If it’s your turn to host a child’s birthday party, or if it’s a rainy day and you want to spend some time with your children while you have the chance, then this is the right article for you! Here is a list of the top five traditional children’s games, so put away the high tech games consoles and turn off your mobile phones. It’s family time!

Children's Games

Image by sushi_zume

1) Pin The Tail On The Donkey

Pin the tail On The Donkey is a simple game and doesn’t require too much preparation. All you need is a picture of a donkey’s behind with no tail, a picture of a donkey’s tail on blue tack (we wouldn’t advice mixing pins and children) and a blindfold. You can buy pin lots of versions of this game online.

The object of the game is to correctly pin the tail on the picture of the donkey where his tail should go. You and your family will take it in turns to put on the blindfold, and the person who is blindfolded is then spun around in a circle 5 times. Once you have pointed them in the right direction, watch as they stumble to the picture and try to figure out where the tail goes.

Every time a person correctly sticks the tail on the donkey, they leave the game until there is only one person left who couldn’t find the right spot.

2) Bobbing For Apples

All you need is a large bucket of water and some apples. You can all play this game at the same time if your bucket is big enough. Using only your mouth, with your hands held behind your back, try your best to pick up an apple out of the water. The last one to do so is the loser. It’s not as easy as it sounds!

3) Pass The Parcel

This game probably takes the most preparation, but you can also buy ready-wrapped versions for an easy alternative. Buy a child’s toy and wrap it up in wrapping paper at least 5 or 6 times. You then sit in a circle with music playing in the background. As you pass the parcel around the circle, you wait for the music to stop. When it does, the person who has hold of the parcel unwraps a layer of the wrapping paper. If there is no prize, the parcel is passed on to the next person and the music is restarted. You repeat this process until the parcel has been unwrapped fully and lucky players have a gift!

4) Musical Chairs

For this game you will need to count how many children are playing. If there are 5 children, you will need 4 chairs. As the aim of the game is to make a child go out every round, you will always need one less chair than the amount of players.

The players will stand around the back of the chairs, which will all be facing into a circle. Music is played in the background, and the children then walk around the chairs waiting for the music to stop. When it stops, they must all quickly find their way to a chair. The child who doesn’t find a chair is out, and one of the chairs is then taken away. This process is repeated until there are only two children and one chair left. The child who gets the last chair is the winner.

5) Simon Says

The object of this game is to trick and confuse the players. The players must just stand in front of you and wait for your instruction. Any instruction that you give to the players with the words ‘Simon says’ is something they have to do. For example, ‘Simon says touch your nose.’ If you were to say ‘touch your nose’ without saying ‘Simon says,’ any child that then touches their nose would be out.

This game is continued until one player is left who was not tricked. This child is then the winner.

If you are planning children’s party these traditional games are lots of fun- you can even hand out small prizes to the winning children.

Do you have any traditional game ideas to share?

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Ashleigh Panther is a Disney obsessed writer based in Liverpool, who enjoys drinking copious amounts of tea and watching re-runs of Mr Selfridge and the children’s programme Adventure Time, as she feels she resembles the character ‘Lumpy Space Princess’. She recommends All About Party Bags.