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LOONEY TUNES: MAKE THE MOST—WITHOUT SPENDING THE MOST!—OF YOUR CHILD’S NEXT
BIRTHDAY WITH THESE MUSICAL PARTY GAMES THAT GROOVE
No need to spend Junior’s college savings on his next party. Musical-themed activities are always
a crowd-pleaser, especially for the under-five set. Here are some simple, fun and budget-friendly
ways to get your child’s next shindig into the groove.
| Play musical chairs—the age-old favorite holds up as an instant fun-maker. |  |
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| Freeze! You know how it goes: While the music is playing, have the kids move freely, but when it stops, make them freeze in place—and watch the giggles ensue. | ||
| If you have a few musical instruments around your home (tambourines, drums, kazoos, etc.), hand them out and ask the kids to make beautiful (to them, at least) music. | ||
| Make an ankle or hand bracelet out of bells. String the bells on brightly colored yarn and tie them to the kids’ ankles and hands for lots of jingle fun. | ||
| Make drums using large empty coffee tins. Lay out pasta, beans and rice and let the kids fill the canisters. Afterward, they can play their drums and take them home. | ||
| Give the kids small film containers and dried beans to create darling little shakers. Use paint pens to decorate the outside of the shakers. | ||
| Do the hokey pokey—and you turn yourself around. | ||
| Hand out small bottles of bubbles and have the kids blow them to music. | ||
| Play musical numbers. Cut out large pieces of cardboard and write a number on each piece. Place them in a circle or around the party area. Play music and have the kids either move around the circle or dance around the area. When the music stops, have the kids jump on the closest number. Pick a number from the hat and present the child on that number with a prize. | ||
| Hold a limbo competition. | ||
| Play hot potato to music. | ||
| Name that tot tune. Pre-record some of this age group’s favorite music. Play and then stop the music to see who knows the song. Continue the song until your guests know it. | ||
| What’s that sound? Pre-record familiar sounds, like a dog barking or telephone ringing, and have the kids guess what the sounds are as you play them. | ||
| Have a sing-along. Pass out a few instruments, such as drums, kazoos, cymbals or tambourines, and strike up the band. | ||
As an alternative to running the games yourself, you can hire an entertainer who uses music in his or her routine. The kids will love it—and it’ll still cost less than a pre-fab fete at one of those party chains.
Lisa Kothari is the founder and president of Peppers and Pollywogs (www.peppersandpollywogs.com), a kids’ party-planning company that provides parents with ideas, entertainers and interesting web-based tools (customized rhymes and cards for your invitations!) to make kids’ party planning easy. She has recently written and published Dear Peppers and Pollywogs… What Parents Want to Know About Planning Their Kids’ Parties, which is available at www.amazon.com and www.peppersandpollywogs.com.
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