Summer Birthday Party Games

My birthday is in the summer and I remember every year having a great backyard birthday party with all my neighborhood friends. However, all three of my daughters are born in the fall and winter so we usually have indoor birthday parties. That’s why when my daughters asked to have a half birthday party this summer I said yes. So here are some of the birthday party games we are going to play this summer.

Summer Birthday Party Games

Back to Back Tag

This birthday party game is great because it doesn’t require any setup or materials! Start by choosing one kid to be “it.” The kid who is “it” then gets to tag anyone not standing back to back with another kid. What makes this game fun and challenging is that no one can stand back to back with the same person for longer than five seconds. The first person who gets tagged is “it” for the next round of back to back tag.

Water Balloon Tag and Toss

This birthday party game is good to play after back to back tag when the kids are hot and want to get cooled off. My kids and their friends usually start the fun by running around the yard trying to tag each other with a water balloon. After the screaming and giggles of water balloon tag, they settle down and do a water balloon toss. To play this birthday party game, have the kids stand in two lines facing a partner and toss a water balloon back and forth to see how long they can toss it without it breaking. To make this birthday party game more interesting, have each pair take a step backwards after each time they both catch the water balloon. The last pair with a water balloon wins!

But I have to warn you that whatever birthday party game they choose to play, the water balloons go fast! So not only do I recommend you buy a large bag (for a whopping $1.39), I suggest you get help tying the balloons once they’re filled with water. I ran out of feeling in my fingers long before I ran out of balloons!

Fill the Bottle Relay

For the fill the bottle relay you need: a 2 liter plastic bottle, bucket of water, funnel and plastic cup for each team of kids in the relay. To set up this relay, place a 2 liter bottle with a funnel on top at the turn-around line for each team. At the starting line, each team needs a bucket of water and a plastic cup. Each kid in the relay must fill up their plastic cup with water, run to the turn-around line, pour the water from their plastic cup into the funnel and then run back and hand the empty plastic cup to the next team member in line. The team who fills up the 2 liter bottle first wins!

More Birthday Party Games

If you’re interested in more ideas for birthday party games, check out the series I did about my daughter’s Olympic themed birthday party!

Birthday Party Games: Olympic Theme - Part One

Birthday Party Games: Olympic Theme - Part Two

Birthday Party Games: Olympic Theme - Part Three