Class Room Party Ideas

Classroom Party Games for Children Ages 4 - 6:

• London Bridge – Pick two children to join hands at head-level, creating a “bridge” between them. Have the rest of the children walk in a circle that leads them under the “bridge” while everyone sings, “London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady. Take a key and lock her up, lock her up, lock her up, take a key and lock her up, my fair lady.” When they get to the “lock her up” part, the two children forming the “bridge” should bring their arms down and around whoever is passing under at that moment. Each person they capture sits out until there are just two people left; these last two people become the bridge for the next round.
• Favor Pass – Wrap an assortment of small school party favors (one for each child). Have the kids sit in a circle and pass the favors around while music plays. Every time the music is stopped and restarted, the rotation changes from clockwise to counterclockwise, or vice versa. After a few rounds, let each child open and keep the favor he or she is holding.
• Classroom Memory – Play a memory game where you put school-related items (e.g. pencil, calculator, ruler, eraser, chalk, etc.) on a desktop. Let the children look for 30 seconds, then take everything off the desk. See how many of the items they can remember, making a list on the blackboard as they call items out.
• Classroom Obstacle Course – Build an obstacle course using objects in the classroom as the obstacles. For instance, children can crawl under desks and chairs, step on a paper “stepping stone” path, jump over a tape-drawn line, crawl under a piece of string tied between two chairs or desks, or stop to draw a smiley face on the chalkboard. Use your imagination; the possibilities are endless!
• Musical Chairs – Play the traditional version where there’s one fewer chair than there are children during each round, or play the kiddy version. In this version, which works best for very young children, there is one chair for every child playing, but one of the chairs is decorated with colorful construction paper, streamers and/or balloons. Whichever child lands in this chair when the music stops will be the winner for that round. You can make sure that everyone wins a round by stopping the music when a child who hasn’t won yet is near the chair.
• Hot Potato – Just like musical chairs, this can be played competitively, where the last one in the game wins, or it can be played non-competitively, where the child holding the “potato” at the end of each round wins that round. You can play this game with music or with a blind-folded caller who yells “hold it!” randomly to end each round. And, of course, almost any object can be used as the “potato.”
• Teacher Says – Have your child’s teacher join in the fun for a few rounds of this “follow the leader” game. The children should do what their teacher says as long as she says the words, “Teacher says” first. If she gives a command like “Sit in your chairs” or “Clap your hands” without saying, “Teacher says” first, anyone who follows her orders is out of the game.

School Party Games for Children Ages 7 - 10:

• First to Laugh – Pick one child to tell jokes in front of the class. You can provide a list or let the child tell his or her own favorites. The first child to giggle is picked to be the next entertainer.
• School House Jeopardy – Come up with clues relating to school or subjects the kids have been studying, and write them on index cards. For instance, you could have a “School Supplies” category, a “Games You Play in Gym Class” category, and a “Vocabulary Words” category. Write values on the back of the index cards (i.e. $100, $200, and so on). Tape the index cards to the chalk board in columns with the values face up and the category names written above each column. Divide the kids into groups of 5 or 6, and assign team leaders. Let the birthday child’s group pick a category and value first. If they answer the clue correctly, they get a point and can pick a clue for the next group to try to answer. If they don’t know the answer, they can pass to the next group. You can either give a small prize to each of the members of the group with the most points at the end of the game or let the winning group select the next activity.
• Guess What – Write the names of objects from the classroom on blank labels or strips of white duct tape (1 for each child in the class). Stick one on each child’s back so no one can see the object they’ve been assigned. Have each child ask other students questions with yes or no answers to figure out the object written on his or her label. If desired, give the children small prizes when they guess their assigned objects.
• Telephone – Have the children sit in a circle on the floor. Whisper a silly phrase, like “You can bet that teacher’s pet must go to the vet,” into the ear of one of the children. That child then whispers the phrase into the ear of the child next to him or her, and so on. When the last person in the circle has heard the phrase, have him or her say it out loud, and then tell the children what the original phrase was. Everyone will get a laugh at how much the phrase changed from beginning to end. Play multiple rounds and let the children take turns making up their own silly phrases to pass around.
• Classroom Scavenger Hunt – Divide the class into two or three teams. Give each team a list of objects found around the classroom. Try to only assign objects that there are multiples of, like pencils, rulers, and certain books. The first team to gather all of the items on their list wins.

More Classroom Party Activities

• Look for silly jokes on the Internet, print them on strips of paper, and let the kids take turns drawing jokes and reading them in front of the class.
• Give the kids brainteasers & riddles to try on each other.
• Have a sing-along to some of the children’s favorite songs.
• Have the children make modern art out of odds and ends like buttons, scraps of cloth, chunks of Styrofoam, and cardboard boxes. Or, give every child a paper plate along with odds and ends, glue, and markers, and have them design their ultimate birthday cake.