HOME 

 ALL PARTY THEMES A-Z  

GAME REVIEWS 

Perfect Party Games for Toddlers!
Tons of Ideas for Your 2 and 3 year Old Party Games.

When choosing party games for toddlers you need to be aware that they do not always enjoy the same type of games as older children. Competitive games that might be a blast to them in a year or two will likely end in a lot of hurt feelings and possibly tears or even tantrums!

When deciding on birthday games you should think more along the lines of fun non competitive games or activities. You don’t want to name some kids winners, while the others are stuck with being “losers”. You also should steer clear of anything that involves waiting in line for long periods of time, toddlers are not known for their patience. So what do toddlers usually enjoy doing? Below are a few proven winners!

  • Activities and Crafts
  • Costumes and dressing up
  • Silly songs games
  • Action! movement and dancing
  • Pretend play

Birthday Party Games for Toddlers ~ 2 and 3 Year Old Party Games and Activities
Musical Bash

Toddlers LOVE dancing and singing. Consider having sing alongs that involve actions. Such as

  • If Your Happy and You Know It!
  • The Wheels on the Bus
  • Itsy Bitsy Spider
  • Ring a round the Rosie
  • Head and shoulders, knees and toes

You could also include fun musical instruments such as tambourines, drums, and maraca’s. You can purchase them or if you’re feeling creative, part of the birthday fun could be had in helping the toddlers make their own instruments.

Get free how-to directions for making these homemade musical instruments.

Birthday Party Games for Toddlers ~ 2 and 3 Year Old Party Games and Activities
Parachute Fun

Parachute games are tons of fun. Have all the children grab a side or handle and start waving the parachute up and down. There are TONS of games you can play with a parachute. In fact this could be the only entertainment you have at your toddler’s party and they would never get bored.

Check out the reviews for Pacific Play Tents Playchute (pictured left) on Amazon.com to see what other thought.

Below is a video off youtube where they are playing a parachute game called “cat and mouse”. All the children wave the parachute and then you call out two names, one for the mouse and one for the cat. The mouse goes under the parachute and the cat goes on top.

The cat must crawl around and try to tag the mouse. After the mouse has been tagged call two more names to play the cat and mouse!

Birthday Party Games for Toddlers ~ 2 and 3 Year Old Party Games and Activities
Chalk Art Birthday Party

Toddlers LOVE sidewalk chalk. Why not make a celebration out of it. Let the kids go crazy expressing themselves in this outdoor art activity. You can purchase a big tub of sidewalk chalk super cheap. You can purchase a large tub at Wal-Mart for under $5! If you have a good sidewalk or drive way you can clear out, then this would be a very fun party activity for toddlers.

Ideas for toddlers chalk art activities:

  • Just let them color and draw their hearts out.
  • Have them lie down and spread out, next trace each child’s outline onto the sidewalk or drive way. Then, let them decorate themselves.
  • Create a chalk obstacle course. Draw out circles and have them hop from one to the next. have them walk across a chalk line, and weave in and out of chalk triangles.
  • Have them draw roads and let them use toy cars to “drive” them down their streets.

The ideas are only limited to your imagination!

Birthday Party Games for Toddlers ~ 2 and 3 Year Old Party Games and Activities
Finger Painting Party

Ok, this one can get messy. Here are some tips. Use trash bags and cut holes for the arms and heads. These make great protective aprons for the children’s clothing. Afterward you can simply throw them away. Purchase one of those long rolls of white art paper and spread it out on a table or outside on the ground.

Let the toddlers paint as a group, or create individual picture.

You could purchase unpainted wooden boxes from the dollar store and have each child decorate their own for a fun party favor.

Birthday Party Games for Toddlers ~ 2 and 3 Year Old Party Games and Activities
Bubble Birthday Bash

This is a simple party game for toddlers that involve a classic toddler favorite: bubbles. Blow bubbles and let the children try and pop as many as they before they hit the ground. Then let the children blow bubbles themselves. See who can blow the biggest, smallest, most at once. See whose can go the farthest or remain un-popped the longest.

Let the toddlers make bubble wands from pipe cleaners, or open up a wire coat hanger into a large hoop and show the children how to make giant bubbles. Just pour bubble mixture onto a large cookie sheet and dip the coat hanger onto it. Wave it around to create BIG bubbles.

For a fun favor send all the kids home with their own bubbles.

TRADITIONAL BIRTHDAY GAMES FOR TODDLERS

Birthday Party Games for Toddlers ~ 2 and 3 Year Old Party Games and Activities
Duck Duck Goose

All the children sit in a circle. One child goes around and touches each child on the head saying “duck” every time until he chooses someone to be the goose. When he touches a Childs head and says “goose” that child must get up and try and tag him before he makes it all the way around the circle and steals that players spot in the circle.

If he gets tagged he must sit in the middle of the circle until another person is tagged. The person that was chosen “goose” now gets to walk around the circle and pick the next “goose”

Birthday Party Games for Toddlers ~ 2 and 3 Year Old Party Games and Activities
Freeze Dance

Put the music on and let the children get their jig on, but when the music stops all the children must freeze in place until the music starts again. Some versions play that any player that moves must sit out. I would not suggest this for a toddler party.

If you want to give incentives for freezing I would suggest giving a sticker for the person that is most “frozen” every round. Just make sure you make sure that every child who is at least trying gets a sticker before the game ends.

Birthday Party Games for Toddlers ~ 2 and 3 Year Old Party Games and Activities
Hide & Go Seek

It’s a classic for a reason. It’s so much fun. I assume most people are familiar with this game, but I’ll give a brief explanation anyway. One person is chosen to be it. All the other players must find a place to hide while the person who is it counts to 30 (you can help younger children). The person who is it must then try and find them.

Other versions include a base that a hider must run and tag when he or she is found.

Birthday Party Games for Toddlers ~ 2 and 3 Year Old Party Games and Activities
Treasure Hunt

Hide fun items all around your playing area. If you have a theme, then chose objects that compliment it. Have the children work together to find them all and rush them back to a collective basket. This eliminates competition and hurt feelings.

Consider hiding large puzzle pieces and having the children find all the pieces. Help the children put the puzzle together and give everyone a prize for working together to get the job done.

Birthday Party Games for Toddlers ~ 2 and 3 Year Old Party Games and Activities
Pinata

Pinata's are a very popular party game. Pinata’s can be played the traditional way where each child takes turns being blindfolded and trying to hit the hanging pinata with a stick or bat until it breaks open and spills out the yummy treats inside. The other way to play is called a pull string pinata. This kind of pinata eliminates most accidents that sometimes happen with the traditional pinata. Each child pulls a ribbon from the hanging pinata one at a time. One ribbon releases a trap door and all the candy will spill out once pulled.

Birthday Party Games for Toddlers ~ 2 and 3 Year Old Party Games and Activities
Theme Parties for Toddlers

If you would like your toddler’s party to involve a theme then you should check out some of my kids theme party game pages. Most of them have some non competitive party game choices which are ideal for toddlers.

Leave Party Games for Toddlers
RETURN to PartyGamesPlus Home Page

If our site helped you please help us by sharing. Thanks : )

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.