Things to Think about When Organizing Party Games for Girls

First Consideration
Your first consideration should be whether the party will be mixed gender. If the girls are quite young, then many of her friends are likely to be boys from her playgroup or class. It’s a good idea to encourage your daughter to mix with boys from a young age as a healthy way of social interaction. Nevertheless, there is one situation where it’s probably not appropriate for boys to be invited: slumber parties!

Second Consideration
You next consideration should be how many people to invite. Guest lists at parties can become a nightmare if you don’t have some strict criteria set out from the start. If you are inviting people from your daughter’s playgroup, then make sure all of her friends are invited and that no one is left out. If in doubt, it’s always better to invite people than to not invite people, so err on the side of caution! If you have limited space, then let people know this. However, it’s not a good idea to invite more people if some from the first round of invitees can’t make it.
Having lots of people ensures that the party games you can play are more varied. If you have a larger group, you should consider including some icebreaker games so that everyone gets to know each other a little better. If they already know each other, these games can still be played to get everyone into the party spirit. A great idea for an ice-breaker party game is for everyone to write down the name of a famous person, fold it up and put it into a hat. Everyone takes out a name, without looking at it, licks the back of the paper and sticks it to their forehead (or you could use sticky-backed paper). The person has to ask questions to everyone else (questions which can only be answered 'yes' or 'no') and guess what name is on their head.

Third Consideration
You should then consider whether the party should have a theme. Themed parties are often easier to put on because people will get excited about coming in costume, and all of games can be adapted to suit their characters. For example, tag can be adapted to suit a princess theme by having the tagger play an ‘evil queen’!

Final Consideration
Finally, the best way of ensuring the children have a good time is to involve them at all stages. Your daughter is a mine of inspiration for what party games she and her friends like to play and would like to be included. In addition, your time at the party can be eased by encouraging the children to suggest ways in which the rules of the regular games can be changed to focus on the birthday girl, the theme or their own talents. For example, if the girls love singing contests, wink murder can be changed so that whenever someone is winked at, they have to sing a line from their favorite song! If you would prefer your party to be a surprise for your daughter, you should think about contacting the parents of your daughter's friends and ask for their ideas of what the girls are 'in' to at the moment. Combined brainpower is better than acting alone!

In conclusion, use the resources readily at your fingertips, think about numbers, who is coming, what they usually like to do and be creative. Use a piece of paper to jot down ideas; the crazier the better. And last of all, have fun!

For more ideas, check out my new Party Games For Girls blog!