[Childcare] Birthday party ideas kids can join in: A roundup of crowd-pleasing activities
Many children look forward to birthday parties that celebrate the birthday child.
Teachers also have a lot to prepare—songs, performances, and more.
If you’re going to put on a performance, wouldn’t you love to have the children join in and make it lively? If that’s what you’re thinking, this is for you.
Here are some performance ideas perfect for birthday parties, where children can take part!
You’ll see kids happily calling out, thinking about your questions, and reacting with joy.
Find your favorite idea and give it a try!
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[Childcare] Birthday party ideas kids can join in. A roundup of exciting activities (1–10)
Give a round of applause
Let me introduce a theater activity that incorporates children’s clapping! It works well to include familiar characters.
Using characters from picture books you read often is also recommended.
In the story, each character receives a present.
And at the end, it’s the turn of the birthday children.
The children celebrating hold hands, sing together, and clap with big, expressive motions to celebrate.
When everyone puts their hearts into it and says loudly in unison, “Happy birthday!” it creates a wonderful sense of unity.
Panel Theater: Whose Underpants Are These?
The panel theater show “Whose Underpants Are These?”, which also has a quiz-like element, is a game where you look only at a pair of underpants and guess who they belong to.
Draw animals’ or characters’ bottoms and their underpants on round cardstock, and show the children while asking, “Whose underpants do you think these are?” Another sheet of cardstock of the same size is hidden on the back; when you flip or rotate it, the answer appears, revealing the owner of the underpants.
If they’re tiger-striped underpants, are they a tiger’s? An ogre’s? Maybe the Thunder God’s? Children’s imaginations will run wild.
Try choosing and drawing underpants and animals with distinctive features.
Magic ‘Unbreakable Bill’
How about livening things up with a magic trick perfect for birthday parties and kids? Prepare a single bill, pass it through an envelope, and then snip away at the top with scissors… the kids will surely be amazed, right? But the bill isn’t cut—it’s still intact, leaving them wondering how! It’s a trick where a simple modification to the envelope makes it so only the envelope gets cut.
Pretend to cut through with the scissors, then have everyone cast a little magic spell together—it really boosts the sense of unity.
You can also do it with a drawing instead of a bill.
[Childcare] Birthday party ideas kids can join in. A roundup of exciting activities (11–20)
Handmade Magic Theater
This is a magic theater you can make with a single sheet of drawing paper.
Various animals live in a house-shaped sheet.
Ask the children which animal they want to come to the center room.
When folding the house, first fold the animal they requested; then flip it over and open it—like magic! The animal has moved just as requested.
When taking requests, be sure to ask the birthday child or children first.
You can practically see their eyes widen in amazement.
Fail-Proof Magic Theater
Here are some fail-safe magic theater ideas that cover a few handy tips.
When you pull a sheet of construction paper that only has the outline of an animal or vehicle, something comes out from inside showing the proper colors and details.
This mysterious magic theater is easy to adapt and useful in many situations.
With small tweaks—like making the inner sheet of paper slightly smaller or adding a notch so fingers can hook easily—you can make it move more smoothly.
When creating the inner piece with colored paper, be sure to glue it firmly; secure gluing is the key to smooth operation.
Silhouette Quiz
If you have a box wrapped in thin paper, you can easily play a silhouette quiz.
Please choose familiar items for the children, such as scissors from the classroom or things that every household has.
The lively atmosphere of the children calling out their answers will liven up the birthday party.
If you rotate toys or craft tools while showing their silhouettes, the children will make lots of discoveries and get excited.
Even if a question is a bit difficult, thinking it through together might lead to an answer popping out.
Panel Theater: Which one? Which one? Which could it be?
Animal characters appear in a panel theater, and two silhouettes are shown.
Judging by the shapes, they seem to be things the animals like.
The teacher asks, “Which one, which one, which one is it?” so be sure to encourage the children to answer, “This one!” When you flip the silhouette over, what looked like a fish turns out to be a necktie, and what seemed like an apple is actually a topknot hairstyle…
It’s a panel theater that brings out lots of smiles from the children.
Teachers can also have fun by arranging the motifs themselves!