Birthday party games for teens are a challenge to find, but we think we've made a good start
Birthday party games needs to be age appropriate in order for the participants to have the best time. Have a look through our BIG list of birthday party games that we've collected and organized specifically for teens!
Murder and Detective
Age: teens and adults
Players: 6+
What you need:
- A slip of paper for each player—one with an X on it and one with an 0—the rest blank
- A receptacle to hold all the small slips of paper
Preparation: Fold over the slips so that the markings on them cannot be seen and put them in a bowl.
Each player selects a slip of paper from the receptacle. They need to unfold it and not let anyone else see what’s on their slip of paper. The player who has an X on her slip of paper is the Murderer, and the player who has a 0 is the Detective. The detective lets the others know that he’s the Detective and he must now leave the room.
Now, it’s time for the fun to begin! While the Detective is gone, the Murderer touches one of the other players on the neck and that player is now dead! It’s often even more entertaining to turn the lights off so no one can see who the Murderer is. But if it’s not possible to turn off the lights, don’t worry. Just tell everyone in the room that it’s a secret.
Now the Detective comes back into the room. Her job is to identify the murderer with three guesses. She can ask as many questions as she’d like, and the other players do NOT have to tell the truth.
Sound hard? I might be, but it’s actually quite interesting to see how hard it is to keep a secret! Most of the time, the Detective can solve the crime just by looking at the faces in the room!
Talk-a-thon
Age: teens and adults
Players: 4-30
What you need: You’ll need a watch where you can see the seconds, a stop watch, or a timer
Divide the group in half and line them up in two rows. Those in one row stand back to back with those in the other row. The players standing back to back become partners.
When the referee says, “GO!”, each pair of partners turn around, face one another and start talking to one another non-stop. They must try to talk to each other without stopping for 30 seconds. Both partners talk the entire time (not one at a time).
One alternate idea is to single out one pair of participants to play the game for 30 seconds while the others watch. You’ll be surprised at the crazy things people come up with when they’re forced to talk without a break for so long!
Ways to match teams:
Balloon Buddies
Age: teen and adult
Players: 8+
What you need:
- 1 balloon for each player
- Names of players on small slips
To get ready, put the small slips of paper into each balloon. Blow up each balloon and tie them off.
Hand each participant a balloon. When everyone has a balloon, tell them to POP! The name on the slip of paper is who their next partner is. You can use different colored balloons to keep track of things like age or boy/girl, if you want some control over who gets what.
Players get two partners—the one they pick and the one who picks them—enough for two games.
Kick The Can
Age range: kids and teens
What you need:
- A can that can be safely kicked without hurting your foot (like an empty soda can)
Players: 4 – 12
This is another classic game that needs to be played outdoors. One person is selected as “IT”. Similar to Hide and Seek, the other players run and hid.
It counts and looks for them. When he finds someone, instead of tagging that person, they both race for the can. If IT kicks it before the other person, then the other person is now it. If IT doesn’t reach the can first, then she is still IT and must look for the others.
Marshmallow Chew
Age range: kids and young teens
Players: 2 or more
What you need:
- A string about one and a half feet long
- A marshmallow
Each player should be given a marshmallow with a string tied around it.
Have the players line up next to each other with one end of the string in their mouths and the marshmallow hanging below. The objective of the game is to bring the marshmallow into their mouths without the use of their hands.
The first person to accomplish this task is the winner! The trick is to get the string to wrap around the tongue and then to start “winding” the string around the tongue in your mouth. Otherwise, it’s almost impossible to do (but fun to watch!).
Up Jenkins!
Age range: kids and teens
Players: 12 or more
What you need:
- A long table Chairs or benches
- A coin
Even though I recommend 12 players, it all depends on how big your table is. If you can fit more, even better!
The first step is to form two teams with the same number of players. Each team must also find a team captain. The teams sit across the table from one another and the captains sit at the head.
The captain from team 1 gets the coin and begins passing it UNDER the table to the person next to her. The second person passes it again, and so forth. Team 1’s objective is to be secretive about where the coin is among the teammates. They should not let Team 2 know who has the coin.
At any time, the captain of Team 2 can yell, "Up Jenkins!"
Upon hearing this, Team 1 has to hold their hands over their heads with their hands clenched into fists. The captain than says, “Down Jenkins!” and all the players must put their hands flat on the table. The coin should remain hidden and should not make any extra noise as it hits the table.
Team 2 now has to guess which player has the coin. Every time you get one right, you get a point. The coin goes from team to team with each round, and you should set a point total to reach to determine which team is the winner.
In the Manner of the Word
Age range: kids and teens
Players: 4 or more
One player is chosen as “IT” and must leave the room. The remaining players must choose an adverb that IT must guess when she returns.
The only clue IT receives is to see actions performed “In the Manner of the Word.” So, for example, if the adverb is “angrily”, then all the guests perform tasks in an “angry fashion”. Like walking angrily, dancing angrily, pointing angrily, etc.
