You’ve bought educational toys for your kids and learning toys galore, so much that they are miniature Einsteins on the fast track to Harvard, but you’re having a birthday party for your child and their friends and you’d like to have some children’s games for them to play. Good idea! But you may be stumped as to what games they might want to play.

Well there is that old classic, musical chairs, which is always a hit. Line up a circle of chairs one less than the number of children, and have the kids line up around the chairs. Put on some music, and while the music is playing the kids walk around the chairs. When the music stops everyone sits down in a chair, and the child left standing is out for that round. Remove one chair and start again. Continue until there are two kids and one chair left. The child who wins this round wins the game.

Grab a Toy is a similar game to musical chairs, except the kids line up around a circle of toys. Each time the music stops they grab a toy. Whoever does not get a toy is out for the round.

Whispers. Have the kids sit in a circle, and whisper a short story of 2 or 3 lines to the child. It can be about anything. Have that child whisper the story to the child next to him or her, and so on. Make sure you write down the original story that was told because it’s great fun to see what it ends up as at the end. Usually very distorted and sometimes not even resembling the original! Kids love this children’s game.

Another of the classic children’s games is pin the tail on the donkey where the kids are blindfolded and must, as you might guess, pin a tail on a picture of a donkey. As old and tired as you might think this game is, it is a lot of fun.

Musical Statues. Another knock-off of musical chairs, but the kids run and jump around during the time the music is playing, and when it stops they have to freeze in place for as long as the music is stopped. The first child who moves is out of the game. Continue playing until only 1 child is left.

Simon Says, Mother May I, and Red Light, Green Light, are three more classic children’s games that you kids will love to play at parties.