Need Game Ideas for a 3 Yr. Old Party

3 years old- We did swimming party and had a mommy and me swim lesson. It was Nemo theme. I hid Nemo party bubbles in the sand box and had the children sift for them. The decorated foam visors with foam stickers (Michael's), and colored a page for my daughter's birthday book.

Stephanie

Duck, duck, goose! We played it at my daughter's party last month and it was hilarious.

Also, if you have a semi-talented teenager or parent around, you can do face painting. The kids got a big kick out of having their faces painted. Most of the little girls were painted as butterflies and it was so cute.

Last but not least, dress-up is always fun. Even for boys. (Have a pirate hat or two handy)

For food at my daughter's party, we had some pig-in-a-blankets and those were a HUGE hit. Then to attempt to balance things out, we had some raw veggies with ranch dip. We had cupcakes instead of a large cake, and that made it much easier to serve (no plates necessary, just napkins!). I went to a party for a two year old recently where the mom gave each child their cupcake, set out some frosting with butter knives, and let them frost their own cupcakes and then add sprinkles or whatever on top. It was a mess but the kids loved it.

Have fun at your little ones' birthday party!

2 hours is usually sufficient to play a couple of games and do cakes and presents. I would strongly suggest you do games where everyone can be a winner. Kids this age tend to melt down when they don't win. I like the duck duck goose idea. For food we did chicken nuggets and pb&j cutout with cookie cutters. For some healthier fare we did a veggie platter and fruit platter. for the adults we did pinwheel sandwiches. We also did the kids decorate their own cupcake for my daughter's second birthday. They loved this. For other games, even just playing "farmer in the dell" or putting on music and letting everyone boogie is always fun. My friend did a craft project for her 3 yr old's birthday party that was really cute. Anything that you can tie in with your theme will work. Let us know what you do. There is a great website that I can't think of right now that has all kinds of party ideas on it. I am sure if you google birthday party ideas it will come up. I got a bunch of ideas for my son's 4th birthday of that site.

I just went to a 3 yr. old birthday party yesterday. I really enjoyed that it was very informal. They held it at their housing community park and the children got to have free play on the playground. Afterward they opened presents, had cupcakes and juice and also had balloons to blow up for the children to play with. At such a young age the children don't have long attention spans and they enjoy being a little carefree. It was like an extended play date and all the children had a good time. It lasted for 1 1/2 hour. Good luck!

Hi P.,

I have 4 1/2 year old twins. On their birthdays I've made very simple food, but the best one was bagels with cream cheese and fruit, water, juices and coffee for the adults. You can also do cold meats with breads and fruit if the b-day will be around lunch time or the most popular food... pizza w/fruit and cake of course. We usually have our b-day early in the mornings (10am) because it's when kids are more awake and active and our kids used take a nap at 2pm so it worked perfect because by the time the party was over they were out like a log. The party used to last from 2hrs - 3hrs depending on location also. We had their 3 yr. old b-day party at an enclosed park and it was a blast because parents didn't have to worry much.
At the park we didn't have to worry about games because all the kids were busy playing, but you could set up a table with crafts like stamping and coloring, stickers, foamies, etc. We also had a pinata which took part of the time. Hope this helps.

A. P.

I threw a very simple party at home and I had parents tell me it was one of the best parties they had been to because it was so casual. I held it in our backyard. I had a table set up with play-dough, one set up with snacks like go-gurt, goldfish crackers and string cheese, and another set up with crayons and something to color. The kids could help themselves to anything they wanted at the 3 tables any time they wanted which prevented chaos at one table and allowed the kids to "graze" as they wished. They were also able to just run and play outside which is what they really want to do at 3 years old anyway. I served cake, we opened gifts and that was it! It lasted about 2 hours, was super easy, no stress and very economical. Have fun!

2 - 2-1/2 hours is more than enough time for a 3 year old birthday party. You could do face painting, pin the tail on the donkey, musical chairs, hot potato. Just remember, kids haven't changed since the beginning of time - they love the simple stuff!

MUSICAL CHAIRS!!!! It's sooooo cute at that age.

And pin the tail on the donkey, or on whatever picture you find amusing. 3 hours.

I vagely remember my daughters 3rd birthday but I received some very good advice about birthdays and it was very sound.
For young children:
1. Parties should never last longer than 2 hours
2. Always have even numbers so nobody is left out if you can limit it to 1 guest per year of your childs age it is mangable if you are limited on help
3. Crafts are better than games because no one looses, and if you can relate it to a holiday say gift for parent or festive hat project for Thanksgiving so much the better.

Go to www.FamilyFun.com go to parties and then you can click on parties by age or just birthdays and I would be surprised if you don't find everything you need there. Good luck!

When my oldest turned three, I invited a couple of neighbor kids for a two hour party. A more experienced mom laughed at the time frame when dropping off her child....at 1.5 hour mark I saw why! Their attention span is so short, that 5-7 minutes per game is what you can expect. I went with traditional games: pin the tail, hot potato/musical chairs. A great web site is familyfun.com. (I have gotten the magazine for years.) I think they list games by age, with instruction. Also, keep the number of guests as low as possible...for 3 year olds i would say no more than 6 kids (which is 8 including yours-a handful!) Good luck!

P.,
Not knowing your budget one of those bounce houses and finger foods and a 2-3 hour time span is a great party. Cupcakes make serving a breeze and since you have other children a bounce house can incorporate all ages. I would encourage parents to stay, that way you have others to assist in supervision and serve adult beverages, Iced tea, cold water, coffee ...

Depending your living situation a bounce house might not make sense. The weather might also be a problem. How about bumper bowling?

I would remember that November 26th is Thanksgiving week and some of your guests might not be in town. My youngest was born on November 28 and it has always been a struggle to find a day to celebrate with Thanskgiving in the mix.

Good luck! A.