7 Great party games for 8 to 12 year olds

Birthday party games are hilarious for 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 year olds, because they really get into the birthday party spirit; provided you choose the right games of course! With this in mind, it’s a good idea to let your child help plan their party games, as they will be the best judge of what will work, and what won’t.

This age group can cope with the idea of winners and losers, so games can start to be a bit more competitive if you choose. However I still recommend a few fun games where everybody wins, or perhaps a slightly biased judge who will help even the scores if necessary.

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Here are a few great party game ideas for 8 to 12 year olds to get you started. If you’re looking for more ideas to help get your party going, don’t forget to check out our birthdays section.

7 Great party games for 8 to 12 year olds

1. Cut the Flour Cake

This has to be one of the most hilarious games we’ve ever played!

Make a flour cake, or a flour castle, by tightly packing a bowl with flour, and turning it upside down like a sandcastle. You can do this ahead of time.

Choose a smaller bowl that you can overfill right to the top with flour. Then really pack the flour in tightly into the bowl so it stays together, by pressing hard with your hands to pack it in.

Use a chopping board, or baking tray, or similar to place over the bowl. Then flip it over quickly, and it should stay in place. You may also want to put some newspaper down on the floor, or play the game on a large table.

Once you’re ready to play, ask your guests to sit in a circle on the floor, and then place the flour cake in the middle. Or put the cake up on a table, and ask your guests to stand in a line. Each guest gets a butter knife to play with.

Now, carefully place a delicious looking lolly, or chocolate, on the top of the cake, right in the centre. Make sure everyone sees you place the lolly, so they really want it! Then explain that everyone will take turns cutting a slice, but they must not let the lolly or chocolate fall.

The kids can take a large slice, or small slice, or even just a sliver, it’s up to them, and they can cut the cake in any direction they want. Whoever cuts the cake last and causes the lolly to fall must now eat it using only their teeth. The ‘winner’ gets a face full of flour, and a raucous round of laughter!

The really strange thing about this game, is they’ll all want to have another go and get that lolly! Just repack your bowl, and have another round.

To make it harder you could get your guests to cut the cake with the butter knife between their toes (for older kids obviously!), or with a blindfold on, which can be hilarious too!

2. Sweet Sucker

This is another really fun game involving sweets and bowls. And it also has a bit of competition that kids love.

All you need to prep this one is some small finger bowls, straws and a few packs of small sweets like Pebbles or mini M&M’s

Give each child two small bowls and one straw each, and leave the other one empty. On the count of three, children must suck the lollies onto the end of their straw, and transfer them to the other bowl. You can put the bowls side by side, easier for small children, or some length apart so they have to move their whole body to transfer the lolly.

You can either put a time limit on the game, whereby the children get to keep all the lollies they have transferred when the timer stops, or you could have a race to see who empties their bowl the fastest. Each one works.

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If you are planning the race version, make sure everybody has the same amount of lollies in their bowl to begin with! And you probably want to just let everyone eat the lollies in the end, or they could add the lollies to their party bags too.

You don’t want tears at an 8 year old’s birthday party!

3. At My Birthday I Want …

This game is a test of memory, and everybody has to work as a team to make it last as long as possible.

Have the children all sit in a circle, and let the birthday child start by saying “At my birthday I want………”, then finish with whatever they choose. It may be that they want ice cream, balloons, pizza, presents….you get the picture. The next child in the circle then says “At my birthday I want……..”, then repeats what the first child said, before adding their own choice.

As the game goes around the circle, each child has to remember all the other choices, plus add their own.

You could make this game just for fun, or add team prizes to the centre of the circle each time they complete a round without any mistakes.

Another way to play it, is last child standing wins. Each time a child forgets what’s been said, they’re out. And you keep going around until there’s one child left. This works best for a smaller party group. And to head off any squabbles, each child that gets out, gets a treat while they wait.

Whichever way you decide to run it, just remember to make sure the prizes are something they can all share in!

4. Chocolate Game

This game is an all time favourite in our house, and now my kids are getting older, I can even convince them to let me join in!

Have the children sit in a circle, and put a block of chocolate, a knife and fork, a dice, and a selection of dress up clothes in the middle.

Children now take turns throwing the dice, and when they get a 6, they have to put on the dress up clothes, and start eating the chocolate one piece at a time using the knife and fork. The child keeps eating until somebody else throws a 6, at which time they must put down the knife and fork, and pass over the clothes as quickly as possible.

Usually everybody gets a turn to munch down some chocolate, although some children do manage do get more than others. It’s a nice idea to have a spare block of chocolate on hand, just in case some children miss out altogether.

If you want to make this game harder, put the chocolate in the freezer overnight. If you want to make the game a little easier, keep the chocolate out of the fridge for an hour or so before the party starts.

5. Who Am I?

Write out the names of famous people, animals, or things on to slips of paper, so there is one for every child. If your party has a particular theme, you may want to use things related to that theme, but any things that are popular with children and suit the age group will work fine.

Tape a slip to the back of each child, without letting them know what it says. They must then go around the room asking others Yes / No questions, to try and work out who or what they are.

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You can play this game at a specific time, or make it something that runs for the whole course of the party. Either way, some children will work it out quicker than others, so encourage them to remain ‘in’ the game by helping answering other people’s questions.

There’s always inevitably a bit of cheating that goes on in this game, but that’s all just part of the fun really!

6. Balloon Bulls Eye

There are basic rules for this game, but you can adapt them in several ways depending on how long you want the game to last.

To start with, give every child a balloon to blow up, and ask them to hold the neck shut rather than tie it in a knot. Place a target in the middle of the floor, and on the count of three, everyone releases their balloon.

Whichever balloon is closest to the target, wins.

You could play this game over and over, and make the target harder each time ,and each time the target becomes a different prize,

Or you could allocate points for bulls eyes, 1st closest, 2nd closest, and so on. And after a few games you could add up the points to find an overall winner.

Another option is to use a pinboard or similar and tack different prizes to the board, then one by one kids can try and hit a prize with their balloon, which they get to unpin and have.

7. Spin the Bottle

This is a really fun game, especially with a few squeamish kids at the party! You’ll need as many plates as there are people at the party, a bottle that will easily spin on its side, and an array of different food items

On each plate, place a piece of food that has to be eaten when the bottle stops at that plate. Make sure the food is a mixture of nice and nasty to increase the excitement when the bottle starts to slow. You don’t want the nasty food to be too yucky, but at least 1 of the items needs to be something only the bravest of kids will eat.

Now sit each player down in a circle around the plates. Each player takes a turn to spin the bottle and they have to eat whatever is on the plate the bottle stops at. Have back-up supplies of each food item, ready to replace the food removed from the plates.

If a player refuses to eat any of the food items, they’re out. Reduce the number of plates, each time someone gets out.

Eventually you should have just 2 players, and 2 plates of food, 1 nice and 1 nasty. Keep playing until someone can’t stomach it anymore. The winner gets a prize (preferably not food related 🙂 ).

More birthday party ideas for 8 to 12 year olds

You’ll find that some of the games we have in Party games for 5-7 year olds and also Party games for teenagers can be adapted to suit this age group. Just adjust the rules, time and intensity to suit.

You also find some more awesome ideas in our Traditional Birthday Party Games article.

And for loads more expert party planning advice, check out our School age: Birthdays section.

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