Looking for some fun games to play at your upcoming party or event?

Our party games will help you plan your birthday party, company event or family gathering. Some are outdoor games, some are meant for teams. Feel free to use these ideas to create your own party games!

Outdoor Tag Games

Hospital Tag – One person is “it.” Where ever “it” tags a person that person must then hold the spot with one of their hands where ever he or she was tagged. This person is now “it” and must chase down the next person with the hand always holding the spot.

Dirty Diaper Tag – One person is “it”. When you get tagged you are frozen. The way to get unfrozen is to have somebody crawl under your legs! 
 
Freeze Tag – “It” tags free players who then must freeze in their places. Frozen players may be unfrozen if a free player touches them. 

Copy Kat Tag – This is almost similar as above except that wherever IT holds one of his or her hands everyone else must hold their hands (for example – one hand on hip, one hand holding an ankle, one hand pinching a nose, etc.)  The funnier the better!
 
Tree Tag – “It” chases free players. Free players are safe as long as they are touching a tree. “It” must freeze and count up to ten. The free player must move. 

Team Hug Tag – The object of this game is to tag people as a team. Two players start off as “it” holding hands and chasing to catch another player only with their “free hands.” When a free player is tagged, he/she must then join the tag team. Only the end players can tag the free players. There are no safety areas for the free players, however, if they hug another player they are safe. But the hug can only last 10 seconds. The free players can immediately hug another free player for safety, but it has to be another free player. The game ends when everyone is tagged.

Sunny Day Tag – You will need a sunny day for this game. “It” chases free players and when “it” steps on their shadow the free player becomes “it.” 

Outdoor Water Games

Penny Hunt – Throw a large amount of pennies (depending on the number of kids) into a good size pool. Cover about a third of the pennies with white out and send the children in to dive for them. If a child find a penny with white out, that child gets a prize. Great for all ages! Shallow for the youngest and deeper for the older kids.

Balloon Toss – Have the kids wait in a designated space (in or out of the water) and toss water balloons for them to catch. After throwing a couple, tell them that they don’t get anymore unless they sing a song (can be anything like twinkle twinkle little star, row, row, row your boat, or humpty dumpty…) Every time they sing a song, throw in a few more balloons and try a different song or make them say something like: “I love swimming!” or “Happy Birthday!”. Keep doing this until you are out of balloons.
  
Cannonball Contest – Have two groups; one for the cannonballs and the other group a team of judges. The cannonball group line up behind a diving board and have to make the biggest splash to get the highest vote. The judges are the voters and give each person a vote out of ten. An adult is needed to decide what the majority of the judges want to give each person.
  
Bop! – This game works better in the pool, but you can do it outside with water balloons.
Get About 10 squishy soft balls. Divide the pool in half and mark where you divided it (we use a volley ball net). You’ll need at least six people. Divide a group of people in half. Give the teams an equal amount of balloons. Start trying to hit the opposite team. You cannot cross over your half. Be sure the balloons are not to hard or someone could get hurt. If someone gets hit they have to sit out-side for 60 seconds. Then they can come back into the game. Its very fun. No one wins, so the game never gets ruined for anyone. Have an adult supervise for safety! 

Frozen Tag – Preferably in a smaller pool; it’s just like regular frozen tag, but once tagged, a person has to swim under your legs to free you.

KILLER WHALE – This game is best played in a swimming pool. One person is IT, the KILLER WHALE. He/she stands outside the pool. Everyone else jumps in and can swim to any location except they cannot touch any of the sides of the pool. In fact, they must stay three feet away from the sides. The KILLER WHALE jumps in and swims leisurely. The KILLER WHALE cannot tag anyone yet until he or she yells, “KILLER WHALE” in which everyone should swim to the sides for safety. If anyone is touching the sides then the KILLER WHALE cannot tag them. If the KILLER WHALE tags anyone, then that person becomes the new KILLER WHALE. If the KILLER WHALE is not able to touch anyone then he or she must get out of the pool and start all over.

WATER RELAY - Divide into two teams. Give each team the same amount of water balloons and water soaked sponges. Have a certain place designated to race to. The two teams then race to the place, but if anyone is hit with a water object they become OUT. The team whose player gets to the place first or the team with the most players left wins.

Couples or Boy/Girl Parties
HONEY DO YOU LOVE ME? - Here’s a fun game that I’ve played many times, it’s called, “Honey, do you love me?” This is a boy girl game. All of the girls sit in a large circle and then each of the boys draws a name out of the hat with one of the girl’s names on it. Say there was three girls and their names were Julie, Jennifer, and Dawn. The boy that picks Julie will go over to Julie and sit on her lap and say, “Honey, I love you.” Then the girl has to reply, “Honey, I love you, but you can’t make me smile.” She has to say this without smiling or laughing otherwise they are both out.

Teen Games
  
Hula Hoopla – Hula hooping isn’t just for kids or 50’s Sock Hops…but it will make grown-ups feel young again! Purchase or borrow a couple of hula-hoops. They are available at discount chains for about $3.99 each. Let guests know that at a specified time there will be a “hula” contest, and encourage them to practice during the party if the mood strikes.

Balloon Popping Contest - Divide guests into two equal groups. About 25 yards away place two bags of inflated balloons in colors to match your theme colors. These balloons should be overinflated to make popping easier. At the sound of a ringing bell or whistle, the first two relay contestants, one from each team, run to the bag, and remove one balloon. Each must sit on it until it pops. Once the balloon pops, the players run back to the starting line, and tag the next player in line. The first team to complete the course wins. Not a quiet game…but a guaranteed favorite! This one may sound like it is just for kids, but your party will live on in your guest’s memories forever if you play this game!
  
Limbo - The young and the young at heart always enjoy the classic beach game of “limbo”. Try using a string of twinkle lights, a strand of sparkly garland, a bamboo pole, a flashlight (lights out), or any item to match your theme for your limbo stick. For a fun variation on the game, make it a little more challenging by adding a “Super Stomach” to guests as they take their turn. Have a couple of oversized shirts, and some fluffy pillows on hand. Get ready for some howling laughter!

Name That Tune – You’ll need a CD player and some compact discs with compilations of songs related to your theme (Luau, 50’s, retro) or just some good favorites of an era appropriate for your party guests. Play the first few bars, and see which guest can name that tune the fastest. Keep track of points and award the winner a music CD. If your group is large, play a variation on this game. Using famous songs, list song titles on one side of a page, and the original Artists or songwriters on the other side. Make enough copies for all guests. Challenge guests to match as many as possible. A challenging but fun adventure!

Name Game – Provide each guest with 5 small pieces of paper, and a pencil. Ask them to write down the names of 5 famous people…leaders, movie stars, authors, sports figures, politicians, artists, inventors, scientists, etc. Fold the papers, and put them into a hat. Seat guests in a large circle. Each round is limited to 30 seconds, so have a watch with a second hand available. The first player pulls out a name, and tries to get the person beside them to guess the name. After the name is guessed, the clue giver can continue pulling names out of the hat for the full 30 seconds. Here are the rules: They can talk, but can’t point to items. They can’t spell out the name, but can say the letter the name starts with. They can reference just about anything, but the person’s name. As an example, if the name is “Sammy Sosa”, the clue giver might say…”The guy who had almost as many homeruns as Mark McGuire in the 1998 baseball season.” “He plays for the Chicago Cubs”, etc. Both the clue “giver” and the clue “guesser” get points for as many names as they guess in the 30-second time frame. Have each participant track his/her own points. The turn then passes to the guesser, who now becomes the clue giver, and his/her neighbor becomes the new guesser. This game is a blast to play! Give it a try!

For more party games, visit our Party games page!