Block Party Games

I see someone beat me to suggest the "Win It In A Minute" type games.

Another idea, and this is not an activity, but I read in a magazine (possibly Family Fun) to take a photo of each house and give the neighbors a button to wear with the photo of their house on it. That way you can match faces with the homes.

Waterballoon tosses, bean bags, tug -of - war, 3 legged races can all be easily set up without a lot of prep work.

You could have a limbo contest too. My kids had fun trying to spit watermelon seeds at a picnic recently. Have fun and good luck!

Have the DJ do musical chairs, freeze dance, a hula hoop contest, a singing (American Idol style) contest, etc.
You can do a water balloon toss, instead of egg toss, that way everyone can participate. Someone can paint nails for girls, do tattoos for boys.
Have jump ropes, scooters, and bikes available for use.
Get inflatables from an entertainment company like a waterslide, or buccaneer ship ride that everyone can go on. They can also rent you a cotton candy maker, or sand or spin art machine. Costume characters would be a hit with the kids. These are things I did for our block party. The kids loved seeing Bzz Lightyear and SpongeBob and were thrilled when the characters danced along and played freeze dance with them. Everything costs only $600 and I had enough from the block collection to provide gift certificates to the local ice cream parlor as prizes to the winners of the water balloon toss contests and different age levels (5-9, 10-15, and 16-adults). You can also set up a volleyball/badmitton net and have contests with that too! I got several calls from neighbors and their guests for days after raving about the block party and when will it be next year! PS-- I worked out a deal with an ice cream truck to come at a certain time and everyone got an ice cream cone. I only paid .75cents per cone for each person. Awesome party! Enjoy! (We had 12 houses contribute to the collection and each agreed on $55.00 per house--not bad!)

We do a whiffle ball tourney. The kids love that. We also do musical chairs. We also have done face painting and tatoos. There is also a fill the bottle game. You line the kids up in groups of 5 and put a plastic 2 liter bottle on the other end. They have little dixie cups and a pail of water on their end. They have to fill the dixie cup and run down to the 2 liter bottle and pour in the water. You need to time this, and who ever fills their bottle the fullest wins. Water balloon fights are also a big hit, but filling that many balloons is a pain so make sure you get help. Also egg toss later on for the adults is always fun. Watermellon eating contests are also fun. We always start our block party with a bike parade. Kids decorate their bikes and ride around the block on the street...the little ones really love being able to ride in the street. Have fun!

We've ahd bike parades where all the kids decorate their bikes or wagons. We also had a pet show where we dressed our pets in silly outfits. I still have the scar from that one when I was 9. lol.
Cub Scouts love the three legged races, wheelbarrow races, gunnysack races,
Take an egg and have the kids roll it with their chins or foreheads, no hands, to a finish line. Or an orange, apple, anything roundish.
egg tosses or water balloon tosses
water balloon fights
Have the kids in teams, put a water balloon on a chair and the kids run from the starting point to the chair and sit on the balloon to pop it. Then a mom puts another balloon on the chair while the kids run back to tag the next one to go. THe team who finishes first is the winner.

Giant Simon says with adults and children. You may need a sound system or Bull horn so everyone can hear..

It all sound like a blast..

How about a game of volleyball for the older kids.

How fun! One thing that is a lot of fun is to have all the kids at a table, all around. You don't need chairs. On the table, have paper bowls filled with whipped cream. Underneath all the whipped cream, have a piece of bubble gum. They have to eat through the whipped cream, find the gum, and be the first to make a bubble. No hands allowed! It is so much fun, and everyone has a blast with that. What kid doesn't love whipped cream and bubble gum? You can also do a match with the adults. The kids love watching their parents do that. LOL Another thing you could do is a relay race. Divide the kids into two groups. They have to go through various obsticles and activities and get everyone back to the end point first. Some ideas is a water balloon pass. Have the teams line up in a line behind each other (like a class getting in line to go somewhere). Have them pass the water balloon: over and under -over the head, then between the legs, each person does the opposite. So funny! Another one is that one of the people on the team has to jump rope 20 times. Another person has to drink a hot coke (have it sit outside in the sun for the morning before you start the race). Another person has to eat a jar of baby food. You can come up with other obsticles to go along these lines. Each event must be completed in order. Oh, you can have a crab walk for the youngers. Maybe 2 members have to do that. Someone can have to score two (or five, or whatever you want) baskets in a basketball hoop. The team knows what needs to be done at the start, and they should have the opportunity to pick who will be doing each activity. Have it laid out in the order of events, so they know what needs to be done when. The entire team travels together for each event. This is so much fun! Hope you have a great time!

The sack Race was favorite growing up, jump in a sack and hop like a bunny as fast as you can to the finish line.

Or the 3 legged race, 2 people about the same height standing side by side, tie their two inner legs together with a sash (not rope or string, something soft is more comfortable) and run as one person with 3 legs. This is a great challenge for your coordination.

Family Fun magazine recently did an article on block parties and ideas for games. Check out the website www.familyfun.go.com

We always have a bike decorating contest and then a bike parade down the block where the kids can slowly ride as the parents and adults watch. A pinata can be fun. Just make sure the older kids hit last. One block party had a egg and spoon contest where the kids carried an uncooked egg on a spoon from point A to point B. This is fun but messy and it was hard to clean the cracked eggs off the grass. We also had a jump house that was a huge hit with all ages. Good luck!

check out familyfun.com and wondertime.com, there should be tons of ideas

go with the standard old time games...water ballooon toss, 3-legged race,
tug of war, the egg on a spoon race. also, get a corn hole bag toss game..great for kids and adults!

We recently had a family picnic and did a version of minute to win it type games. The kids had a blast, ages ranged from 3 - 15. You could always do bozo buckets, a pinata, bean bag toss. They will have fun no matter what you do.

Musical chairs and a balloon toss.

My dad had the best cookouts!

3 legged race - tie the middle legs of two children and race

egg toss - two rows of kids and adults - toss uncooked egg across to your partner if the egg brakes your out - keep backing away from your partner each time. Last one with unbroken egg wins!

Kick ball is fun.

hula hoop!

dance freeze - music stops and you freeze - last one wins

freeze tag - last one wins

red light - kids move forward in a line - then shout RED LIGHT - those who do not stop are out.

Simon says!!!

balance a small ball or egg on the spoon race!

Wish I could join you .......i love doing this stuff!!