For a five year old the main attraction at a birthday party is the games and prizes that can be won …. a party just is not a party unless there’s games.

There are a number of traditional games such as “Pin-the-tail”, “Musical Chairs” and “Scavenger Hunt” that are always fun but by making a few changes to these games you can add to their excitement.

Here are the three games that we redesigned for the party:

Musical Present:

Seat all the children in a circle. Hand the birthday child a wrapped present, and explain to the children they are to keep passing it around the circle while the music plays. When the music stops, the child holding the gift will be eliminated from the game, but will get to keep the present. After each elimination, bring in a new present and continue the game until only one child is left. The final child also receives a present.

Balloon Bounce:

Give each child a balloon. The object of this game is for the children to keep their balloon in the air by bouncing it off their heads. The winner is the child who can keep their balloon in the air longest. Each child is given a small present, with a bigger one to the winner.

You Guess:

Prepare for this game by placing a variety of items into separate jars (e.g. smarties, goldfish crackers, Play Doh containers), and counting the contents of each container.

Briefly show the children the containers, and have them guess how many items are contained in each. You can also have the children guess other amounts, such as how many pages in a book or how many words on the back cover of a book.

The closest guess wins the item.