Got a tween birthday party coming up and in need of some ideas? When you go past the Pin the Tail on the Donkey and Pass the Parcel stage you need games that will keep the 8-12 year olds engaged and interested. So here are 20 highly entertaining party games for tweens that are tried-and-tested for party success!
While kids this age are more likely to entertain themselves, or have precise ideas on how they want their party to go, having some ideas to hand is really useful.
Most of these party games for tweens require little preparation or special props, but provide plenty of fun!
Fun Party Games for Tweens
#1. Grape in Flour
You will need a plate, flour, a knife and some grapes. Put one grape balanced on top of a mountain of flour. Each child has to take a turn to slice away chunks of flour without knocking the grape.
The loser who knocks the grape ends up with their face pushed into flour!
#2. Donuts on a String
Using donuts with a hole in the middle, tie the donuts onto some string and hang in a row. Each child has to have a go at eating a donut without touching or licking the sugar off their lips.
#3. Truth or Dare
Prep some truth or dare questions (it helps to control things a little so the questions don’t get out of hand!) on slips of paper and put them in a jar. Each person takes a turn to pick one and has to tell the truth or do a dare.
Here are 100 truth or dare questions from Momof6.com that will help you get a head start on one of the most classic party games for tweens!
#4. Would You Rather…
This game can get quite fun, especially if you start it off with some gruesome questions. In my experience this age group loves anything to do with farts, burps, bums and slurps! Here are some ideas to get you going:
- Would you rather… eat a slug or lick a snail?
- Would you rather… live in a damp cave or a windy treetop?
- Would you rather… kiss a frog or eat a toad?
If you have a birthday near Halloween, try our Halloween Would You Rather.
#5. Stack Attack
You will need 28 plastic party cups. Each person has 60 seconds to stack the plastic cups in a pyramid shape and then unstack them all back again.
#6. Pile Up the Dice
You will need flat craft sticks or popsicle sticks and 6 die. Each person holds a stick in their mouth and then has to pile up the dice on top of each other without dropping them all.
#7. Scavenger Hunt
A scavenger hunt is a fun activity any time of the year, and we’ve got lots and lots of ideas on Mykidstime for kids scavenger hunts.
Prepare a list of 10 or more items that each team has to head outside (or it can be done indoors if really horrible weather) to find. First team back with all their items wins.
#8. Pool Noodle Hopscotch
This is a fun idea from Parents.com – you’ll need 8 pool noodles and some duct tape. Make each noodle into a circle and tape it to its neighbour and then have 2 as the top and bottom supports in a 2×3 pattern. Everyone has to hop through each circle without touching a noodle. You could also do a bean bag toss or set it up vertically to throw balls through as well.
#9. Suck It Up
You will need a straw per player and some M&Ms or Smarties. Place 25 sweets onto a paper plate and the players have to suck up and transfer each M&M or Smartie to another plate in under 60 seconds. You can only use one hand to hold the straw.
You could have multiple players competing in each round. And of course everyone gets to eat their sweets at the end!
#10. Keepy Uppy Balloons
Each player gets two balloons. During one minute, they have to keep both balloons from touching the ground. Rules: they can only use one hand and they can’t hold onto the balloons!
You could have 2 players per round with one knocked out each time until there’s a winner.
#11. Twister
Twister is played on a large plastic mat that is spread on the floor or ground, the mat has four rows of coloured circles, red, yellow, blue and green.
A spinner is attached to a square board and is used to determine where the player has to put their hand or foot. After spinning, the combination is called (for example: “right hand yellow”) and players must move their matching hand or foot to a circle of the correct colour.
#12. Stand in a Bubble
How about making a big batch of this fun super bubble mix and then getting everyone to have a go at standing in a bubble?
You’ll need a round play pool, a hula hoop and a non-slip stool to stand on.
(Be warned you might want a change of clothes for this game as the bubble mix can get a bit messy!)
Alternatively, create a spooky batch of glow in the dark bubbles for an evening party as a treat!
#13. Cookie Face
You will need one cookie per player. Each player has to place a cookie on their forehead and using only their facial muscles get the cookie into their mouth in under one minute! Oh, and to make it even more interesting… no hands!
Don’t Miss…
Pick your favourite of these Happy Birthday colouring pages, and send or give it to whoever is celebrating!
#14. Who Am I?
Prepare Post It notes with names of famous people on them. E.g. pop stars, celebrities, movie stars, famous people from history.
Everyone gets a Post It note on their forehead (without seeing what the note says) and each person has to figure out which famous person they are, asking only questions that have a Yes or No answer.
Continue until everyone has guessed who they are.
#15. Fortune Tellers
You’ll need paper, scissors, pens and each person gets to make their own fortune teller and then tell each other’s fortunes with it.
#16. Dress Up Relay
You’ll need two sets of clothes for two teams to dress up in, e.g. shirt, sweater, trousers, scarf, gloves, hat, shoes. One team member is chosen to be the “mannequin”.
When you say go, a team member races to the bag or basket of clothes, chooses one item of clothing and puts it onto the “mannequin” then runs back to the start. The first team to dress their “mannequin” wins.
If you want to make the game more challenging and fun, you could customise costumes with patches that match a theme or your child’s interests. You can choose a custom patch design online for your chosen theme e.g. anime characters, cartoon images etc.
To play, the children have to find and match their costume to a corresponding patch.
The custom embroidered patches for the event can also be given to the kids as souvenir gifts after the game.
#17. Chocolate Balls and Chopsticks
You’ll need a packet of Maltesers or chocolate balls, 2 plates and a pair of chopsticks.
Each person has to take it in turns to use the chopsticks to transfer as many chocolate balls as they can between the two plates in under 60 seconds. The person who transfers the most chocolates wins.
#18. Slurping Worms
You will need whipping cream (we use skooshy cream) and worm-shaped sweets as well as paper plates.
Dollop the cream across the plate and then sprinkle some worm shaped sweets on the plate. People have to use their mouths only to grab the worms, getting covered in the cream in the process of course!
#19. Bingo
Bingo is a fun game for tweens. You will need to prep the bingo cards in advance and we found this cool Emoji Bingo Game on Catch My Party that has free printable cards to play, that we think tweens would love.
#20. The Chocolate Bar Game
And finally, last but not least, the chocolate bar game.
You will need:
- large bar of chocolate on a plate with a knife and fork
- large boots, large jacket, hat, and gloves
- one dice
Kids throw the dice until someone gets a 6. Whoever gets a 6 quickly puts on all the clothes and starts to eat the chocolate using the cutlery until the next child throws a 6 and then it becomes their turn. Really funny game the kids (and adults) will enjoy!