The Party Emergency Toolkit: From Panic to Play – Part 1

No matter how thorough you may have been, no matter how prepared you think you are, a problem can pop up at your party at any moment. Maybe the pizza you ordered is running late, the weather shifted, and your outdoor party is forced indoors, your Bluetooth speaker’s battery died, or a game you thought was going to last for a long time suddenly ends after only 15 minutes. No matter what it is, a lull in your party can be stressful when trying to keep your young guests happy.

Well, there’s no need to panic! Below are some ideas with little to no preparation to keep your party moving along

Freeze Dance:

This game is similar to musical chairs. Use your phone to play some music, and while it’s playing, your guests can dance along. Occasionally, the music pauses, and the player who is the last one to move is out. Continue until only one player remains.

Simon Says:

An old classic that is still a ton of laughs today. Have someone be the caller and give out commands to the players with the phrase “Simon says, such as “Simon says stick out your tongue”. Players need to do the commands as they are given or they are out. The caller will try to trick the players by giving a command without saying “Simon says. Anyone who does the command without the phrase is out.

• Bonus ideas:
  • Whoever is the winner of the game gets to be the caller for the next game.
  • Change the phrase to the birthday child’s name or whoever is the caller.

Red Light, Green Light:

This game is great for playing outdoors.
Another old classic that is still a lot of fun. Have your players line up at the starting line. Set a goal line further down the yard. Your players’ objective is to reach the finish line first. Have a caller yell out “Green Light” to let your players run. Yell “Red Light” to have them immediately stop. Anyone who is still moving after the red light has been called has to go back to the start. Repeat until you have a winner.

• Bonus Ideas:
  • Whoever is the winner of the game gets to be the caller for the next game.
  • Create some additional commands like “Slow Motion” or “You Must Skip” to add some laughter to the game. Players have to move forward doing the command type; if they don’t, they go back to the start.

Zoo Race:

This game is best played outdoors.
Have your players line up at the starting line. Set a goal line further down the yard. Your players’ objective is to reach the finish line first. Have a caller yell out animals. The players must move like the animal yelled out. For example, if a frog is called out, your guests have to hop; if a snake is called out, they have to slither. If they don’t, they have to go back to the start.

• Bonus ideas:
  • If you don’t have a lot of space, have the players backtrack from the finish line to the starting line, doubling the space.
  • To prolong the game, set a number of players to finish the game first (i.e. In a game of 10 players, maybe the first 6 are winners). Those who don’t win sit out, and the winners race again.
  • This does run the risk of being boring for anyone who is knocked out first, so it’s not suggested to do more than one or two extra races per game.