If your child’s birthday is during the warmer months of the year, it makes sense to host it outdoors. The kids can enjoy fun games and activities while racing around and getting some exercise. Depending on the ages and maturity levels of the guests, you may want to plan on some unstructured play time. Let everyone have a chance to enjoy your child’s swing set, for instance, before announcing the start of the games.

Treasure Hunts

Treasure hunts are a classic birthday activity that kids of all ages love. Sort the children into teams and hand each team a written clue. Those clues should lead to other clues planted around the yard. The team who follows the clues to the treasure first wins.

Obstacle Courses

If you’re worried that the competition might get a little fierce during a treasure hunt, consider building an obstacle course instead. You can build hurdles with pool noodles and chairs. Place two chairs a few feet apart from each other, and place a pool noodle on the support rails under the seats. To create a limbo-style hurdle for small children, place a pool noodle onto the seats of the chairs.

You can also create a zigzag path on the ground with any toy items you have available. Give each child half a noodle and a ball, and have them try to get the ball through the path using only the noodle. The grand finale for the obstacle course could be to kick a beach ball into a soccer goal. 

Water Balloon Toss

Sort the kids into pairs and give each pair a water balloon. Have the teams progressively move farther away from each other as they toss the balloon back and forth. The team who gets the farthest away with an un-popped balloon wins this game.


Make your child’s next birthday party the talk of the town by building a playground in your backyard. Rainbow Play Systems, located in Fargo, ND, offers a variety of fun play sets—from basic basketball hoops and trampolines to castle-style swing sets every child will love! You can call a friendly representative at (701) 373-0111 for help choosing the perfect playground system for your child.

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