Preparing for the holiday, we think through the menu in advance, buy drinks, decorate the room, select music for dancing. But for guests to be fun and interesting, you should think about party contests. What should be considered when choosing them? What kind of entertainment your guests will surely like, and what mistakes should be avoided? Let's talk about it.
Common misconceptions
Some people mistakenly believe that for fun it’s enough to make a lot of cocktails, turn on loud music and bring cool people together. Unfortunately, a rich table and dancing do not always help to get rid of shyness. Guests prefer to chat with their friends on familiar topics. To unite all those gathered and make them forget for a few hours about problems and concerns, party contests are called on.
Well, if you can arrange for the guests a real adventure. A little imagination - and here you are, with the whole company, turning into Indians, vampires, knights, hippies or transported to tropical islands.
Pros of theme parties
Increasingly, holidays are organized around one topic. Competitions for the party are selected based on the designated plot. Such a holiday has a number of advantages over the usual feast:
- Non-standard, the ability to go beyond the usual framework.
- Transfer to another reality, where you can forget about everyday life and recharge with positive energy.
- The opportunity to try on new roles, discover unexpected talents, fulfill children's dreams.
- Rallying guests together to achieve their goals.
Topic selection
How to choose a fascinating plot for a memorable holiday? Focus on the interests of the invitees. We should not forget about age features. The rules here are simple:
- Party for children should be bright, fun and informative. You can stage a popular cartoon, change into fairy-tale characters, play Call of the Jungle or spies.
- For teens, choose more “adult” topics and the most fun contests. Many are attracted to mystical and detective stories: ghosts, vampires, investigations with Sherlock Holmes, the Hogwarts School of Magic.
- With adults, you can move around countries, books, films, travel in time and decide on the most unimaginable experiments. Focus on the tastes of the guests: someone will like the "Action" style (African safari, James Bond games), someone will enjoy calm ethnic themes (travel to China or Ancient Greece).
There are universal plots suitable for any audience. For example, a pirate party. Competitions for the holiday should overlap with the chosen topic, develop it. It would be useful to come up with a story with an intriguing plot, the main action, a spectacular climax and a bright ending.
Party Contest Scenario
There are several popular stories that can be adapted to any topic. We list them:
- Search for an item or hero that requires a series of tasks.
- Adventure travel.
- An exam during which you need to show your talents and pass a series of tests.
Let’s try on this basis to develop a competition script for a pirate party. Together with the guests we can:
- Search for Captain Flint's treasure while completing a quest with various tasks.
- Set sail on a pirate ship, breaking reefs and fighting with swords.
- Compete for the title of best corsair or arrange a battle between two robber frigates.
We select contests
What competitions and entertainment to offer guests gathered for the holiday? As an example, let's try to find contests for a pirate party. For children, prepare costumes, appropriate attributes and prizes for each participant. Prudently hide fragile and expensive interior items during the celebration. Try to keep assignments available by age.
Let the contests be diverse: moving, creative, intellectual, funny. Every child should be able to become the best in some field. Be sure to spend two or three games that do not involve identifying winners.
When composing a competitive program for adults, alternate table entertainment with moving ones. Do not include in the script fun that makes guests feel uncomfortable. It is unlikely that the girl will want to catch objects from a basin of water, risking her makeup.
Fun activities for preschoolers
How to choose contests for a 5-year-old kids pirate party? Toddlers like to collect items, dress up in costumes, play hide and seek and catch up.
Here are some games that will appeal to preschoolers:
- "Walk the ladder." To enter the pirate ship, the kids must go along the narrow bridge made of cardboard without interceding for it.
- "Defile". Give your children black bandanas, vests, blindfolds, wide belts, raincoats, vests, and hats. Provide accessories: binoculars, sabers, toy pistols, gold chains, spyglasses. Let them change into pirates and showcase their costumes. Take photos as a keepsake.
- "Collect the treasure." Chocolate coins are laid out around the room in unexpected places. Children must find them. Whoever has more won.
- "Cannon shot." The children are trying to get into the trash with the "core", which they make from a crumpled newspaper and make it heavier with scotch tape.
- "Beware of the shark." Children dance to the music. When the leader commands "Shark!", They rush to the ship (sofa). An adult catches those who are behind.
Games for schoolchildren
The older the children, the wider the selection of contests for a pirate party. At 8 years old, children are able to solve a simple quiz on books and cartoons, to decrypt a secret message in a bottle.
You can offer students the following contests:
- "The greedy pirate." Many balloons are scattered on the floor. Children must collect the maximum amount and hold with their hands, feet, teeth. Who was able to grab the most balls and not drop a single one?
- "Treasure search". Students are handed a map showing the location of the first clue. Puzzling ciphers and riddles on a pirate theme, they find a treasure chest.
- "Dangerous crossing." A rope is laid out on the floor, the second is pulled by the leaders at shoulder height. Children must cross the abyss across the bridge, holding onto the upper rope. At this time, the leaders rock it, depicting gusts of wind. Who broke - retires.
- "Save the comrade." The participants are blindfolded and offered to unhook the "evil piranha" (linen clothespins) as soon as possible.
- "Sea battle". Balloons with coins inside are tied to the feet of children. You need to destroy the balls of opponents and get as much gold as possible, while maintaining your trophy.
Having fun in the company of teenagers
Teenagers will love music and dance contests at a pirate party.
For example, such:
- "Dance of the Corsairs." Children become in a circle and dance, passing each other a toy parrot (it must be put on the pirate’s shoulder on the right). Whoever held the bird when the music stopped, leaves. The game lasts until the winner is determined.
- "We are not afraid of the waves." Contestants dance, holding a spoon with a ping-pong ball in their teeth. The pirates who hold the ball, despite the pitching, win.
- "Gather a team." Teenagers are dancing. When the music stops, the host calls out a number from 1 to 10. You need to quickly assemble a team from the specified number of pirates.
- "Situational dances." The assembled teams receive a card with a description of the event, which they must depict through movements. For example: taking a ship for boarding, burying a treasure chest, a storm at sea, cleaning the deck. Spectators guess what situation the dance is about.
- "All hands on deck!" Several teens are participating. They are given whistles. Task: to depict the melody of the playing song (one verse). Songs may be related to pirate themes.
Adult games
If guests are over 18 years old, you can come off to the fullest. We offer a list of contests for a pirate party for adults:
- "Draim the deck." We divide the room into two parts, drawing a line with a chalk. Scatter balloons. With the help of mops and brooms, teams try to clear their deck by throwing “trash” on board their rivals. At the end of the competition, the number of balls on each deck is counted.
- "Bottle of rum". Men drink alcohol at a speed from a mug. At the same time, they use tubes, eyes blindfolded.
- "Aboard!" It is necessary to capture the enemy ship, in the role of which is a chair. The team with the largest number of pirates able to climb onto the “deck” wins.
- "Blind". Blindfolded men should count their captives. Girls are led to them in turn, they can feel them. According to the terms of the competition, one and the same “captive”, the host can lead to identification several times, confusing the player.
- "One-legged Joe." Teams are built at the line. The first player, having his legs crossed and leaning on a cane (crutch), jumps to the finish line. There you need to drink healing rum, from which the limb grows magically. The "healed" pirate hurries to pass the baton to the next participant.
When choosing contests for parties, consider the composition of the audience. Pirate themes are good for an active, fun company. She will cause a lot of delight among the boys. At the same time, girls will more like meeting with the magical princesses, beautiful outfits and transparent wings behind their backs.