Get-to-know-you games for 7th b-day party

[pianojazzgirl]

Saturday is dd's 7th b-day party.  She has invited kids from our circle of friends and kids from school.  Last year it was the same thing, and the 2 groups of kids kept pretty much completely separate.  I was thinking that maybe if, at the beginning of the party, we played 1 or 2 get-to-know-you games it might help bring everyone together a bit.  Any ideas?

BTW - there will be a few younger kids there too, so games not involving reading would be a plus (though I suppose they could be helped by a parent).

[LuckyMommaToo]

There's a fun, easy game called This or That:

http://www.amazon.com/Peaceable-Kingdom-This-That-Original/dp/B003D0PBL2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1316118103&sr=8-2

that's a good icebreaker. You could make it yourself as well. It's basically popsicle sticks that have one option written on each end (and then a different pair on the back). Like pancakes/waffles, stinky socks/garlic breath, comic books/cartoons, video games/tv shows, etc. etc. A kid holds one up and reads the two options, then you go around the circle and everyone has to guess what their answer will be. It's just a fun, silly, quick thing for kids.

Good luck!

-e

[kvklay]

Originally Posted by LuckyMommaToo 

There's a fun, easy game called This or That:

http://www.amazon.com/Peaceable-Kingdom-This-That-Original/dp/B003D0PBL2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1316118103&sr=8-2

that's a good icebreaker. You could make it yourself as well. It's basically popsicle sticks that have one option written on each end (and then a different pair on the back). Like pancakes/waffles, stinky socks/garlic breath, comic books/cartoons, video games/tv shows, etc. etc. A kid holds one up and reads the two options, then you go around the circle and everyone has to guess what their answer will be. It's just a fun, silly, quick thing for kids.

Good luck!

-e

We had a great time playing with this game on a recent family trip. Really helped pass the time traveling, both in the car and on the airplane. It's small, so is easy to stick in a carry-on. Everyone was laughing at some of the silly questions and some of the kids' responses surprised me! 

[crunchy_mommy]

There's a game where everyone stands in a line in the center of a room (or outside, whatever). Then you say things like, "Step to the right if you like chocolate ice cream, go left if you prefer vanilla." Can help kids see their commonalities & differences & gets them physically interacting with each other. Sometimes it's really effective if you start off with the big differences ("Step right if you go to XYZ school, otherwise step right") and work up to commonalities.

Another one I like is Who Am I, where each kid has a tag on their back with the name of a famous person and they have to ask everyone questions until they figure out who they are. If your two groups are really different, though, it might be hard to think of famous characters that both groups would know.

You could also pair them up one-to-one with kids they won't know, and have them work on a project together -- maybe a treasure hunt or obstacle course.

[pianojazzgirl]

Great ideas mamas - thank you!!!

It sounds like crunchy_mommy's first game is quite similar to LuckyMommaToo's game idea.  I think we will do it for sure.

A friend also suggested a game where each kid thinks of an animal that starts with the same sound as their name (for ex. I could be Kate Koala).  The first person introduces herself "hi, I'm Kate Koala".  Then the next person introduces herself and the previous person (people) "hi, I'm Sarah Snake, and this is Kate Koala", etc - all around the circle. 

[pianojazzgirl]

Just wanted to report back that the lining up and jumping left or right game went over really well.  We also played the one that I mentioned in my pp and it went well too.

(for future reference if anyone is searching threads for party game ideas!)