday party activities for under 5s
1. Fishing Pond
Tired of the same old lolly bags?
This activity is great fun, and gives guests some great gifts in a creative way!
You’ll need:
- String
- Bed sheet
- Fishing rod (or stick and string equivalent)
- Pegs
- Small gifts
What to do:
- Tie a string across a room or between trees/posts. Hang the sheet off the string so that no one can see what’s on the other side.
- Using an old fishing rod or a stick and line, attach a peg to the end of the line.
- Have the kids ‘cast’ over the sheet.
- With a parent ready over the other side, attach a small gift to the peg. Tug the line, and get the kids to reel in their delightful gift!
2. Butterfly Paintings
This party game gives the guests something personal to take home, and is a nice calm activity (but beware – we’re dealing with paint!)
You’ll need
- Paper
- Glitter Glue
- Paint
- Spoons or paint brushes
- A newspaper/plastic sheet to work on
What to do
- Lay newspaper or plastic sheet on the working surface
- Fold your paper in half (horizontally), and apply a variety of paint colours to half of the page (though don’t cover the whole page, just a small part of it)
- Using your hands, fold the paper in half and press firmly with your hands, spreading the trapped paint.
- Open the page to reveal a wonderful butterfly painting!
- Let the paint dry, and have kids take their art home.
3. Egg and Spoon Race
This old favourite is always a party hit!
You’ll need
- Hard boiled eggs or golf balls
- Spoons
What to do
- Line the kids up at a start line with an egg and a teaspoon each.
- When you are ready to start the race, ask them to place the egg onto their spoon and then place their other arm behind their back.
- Once you say ‘go’, get the kids to race to the finish line without their eggs falling off their spoon.
- If the egg falls, the child goes back to the start line.
- Whoever crosses the finish line first is the winner.
4. Balloon Stomp (ages 4-5)
This active game gets kids moving about and trying to gather as many lollies as they can.
You’ll need
- Small lollies
- Balloons
What to do
- Place lollies inside the balloons.
- Inflate balloons (5 per child), and scatter them across a room/area.
- Have kids pop the balloons to get the lollies inside.
WARNING: This game involves small parts once the balloons have popped, so use this for kids 4 years and over, and with adult supervision.”
5. Musical Chairs
This is an active game that’s been around for a long time!
You’ll need
- Music and speakers
- Chairs
What to do
- The chairs are set up in two rows back to back. There is one char less than the number of players.
- The music is turned on, and the players run around the chairs.
- When the music stops the players race to sit in an empty chair.
- The player who cannot find a chair is out of the game.
- The players all stand again and a chair is removed.
- The music is started and kids run around the chairs again.
- Continue until only one person remains. This person is the winner.
Your Turn
What other games have you used on your parties? Which game is your child’s favourite? This is just a small sample of many birthday party activities you can organise when throwing kids parties at home. For some other ideas and inspiration check our article “Best Kids Birthday Party Ideas To Create Awesome Happy Memories“.