We’ve put together some fun party games that toddlers and little ones will love. They’re all easy to plan and execute. And guaranteed to please all your pint-sized party guests.
Birthday parties are always a a real milestone and a cause for celebration. But planning your toddler or young child’s birthday party can feel a little daunting. We all know how taxing it can be to keep your own children amused and engaged at times. So, when you suddenly find yourself with a room full of of over-excited toddlers or little ones ready to party, how do you keep them entertained? (and your own sanity intact!)
The golden rule for toddler party games is to keep them simple. Games that everyone can join in at the same time work well. And games with very few rules (and where everyone’s a winner). Here’s our pick of the best party games for toddlers.
Looking for fun activities with your baby or toddler? There are thousands of classes and groups on Happity. Find one you’ll love here.
1. Crocodile swamp
This is an energetic (and quite silly) party game that little ones will love. Place as many sheets of newspaper on the floor as there are party guests. Play some music and get all the party guests to dance around the room. When it stops each party guest has to find their nearest sheet of newspaper and stand on it to escape from the ‘crocodile swamp’
Appoint one adult to be the crocodile who then roams around the floor to see if anyone steps off their newspaper sheet into the ‘swamp’. If they do they will be in danger and the croc might tap them on the shoulder and they are out. Spoiler alert – no one will wobble off a full newspaper sheet at this point but all guests will be excited by the ‘crocodile’ roaming and snapping their arms to check!
Play the music again and this time fold the newspaper sheets in half. When the music stops again it will be a little bit harder to keep feet on the sheet. The crocodile can also try to ‘boo’ or make guests giggle to encourage them to fall off their sheets.
Keep going, halving the newspaper sheets each time. Any child who steps off their folded newspaper sheet is out.
This game is all about fun and all party guests will probably manage to stay on their folded sheets until they get very small.
You can give out little treats to all at the end of the game for their Crocodile Swamp survival skills!
(Note: Make sure you play this game on a surface that isn’t going to slip and slide! We don’t want any bumped heads to come out of this game)
2. Bottom shuffle race
It’s exactly what it says on the tin! All your party guests must sit down at one end of the room. When you shout ‘Go!‘ they must shuffle on their bottoms from one end of the room to the other. The first to cross the finishing line wins! Good old silly fun. With toddlers and little ones you can pre-empt tears for those who are slower shufflers by handing out a small prize to everyone who crosses the finish line.
You can then repeat the race with different ways of crossing the room. Hopping, tiptoeing, walking backwards, pretending to swim like a fish…Play it out as long as your little guests are entertained.
3. The animal game
One of the easiest party games for toddlers in town! Ask all your party guests to line up at one side of the room. When you shout out an animal’s name they must cross the room, doing their best impression of that animal: making the noise and movements as they see fit. Much hilarity all round. At the end of a few rounds every child could claim a small prize for their efforts.
4. Bubble pop
Perhaps one of the easiest way to entertain a room full of toddlers and little ones is to blow lots of bubbles! They simply have to chase after the bubbles and pop them. Or hand out bubble wands and ask them to try and catch a bubble. Good old simple fun that is guaranteed to get all your teeny party guests giggling in glee.
You might want to do this one in the garden, if it’s not too cold outside and you have an outdoor space where guests can rush about.
5. Keen beans
Another energetic party game for toddlers to burn up some of the excited party energy. This one is best carried out in a large space. So push back the furniture in a room or head out to a garden/park.
To play all the children walk or march around the room. When you call out the names of different beans they must all quickly do the right actions. So teach them the different actions first:
Runner Bean – they must run on the spot
French Bean – they must stop and shout out ‘Ooh La La!’
Broad Bean – they must lie on the floor and make themselves as wide as they can
String Bean – they must stretch themselves as high as they can
Jelly Bean – they must shake their bodies to wobble like jelly
Beans on toast – they must lie on the floor completely still
Do be aware that you will probably have to join in with this one so that you can remind the children of each action by doing it yourself so that they can copy.
6. Under sea treasure
A really special party game for toddlers, if you’ve got enough space. This game is often played with a parachute. But – of course – we don’t expect you to have a spare parachute lying about so if you can’t borrow one you can use a large sheet or blanket instead. Pop some under sea ‘treasure’ in the middle of the room (raid the toy basket for soft toys, or plastic jewellery and perhaps add bags of chocolate coins). Now ask all the children to stand in a circle and hold a bit of the blanket to cover all the treasure. They work together to raise the blanket (or parachute) up and down in waves. When you call a name, they must run under the blanket and grab some treasure.
7. Super slime sleuths
Make some big bowls of slime. A really easy way to do this is to buy some soap flakes (search online – they’re quite cheap to buy) and mix with warm water. Add a little food colouring or glitter for extra pizzazz! Then pop lots of small plastic toys (animals, dinosaurs, toy cars…) into your soapy slime mixture. Your party guests simply have to dig into the slime bowls to find their treasures.
It’s best to let them take turns to find one prize each to avoid one over-keen Slime Sleuth grabbing a whole heap of prizes on their go!
Add an extra bowl of warm water so little ones can wash their prize before adding it to their party bags to take home later.
As messy as it is, this one is one of those properly popular party games for toddlers.
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8. My best biscuit!
Put out lots of plain biscuits on a table along with bowls of icing/icing pens and bowls of toppings (sprinkles, silver balls, mini marshmallows, sweeties). Let your little chefs decorate one or two biscuits each.
This is a lovely focused activity to regain a little bit of calm after a few energetic games.
You could have some pre-cut squares of cellophane (or party bags) so that each guest can pop their biscuits in ready to take home at the end of your party.
9. The balloon and spoon race
Just like the classic egg and spoon race but with balloons and large spoons. You could use wooden spoons or large ladles. Party guests simply have to balance balloons on their spoons and make their way from one end of the room to the other. Little prizes to all that cross the finish line.
10. Pin the tail on the donkey/dino
Little ones just love this traditional party game and you can easily adapt it to fit any theme. Draw (or, if drawing’s not your forte, print out) a large picture or an animal. Or character. And then draw (or print out) a tail. Or hat/nose…
In turns blindfold each party guest, gently turn them round three times and ask them to step forward and try to pin the tail (or other object) on the picture. If you’re worried about what might or might not be safe for little ones to use, you can always use blu-tac to pin the tail on.
The one who pins it nearest wins but, as always, with little ones, everyone can be praised or rewarded for their efforts.
11. Grand treasure hunt
Toddlers love a scavenger hunt. And this is one of the easiest to put together and is great fun to do. Gather lots of little toys (or treats) and hide them all around the room or garden. They could be rubber ducks, toy cars, wooden bricks – whatever you can find a nice number of.
Give each party guest a bag or basket and they simply have to rush about and see how much treasure they can find.
At the end they can trade their treasures for a little prize.
You can also make a treasure hunt by wrapping a small number of little treats for each party guest in coloured tissue paper. Then hide them. Each guest gets allocated a colour and they must hunt ONLY for treats wrapped in the same colour tissue paper.
Party games for toddlers – The old favourites
When you’re planning a birthday party for toddlers or little ones it’s always a good idea to have a few game ideas up your sleeve and ready to go. Just in case you race through the ones you’ve got planned more quickly than you thought and end up with acres of time to fill before home time!
Here are a few classic party games that toddlers love.
Musical Bumps
Musical Statues
Pass the Parcel (for little ones you might want to hide a small treat in each layer and ‘engineer’ it so that you know the music will stop on each party guest!)
Musical Chairs
Simon Says
The Hokey Cokey
The Farmer’s in his Den
And, when you need to reign in the energy (and grab a bit of rest yourself) pull out the old classic – Sleeping Lions. This one is genius. All party guests have to lie on the floor as sleeping lions. They need to close their eyes and be as still as possible. If anyone moves, they’re out. Cue – some much needed peace (and maybe even the chance to grab a cuppa!)
Disclaimer: This blog has been sponsored. This will help us in our goal of connecting more parents with classes and to help find support near them.
Want to get out and about, have fun with your baby or toddler, and meet other parents?
Search Happity to find everything that’s happening for the under-5’s in your local area – from music and singing classes, to messy play, arts and crafts, baby massage, gymnastics and more. Simply enter your postcode and child’s age to search, and then book your spot in a few taps. Enjoy dedicated fun time with your little one, watch their skills develop, and make friends at the same time. Mums, dads, grandparents and carers will all find something to love!
Can an exciting milestone of a baby’s first attempt at crawling turn out to leave our first-time dad Stu with a foreboding sense of dread?
We hope you enjoy the latest blog from our Head of Growth, Stuart!
‘Dear Santa, please can my baby start crawling this Christmas?’
Be careful what you wish for.
This is a phrase I generally have an issue with. Be careful what you wish for is a phrase which tries to stop people taking chances on doing something which might be different, better. A phrase which stops people getting excited or having hope. It’s the motto and maxim of pessimists and energy vampires. So when a good friend said this to me just before Christmas my reaction was, predictably, dismissive. I’d been talking to him about seeing early signs that my 9-month old was trying to crawl and I was, as is my nature, as excited (and probably as annoying) as a small child on Christmas Eve. A date which transpired to be notable for unexpected reasons….
My friend has two older children so has been there and done it, and it has to be said has been an incredibly helpful (and patient!) sounding board for my frequent moments of baffledom and confusion. So when he uttered this phrase when I was saying I was excited about my daughter crawling, I was a little surprised but thought no more of it.
Fast forward to December 24th.
Having missed out on Christmas entirely last year because of lockdowns, my wife and I were busily packing bags. As a side note, 9 months in I am still constantly amazed what a HUGE amount of ‘stuff’ such a tiny person needs for a couple of days, but I digress. We were about to make the rounds of festive visits. We were ready for trips to visit her parents and then mine, to celebrate our first festive season together with family, our mini-me in tow. Christmas music played in the background, lights on the tree twinkled, my daughter played happily on her mat. An idyllic festive scene.
And then it happened. Within the blink of an eye she’d finally joined up all the moving parts and with a turn of speed which was surprising, commando crawled across her mat. Headed straight for the power cable for her monitor and the only piece of furniture light enough for her to topple. My initial wave of huge excitement – and the inevitable rush to grab my phone to film her in action (the internet mustand shall hear and see of these things) – was tempered by a sudden sinking feeling.
We were about to head to two houses that, quite reasonably, weren’t baby-proofed at all. And we were going to be arriving with a newly mobile baby who had an innate curiosity solely for those things which might electrocute or squish her. I looked around our apartment and saw only danger and easily-grabbable things within the reach of the newly-mobile piglet. I steeled myself for a hawk-eyed, always-alert holiday season.
And then I heard my friend’s knowing tones echoing in my head.
Be careful what you wish for
He does have an irritating habit of being right about a lot of things, my friend. That being said, for the new challenges of a non-static baby, like hunting the potential hazards in the house (pro tip – lie on your back to get a baby’s perspective and see what you could grab/could kill you and then move/seal off accordingly) and impromptu games of find the baby, it’s been the most hilarious and fun experience yet. My elderly cat might not call it fun now he has a mobile baby in hot pursuit of his tail! But on the flipside, she does drop a lot of food for him to hoover up. You win some, you lose some in life, as my cat Johnny is finding out to his benefit and cost.
She’s still at the commando crawling stage. A week or two later and I’m wondering if she will progress to the more normal crawl or go straight to walking.
It’s been a source of fevered debate, with lots of discussions with grandparents about what my wife and I did (I walked early, but didn’t really crawl, my wife came to crawling a bit later) and whether that meant anything for our little one. Probably not. She seems to march to the beat of her own drum. And that is one of the many joys, being constantly surprised and amazed at her personality emerging.
But for now it is so much fun seeing her get slightly bolder and braver, going from crawling mostly around her mat to disappearing into different rooms, expanding her empire. Looking at how desperate she is to stand, I am thinking the walking stage is pretty close. So this weekend I’ll be going round the house with a handful of brackets in one hand and a drill in the other, attaching anything and everything to the walls.
Overall scores for crawling
During a lot of festive driving, my parents having retired to a village slightly past the middle of nowhere, I had time ploughing down motorways to reflect on some of the other milestones my daughter has passed so far, and how they went at the time. I’ll share one or two with each month’s blog, adding more as they happen. As a handy guide, for each one I’ll give ratings. Cuteness, divisiveness and terror. Rated with numbers of photos taken, volume of angry online articles and glasses of wine needed to recover respectively, marked out of 10.
For crawling, the scores are:
Cuteness: A strong 8/10. The internet certainly heard about this. Ahem. Apologies to my social media following for the barrage of posts!
Divisiveness: An atypical 0/10 rants rating. Seemingly one of the few things in parenthood people don’t argue about online. Which considering what is to come is a blessed relief.
Terror: A middling 6/10, with a distinct sense of foreboding that walking will nudge this up to 10!
Thanks for reading!
Next month I promise to chat about some of the more fun milestones, along with some other thoughts on this exciting journey. Do you have some stories to tell or things you’d like to share? Whatever topic you want to discuss, or parent or carer experiences you’ve had, we’d love to hear from you and share your thoughts with all of the Happity community. And of course if you prefer we can share stories anonymously. If you’d like to contribute, please drop me a line: stuar[email protected]
We read a million and one baby facts in the lead-up to birth. There’s so much to learn when you’re preparing for that intimidating first leap into parenthood. But, every so often in your fact-seeking trails, there’s a tiny titbit of knowledge that surprises you.
We trawled the internet for some fascinating facts about babies that surprised us.
It’s not a necessity to know these facts in order to look after your baby, but some of them can explain a lot of curious questions that pop up in your head.
Read on, and we hope you learn something new today!
1. Babies have 300 bones!
With the adult human skeleton having 206 bones in total, babies trump us in numbers by having 94 more than adults! As babies grow, some of their bones actually fuse together to create bigger bones.
But, because of this growing process…
2. Babies don’t have any kneecaps!
Yes, their squishy little legs feel softer for a reason! This is mainly because baby bones consist of more cartilage than solid bone, and is generally more flexible than adult bone.
Their knees (through the early growing years) are very likely to take a bump or two with the ground! Think of it as a biological explanation as to why some toddlers can take a real beating to their knees and bounce right back up (whilst we might be feeling it again for the next week or two….) In summary, it’s more likely to protect them as they grow and start learning to crawl and walk.
Like mentioned above, their bones fuse together as they grow. According to Dr Eric Edmonds, babies develop their kneecaps between the ages of 2 and 6 years old (as referenced in this Healthline article)
3. Des faits sur les bébés- babies cry with an accent
It’s hard to believe that a baby has an accent even while they are crying. However, as it turns out, babies cry to the melody of their parents native tongue. Babies are often trying desperately to imitate their parents, and so this makes perfect sense when we think about it. Still, it’s difficult to imagine a French baby crying differently from an English one!
4. But, babies don’t produce tears when they cry at first
Newborns just haven’t quite developed the ability when they’re first born. However, they should start to produce tears within being 1 to 3 months old (according to Healthline)
5. Unnerving baby facts – babies go through an average of 3,360 nappies in their first year!
That’s a whole lot of nappy changes and wiped bottoms!
On average, babies go through about 8 nappies a day! It surely felt like a lot when you seem to be endlessly changing them, but I’m sure even you are surprised by that figure…
A new-born baby’s stomach is only the size of a walnut, so they need to feed little and often.
Now that feels ridiculously small. No wonder that babies have numerous more feeds through the day (and night!).
7. When a mother and baby look into each other’s eyes, their heartbeats co-ordinate in seconds!
Do you ever feel so connected to your baby that it’s a little bit scary?
Well, it turns out that when you are truly connected eye-to-eye with your little one, you actually begin to sync up! How sweet is that?
8. Wondering about using dry shampoo again to wash your hair? Cute baby facts: babies love your smell!
Babies developed their senses of smell and taste before they were even born. They will love the way that their mother smells naturally, and it might be one of the reasons that they tend to feel calmer and safer when their mum is holding them close.
Because of this, in the first few weeks of having your baby it might be worth avoiding any strong smelling toiletries!
9. September 26th is the most common birthday for babies
Now, you might need to do a little bit of maths to figure out why this one is the case. Count back 9 months from September 26th and…
Yup! That little baby is a slightly delayed gift after a very Merry Christmas. But could you have really asked for anything better?
When you are run off your feet with the endless challenges that spring up throughout parenthood, self-care is the last thing on your mind. Let’s face it – it’s an absolute miracle that you managed to get dressed this morning without accidentally putting your knickers on over the top of your leggings.
It might feel impossible to look after your kids and look after yourself- but we wanted to give you a few helpful ways you might be able to squeeze a bit of self-care into that very busy schedule of yours. And give you permission to do so. Because it REALLY matters!
Oh – and when you really can’t find time just for you – sometimes, just sometimes – self-care for a parent can be self-care for your children too!
1. Have a designated ‘quiet time’
The chaos of a busy household can feel endless. It’s incredible that so much noise can come out of such tiny humans! If it feels like your house is never quiet, take time to try and reduce it by having a regular designated ‘quiet time’, for you and for everyone each day. Help your children pick out a quiet activity for them to participate in (like reading, drawing, puzzles, quiet sensory toys) and make it so everyone participates in their chosen activities for 15-30 minutes.
Once you start to set this up as a daily activity, your children will come to expect it and it can soon become a little oasis of calm in your day.
Not only does it encourage a little bit of quiet, but it also encourages independent play. Enjoy the peace and quiet for just a little bit!
2. Connect with the outdoors
Ahh, nothing quite beats the feeling of breathing in the fresh air after being cooped up all day. Not only is taking a walk through the park going to help drain some energy in a very active and somehow-endlessly-fuelled toddler, but it helps clear your own head too.
Even if your baby or toddler is crying, cries never sound as loud in the great outdoors. And pushing them in their buggy feels freer than rocking them within your own four walls.
When the mothering/fathering gets tough – head for the great outdoors!
While you’re out make a mental note to really notice what you see and hear and smell! Be present and soak in the moment.
3. Call a friend while you’re doing chores
The easiest way to make your chores go by a little quicker and to look after yourself at the same time can be as simple as calling a friend while you complete them. Got a big bundle of washing or a bit of post-play tidying up to do? Phone a friend at the same time!
Your friends and family are just a click away. Just try not to drop your phone into any sinks filled with washing up in the process…
4. Do a calm activity at the same time as your children
Adult colouring books have really taken off in recent years, and they can help create a well-needed tranquil activity for both you and your kids. Don’t ever get time to colour in yourself? Make it a joint activity. One colouring book for them, and one for you.
You might be surprised at just how much you will appreciate having a moment of calm for both of you!
5. Really low on time for self care? Practice mindfulness in the shower
It can be absolutely dire some days trying to find a point in the day where you can have 10 minutes just to be with yourself and practice some mindfulness. In those situations, if you truly feel like your brain is going to explode, make those mundane tasks that usually take little thought the point of the day when you are being a little more mindful.
Practice naming 5 things you’re grateful for in your life while standing in the shower. Pick out 6 different items in the room that you like while doing some laundry.
And give yourself a chance to breathe wherever possible.
6. Stop the scroll
There’s no need to feel guilty about this one- we’re all known for doing it!
It’s so difficult to disconnect from the world when it’s so easy to reconnect the moment we open our eyes. If you can, try to avoid immediately running through all your notifications the moment you wake up. The world can wait for you a little bit longer.
Most phones will allow you to schedule your “do not disturb” settings, meaning you can stop notifications coming through until a certain time of the day. Set it up for an hour before bed and an hour after you usually wake up, and you’ll be able to avoid the temptation to scroll through every little notification you received during the night.
7. Plan a designated ‘me time’ activity
Is there a regular time in the day when you know that you’ll be allowed a bit of peace and quiet? Maybe it’s when your little one has a regular nap time, or when a family member takes them out for a walk. Whenever it is, plan and tell yourself in advance that you are going to do an activity for yourself.
It might feel like you don’t have time, and you might have other chores on the to-do list. But, take that period, however brief, to enjoy something for yourself. It will help you clear your head and relieve some stress. Do something to make yourself feel a little brighter in that time.
If you make a plan to grab and use that little slice of me-time when it comes, you’re more likely to spend it wisely (instead of just staring into space until your child wakes up/needs you again!)
8. Have a family spa day
This one might sound like it could be a little bit of a faff to prepare, but it could lead to a really fun activity for your whole family.
Play some generic relaxing music from a YouTube playlist, and make your kids feel extra fancy (if they’re old enough to have the motor-skills to do so) by nabbing some cheap plastic champagne flutes and filling them with lemonade. Kids love to feel a little bit more grown up, and so will get an absolute thrill out of doing this! You could give them a chance to soak their feet, grabbing a tub from the laundry cupboard and filling it halfway with warm water and their usual bubble bath. There’s also plenty of ideas out there for food-based face masks too, which have been written especially so they won’t be bad for your children’s skin. The Koala Mom has a few recipe ideas here!
If all else fails, use it as an excuse to get you and your children spending the day in your dressing gowns with your feet fully propped up and your slippers close by!
9. Listen to music while you’re doing slow and dull chores
Music has the power to relieve your mood and lower your blood pressure. Something about turning up the music and having a little boogie while you empty the dishwasher can really make life feel a bit easier. This is a teeny tiny change you can make to your day, but it will really help! Here’s to throwing some shapes while you put the potato waffles under the grill! Dance like nobody’s watching, mamas!
10. Find activities for play dates
We’ve already said that escaping the four walls can have a massive impact on your mental wellbeing. Ways to fit this into your busy schedule might involve finding time to hang out with your friends (or soon to be new friends) at any baby and toddler classes you’ve joined.
Or, if you haven’t found any parent friends already, you can start to by finding the next class that appeals to you and your family!
Going to a baby or toddler class breaks up long days and gives you company. And often, even the chance at the end of the class to drink (gasp!) a hot cup of tea and chat to other parents. Gold dust!
11. Don’t beat yourself up for having a do-nothing evening
One of the best steps in the right direction for trying to practice self-care is to practice taking time to rest without feeling bad about it afterwards. It’s a kicker that when your body tells you to rest, your brain makes you feel like you’re wasting time ten minutes later. But a brilliant (if somewhat difficult) big step to take is to teach your brain that you need to relax when you can, and you should feel guilt-free about it afterwards.
In fact, after that long read, grab a cup of tea and take a breather. You deserve it mammas and papas!
Important reminder – Daily chores are NOT self care!
Just a reminder that daily chores and all the things we need to do as human beings (like taking a shower, pausing to drink a cuppa and doing the food shop) are NOT self care. They’re just the basic things we all need to do. Yes – any time we get to do ANYTHING alone can feel a bit like a break. But – be honest! You’d never have defined me-time or self care as going to Tesco’s before you became a parent – would you?
When it comes to self care it’s taking time to do little things that revive you, recharge you and that are just for you.
Yes – we KNOW – it might be impossible to get a weekend away at a spa right now (or any time soon) but that doesn’t mean you can’t find little bits of time in your busy day to just breathe and be you.
And it’s really important that you do.
So you’re recharged to give your family the best of you and not therestof you.
Really struggling? Ask for help.
Chances are friends and family will rush to give you time to recharge your batteries – if only you ask.
As you might already be aware, our mission at Happity is, and always has been, to help end loneliness for parents by connecting them together through baby and toddler classes. But we want to further support our community by helping them to feel seen, and to make their voices heard.
That’s exactly why we’re more than excited to share with you a new regular blog series we want to start: This Is Family.
What is ‘This is Family’?
Too often is a family presented with one shape and nuclear form. But we know it’s just not the case in the modern age.
Families come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and they experience different challenges and joys alike. We know that some families can struggle to be heard and seen, feeling excluded for being ‘different to the norm’.
And, we also know just how empowering it can be for you to share your story.
Do you want to share your parenting journey with our supportive community of parents?
We would love to hear your memorable stories, your triumphs, the lessons you’ve learnt, and the hardships you’ve needed to overcome.
We want to give you the platform you deserve to bring light to any issues you’ve encountered through pregnancy, parenthood and beyond.
If it sounds like your cup of tea but you’re not quite sure how to approach it -fear not!
Our content team will help you along the way. We’re happy to support you in any way we can, sending you potential questions that you can answer and any bits of guidance you might need. We’re also more than happy to follow your lead on your privacy preferences. If you would like to remain anonymous while you tell your story -we’re more than happy to let you do so. If you want your name attached, that’s fine too! Whatever you are most comfortable with. ❤️
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