Free Party Games:

Organising a party for children and teenagers can be a very daunting business!

Groups of children can be boisterous, and teens are SO much more sophisticated and 'cool' than their parents - so why would they want to play party games?

The simple answer is that we all enjoy games and as long as they are handled well, getting them actively involved in games will prevent the boredom from setting in, which is when the trouble can start!




Free Party Games advice: First, you need to think of where the party is going to take place.

• If this is a summer party, and you have a large enough back yard or garden, the party can take place entirely outside. Have a signed route to the nearest bathroom and have 'keep out' signs on all other doors!
• If the weather is not good enough to be outdoors, is there a local hall or community building which can be hired for a day? It can often be well worth your while looking into this as having lots of young people rampaging around your house can be a terrifying thought!
• If you have no other choice but your home, try to confine the party to one room (again with a signed route to the bathroom) so that you can child or teen-proof just the one room rather than the whole house.
• You may even be lucky enough to have a garage which you can 'convert' for the occasion. Clear the garage out completely and cover the walls with cheap rolls of bamboo to add a 'tropical' effect. If the floor is too horrible to leave as it is, you should be able to get cheap carpet tiles or off cuts of carpet to cover all or part of it. Add some disco lights or a disco ball hanging from the ceiling and you have a ready made party room for these free party games!

Here are some free party games suggestions for children party games and teen party games:

Where possible have music playing during the free party games. If you want to see who is still in or who is 'out' of a game, you could have bands, or hats to give to the ones who are out.

For children's parties, you can be the main organiser, for teenage birthday party games, you might want to step back and let your teen be the main organiser. Let them be involved in the planning and see how they would like to run it.

Free Party Games: Active indoor or outdoor games:

Ideal christmas party games for kids, new years eve party games, or classroom party games.

Balloon popping - this is a great teenage birthday party game. Tie a blown-up balloon to each person's ankle. The idea is to try to pop other people's balloons while protecting your own. If your balloon gets popped you are out of the game and have to sit down. The last person left with their balloon is the winner.

Musical chairs: Fun free party game at all ages. If there are not many party guests they can all play together, otherwise divide them into equal teams. Give each member of the team a number. Put out chairs for the game (the same number as the number of teams you have minus one). Call out the number ones. Each person who is number one from each team comes to the middle to circle the chairs when the music is playing. When the music stops they have to sit down on a chair, the person who is left without a chair is out. Keep playing until all the numbers have played, then take a chair away and start again. Keep playing until there is only one of each number left amongst all the teams. The team with the most winners at the end wins. If some teams are equal you could have a 'play off' at the end to get a clear winner.

Balloon train race: Divide the players into equal teams, minimum 2 per team. Sandwich a blown up balloon between each team member at shoulder level (player/balloon/player). Depending on space all teams can run at the same time, or one by one and timed. If you are playing this indoors, you could have them running round a room 3 times. If the team drop the balloon they have to stop until it is back in position. If the balloon bursts, they have to go back to the beginning to get another one and start over. The first team to get to the finish line with all balloons in place (or the fastest team if running one at a time) is the winner.

Duck - Bang! - Free Party Games for Christmas party or birthday party game for teenager!
Ask all players to stand in a circle. You, or a volunteer, stand in the middle. Point at someone in the circle and shout "duck!". They have to crouch down immediately. The two people on the left and right of that person have to form a gun with their hands and pretend to shoot each other while shouting "bang!". The last person to shout "bang!" is out and has to sit down. If the person pointed at fails to crouch before the first "bang", they are also out and have to sit down. Play continues until there are only 2 people left in the circle.
When you are left with 2 people, put them back to back and get them to walk away from each other as you count the paces. You count 1, 2, 3 etc. and shout "duck!" instead of a number. The first person to turn round, aim and shout "bang!" is the winner. If one of them turns or shouts before you have said "duck" then they are out so the other one wins.

Free Party Games: Outdoor party games or holiday party games:

Russian roulette: Two or three buckets and access to a nearby tap is needed for this free party game. Sit everyone in a circle. Fill the buckets with water and give them to people in the circle roughly equally apart from each other. Play some music or blow a whistle to start. The players must pass the buckets round to the next person, all going in the same direction, trying not to spill the water. When the music stops, (or when you blow the whistle again) the people holding the buckets tip the water over the head of the person to their right. A variation to this, or when everyone has had a bucket of water tipped over them, is to allow the players to choose who they tip the water over!

Bucket relay: You will need three buckets (2 smaller ones and one larger one) per team for this free party game. Divide the players into equal teams (minimum two teams, 3 players in each). One person in each team is the 'water thrower' and stands near a source of water, either a running tap or a large container full of water. The other team members stand about a meter away from their water thrower. When the game starts the water thrower collects water in a small bucket and throws the water at his team member who is holding the other small bucket. The second tries to catch as much water in the bucket as possible (getting very wet in the process!) and runs to the back of the line to pour the water into the larger bucket. He then passes the bucket to the next person in the line who is ready to try to catch more water to fill the large bucket. Swap people around so that it is not always the same person who is throwing the water. Time the game (3 minutes is probably enough) then measure how much water each large bucket holds. The team who has collected the most water is the winner. This can be played several times.

Bulldog: You will need lots of water pistols for this free party game. Stand all the players at one end of the area. They will need to run from here to the other end. Place one player (the bulldog) in the middle. When she blows the whistle all players must run past her to the other side. Anyone she manages to shoot with water becomes a bull dog with her. They get a water pistol and shoot the other players as they run past. The last player to not get shot with water is the winner of this free party game.

Free Party Games: Quieter indoor party games:

Ideal for slumber party games, classroom christmas party games and winter party games:


Cat and mouse: Stand the players in a large circle. Choose two to be the cat and the mouse. They must stand in the middle of the circle. Blindfold the cat. Both the cat and the mouse can only take one step at a time, taking it in turns to move. They must also make their animal sound as they take their step ('miaow' or 'squeak'). The cat has to try to catch the mouse by listening out for 'squeak' and moving towards the sound. The mouse is not allowed to move outside the circle and must 'squeak' loudly enough for the cat to hear him. If the cat gets too close to the people forming the circle, they must hiss at him to warn him. Give the game a limit of time, or maximum number of steps (maybe 10 or 15). If the cat catches the mouse he wins, otherwise the mouse wins. Then 2 more can have a go at being the cat and mouse.

Ice braker party games: Truth or lies? Each person writes their name on a piece of paper, then 3 things about themselves, 2 which are true and 1 which is a lie. Pass the papers round randomly. The players have to try to guess which is the lie on the piece of paper they end up with. Players whose lies have not been detected are the winners.

Funny party games: Do the hoola! Divide the players up in to teams. Each team stands in a circle. Put one hoola hoop over the arm of one player, then the team have to hold hands and not let go again until the end of the game. The idea is for the team to try to pass the hoola hoop round the whole team until it ends up back where it started. They will need to step through it and wriggle around, but they are NOT allowed to break the chain by letting go of the other people's hands. The first team to succeed without cheating is the winner.

Lets eat chocolate - a good one for children's christmas party games or for school party games. It's also one of the great fun teenage party games. Have one large slab of chocolate, a knife and fork, and two dice ready for this game. One person throws the dice. They have to throw a one or a six. If they are not successful they go to the back of the line. If they do throw a one or a six, they can start to eat the chocolate using the knife and fork (no fingers). They continue eating while the others take it in turns to throw the dice. As soon as someone throws a one or a six, they can take over the chocolate eating. The winner is the person who finishes the chocolate! A variation to this game would be for the players to be in pairs, so that no one person is going to eat so much chocolate they are sick! You may prefer to have a healthier option rather than chocolate, but choose something which is not too easy to cut and eat with a knife and fork. Have plenty of clean forks so you are not passing germs onto the next player.


Children will want to be kept occupied with these free Party games and activities, but teenagers will want a bit of time without much happening, so that they can chat, dance to music etc. Plan the time accordingly, but always have something up your sleeve in case things do not go to plan.

We hope these free party games ideas help you. Please contact us with your own tips and suggestions which we can add to this page.

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