Planning a birthday party for your preschooler? Party games are a great way to keep young children entertained and engaged in the party. Make sure every child gets a prize of some kind so child every goes home a winner!

Bean in Your Shoe

One player goes out of the room. A dried bean is given to one of the players to put in his or her shoe. Play some music and have all the players dance, each child pretending to have a bean in their shoe. The player that left the room comes back and tries to guess who has the bean in their shoe. If they guess right, the person with the bean in their shoe gets to guess next. If they guess wrong, they get to leave the room again and try again. If they guess wrong a second time, they get to choose who gets to leave the room next.

Hot and Cold

Have the players hide an object while one player leaves the room. When the object has been hidden, the player that left returns to the room and guesses where the object has been hidden. This player must move around one step at a time while the other players call out "Warm!" or "Cold!" or "Colder!" or "Warmer!" or "Boiling!" until the player finds the object. The closer they get, the "warmer" they are. The further away they get, the "colder" they are.

Lucky Number

Give each child five buttons. The players go from player to player, exchanging buttons with each other. They can give away as many or few as they want, but they cannot refuse buttons from other players. After approximately 2 minutes the leader calls "Stop!" The leader then calls out a "lucky number" between one and twenty. Whoever has that number of buttons wins.

Cat and Rat

This game is best for 10 or more players. The players hold hands in a circle. One player is the rat on the inside of the circle, and one player is the cat on the outside of the circle. The cat tries to break through the circle to get to the rat. The players in the circle try to prevent the cat from getting to the rat. When the cat succeeds in breaking through the circle, the players the cat broke between are the next cat and rat.

Balloon Race

Give each child a self-addressed postcard. Have the children dictate to an adult notes to write on their postcard that state they are having a contest to see whose balloon travels the farthest. Also ask that the location, date, and time that the balloon is found be written on the postcard by the person who finds the balloon and that the person drop the postcard in the mail. Place the postcards in ziploc bags and attach them to the balloons. Set a date for when the contest ends, and launch the balloons!

Farm Animals

Secretly give the name of a farm animal to each player. The leader yells "Go!" and each player acts out their animal at the same time. At the end of 2 minutes, each player calls out as many of the animal names as they can remember. The player that remembers the most animal names correctly wins the game.

Dog Bone

All players are seated in a group. One player is selected to be the dog. The dog sits with his back to the rest of the players. A bone (eraser, ball, or some other object) is placed on the floor behind the dog's back. One at a time, each player tries to sneak up behind the dog and steal his bone. If the dog hears a sound from the player trying to sneak up behind him, he "barks" and the other player returns to their seat. If someone is successful in stealing the bone, that player returns to their seat and hides the bone. All of the players then say, "Dog, Dog, where's your bone?" The dog has three chances to guess who stole his bone. The person who stole the bone gets to be dog next.

Break the Balloon

Each child receives a balloon. The first child to blow up their balloon and pop it wins (show the children how to tie the balloons before the game begins).

Blind Man's Bluff

Choose one child to be blindfolded. Let the child wander around the room until they touch another child. The blindfolded child tries to guess who they have touched. If they are correct, the other child gets to blindfolded next. If they are wrong, they get to be blindfolded one more time. If they are wrong a second time, they get to choose who gets to be blindfolded next.

Penny Dropping

Give each player 5 pennies. Place a jar on the floor behind a chair. Have the players take turns kneeling on the chair and trying to drop their pennies into the jar. Their hand should not go lower than the top of the back of the chair. Whoever gets the most pennies in the jar wins the game.