Games and Activities

Greet the party guests as they arrive by giving them a carpenter apron (or nail apron) and a plastic hard hat (or paper Bob the Builder party hat). Consider using a plastic deluxe hard hat for the birthday child, and paper party cone hats for the rest of the guests.

Invite the kids to decorate their hard hats with theme stickers (and other decorative items) while they are waiting for others to arrive.

Fill a jar with small plastic building blocks. Have each guest guess how many building blocks are in the jar. At the end of the party award the guest with the closest guess a special favor.

Build a Town. Collect as many building toys (blocks, plastic building blocks, construction set, wood logs and more) as you can find. Ask neighbors or the parents of party guests to bring some (but make sure to label them so they can be returned properly at the end of the party). Spread the building toys throughout the party area and encourage guests to build a town. Try having each guest act like a different piece of construction equipment.

Bob's Mobile Phone Search. Hide plastic cell phones (one per guest) throughout the party area. Announce, "Oh no! Bob's lost his cell phone again! Could everyone please look to find Bob's cell phone?” For special effect, if you have a cell phone or other ringing device, have it ring at the start of the game. Let the guests keep the toy cell phones they find.

Wheelbarrow Race. At raditional wheelbarrow game: pair up the guests, have one child of each pair get on their hands and knees, have the other child pick up the kneeling child's legs from behind (if children are having a difficult time, recommend they grab from the thighs). Race to the finish line.

Sandbox/Dirt Time. Walk guests to the sandbox/dirt area to have some time playing with toys in the dirt/sand. If the party is indoors, use a large plastic box (or line a box with a plastic trash bag), and fill with sand from a local home improvement store. Add-On: before the party, hide small toys and favors in the sandbox for the guests to discover as they dig.

Construction Race. Break up the party guests into two teams. Give each team a bucket of plastic blocks and other construction toys. Challenge each team to build the best-looking Muck the Dump Truck. Give the teams ten minutes then have them race to make a Lofty the Crane, Scoop the Digger, or Dizzy the Cement Mixer.

Fill the Bucket. Gather the guests into two groups and explain that the first to fill their bucket with sand wins, but they may only use their spoons.

Beanbag Rock Toss. Have guests stand in a line. Each guest gets several chances to toss a "rock" (beanbag) into the bed of the dump truck.

Musical Trucks. Cut the bottoms out of large cardboard boxes, and add four cardboard wheels cut from the bottoms of the cardboard boxes. Add a circular steering wheel inside the box. Paint the wheels and steering wheel black. Paint the rest of the box yellow. Have each guest get into their "construction trucks" (boxes). Explain that when the music is playing they may drive around, but when the music stops they must stop driving and sit down. Play the music, stopping at various intervals. To make the game more competitive, draw a finish line and have the guests try to drive their construction trucks across the finish line.

Brick by Brick Relay. Before the party, save empty cereal boxes and other cardboard packaging to use as bricks. Divide the bricks into two piles and divide the kids into two teams. The first players grab a brick, race a specified distance, and lay their bricks down to begin the wall. Each player in line continues until one team builds their wall with all of the bricks. First team done wins.

Play Block Builder. Use large Lego® blocks or any blocks that connect to each other. Before the party, hide the blocks around the party area so the kids have to go hunting for them. Send the kids off in small groups to find as many Lego® blocks as they can. The group with the largest set of connected Legos® is the winner.