Elevate any party with these fun games
Local party planner, Christelle van Niekerk, shared a few tips on how to spruce up anything from a kid's birthday celebration to the old office party.
POLOKWANE – Van Niekerk says adding a few games in the mix will allow for a jovial atmosphere and for kids to make friends fast. Here follows a few ideas for you to try.
For adults:
1. Peg a friend game – Use a plastic or very light clothes peg. Florists have the tiny ones, which they use for attaching cards to flower bouquets, which works just as well. One person is tasked with secretly attaching a peg to a fellow guest’s hair or item of clothing. This person moves away from their target, and starts counting down from 10. All the guests must join the countdown while checking themselves for the peg – no helping anyone else – don’t spoil the fun! If the target finds the peg before the end of the countdown – they are safe! The person who placed the peg on the target must now find a new target. The time it takes for that someone to find their next victim is up to them, the longer they take – the more suspenseful the game becomes.
2. Fill the bowl – Have all your friends stand around a table and hand them each a straw and a tiny bowl. Empty a bag of peanuts / jelly beans (if you have people that are allergic to nuts) onto a plate. Set a timer and let the game begin! Guests must use their straws to get as many peanuts/ jelly beans into their bowl as possible before the time runs out. The person with the most peanuts/ jelly beans, wins.
3. Find the cherry – Place a fresh cherry in a bowl in front of each volunteer. Explain that this is a race to see who can eat the cherry first. There is only one rule: they may not use their hands. Just as they start to think this is the easiest part of the game, fill each bowl with whipped cream and let the fun begin.
For kids:
1. BYOB – Throw a BYOB (bring your own bike) party. Have a contest and have all the children decorate their bikes followed by a prize giving ceremony. Build an obstacle course and have the children compete in a fun race.
2. Bubble Wrap Races – Buy a large roll of bubble wrap and lay out a large strip of it in the yard. Have each child walk over the bubble wrap barefoot. The objective is to get all the way across without popping any of the bubbles. If you want to make it more competitive, line up three sections and have teams race across to the other side. The team that finish with the least amount of bubbles popped, wins.
3. Photo Scavenger Hunt – Sketch a map and give kids pictures of the clues to be found along the route. Along with each clue they find, there will be a small reward. If you’re having a pirate themed party, then clues could be chocolate coins, with a treasure chest filled with goodies at the end. Alternatively, kids can bring their own digital cameras or cell phones and take pictures of items or scenes on a list -whoever finds the most items wins the hunt. Hunts can take place in a mall, a park or around your home. Lists of items to hunt can include things in nature, shops and food at the mall or items that relate to specific letters.
“Parties can be fun as long as the games are well planned and excecuted,” Van Niekerk said.
