5 original educational activities for birthday parties

Get the party started with an improv game. Not only is this activity a great icebreaker to help bring kids out of their shells, but it is also an excellent way to give their brains a workout.

Our downloadable tool provides a list of improv themes to get kids laughing while they show off their acting chops.

Kids always love party favours! And what could be better than a party favour with a purpose? These bracelets have magic spells on them that kids can use to regulate their emotions. Here is everything you will need for this craft:

• Cardboard rolls (one toilet paper roll makes three bracelets)
• Liquid glue or glue sticks
• This printable tool

Party goers can add their own personal touch with markers, stickers, glitter, etc.

When the weather is nice, birthday parties in the park are always a treat! The adults can enjoy their picnic while keeping a watchful eye on the kids, and the kids have plenty of space to burn off their energy. You can make things even more fun with an outdoor treasure hunt!

There are two ways to play: you can have kids take a picture of what they find with a camera or smartphone (or make a naturalist-style drawing!) or have them collect the items on the list—without disturbing the environment, of course!

Kids have vivid imaginations. Why not channel their creativity into a fun storytelling activity? You can use Alloprof’s templates as a guide. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Create a story based on a theme. There are 31 to choose from!
• Write an original story based on the pictographs for one of eight different genres (adventure, detective, fantasy, science fiction, psychological, historical, romance, or fairy tale).

To add to the fun, kids can get in the spirit of things by dressing up as characters from their favourite story or turn their story into a skit they can perform for their parents!

This activity combines two things that kids love: bubbles and science experiments!
Here is what you need make your own super bubble solution:

Materials

• 1/4 cup dish soap (the blue Dawn brand soap works best)
• 1 tablespoon glycerin (available in pharmacies)
• 2 litres warm tap water
• 1 large container
• Pipe cleaners
• Optional: rope and two wooden dowels (to make giant bubbles)
• Optional: small airtight jars or bottles so that each child can take home some bubble solution as a party favour
• Kitchen utensils (optional, but useful if you have them on hand): funnels, measuring cups, measuring spoons, serving spoons, etc.

Instructions:

Before mixing the ingredients, it could be interesting to ask the kids about their preconceptions about soap bubbles. Here are some examples:

• Ask them to make up hypotheses about why bubbles burst
• Talk about how soap is used in everyday life

You could also take the opportunity to talk about fractions:

• “How many cups are in two litres of water?”
• “We are going to use 1/4 cup of soap for every 2 L of water. How many litres of water would I need if I wanted to use a full cup of soap? Does your answer keep the proportions of the solution the same?”

Mix all the ingredients and let the solution rest for best results. While you wait, the kids can make their bubble wands out of pipe cleaners.

If you want to make giant bubbles, simply tie two pieces of string (one short and one long) to two wooden dowels with holes at the ends. Fill a large bucket with the bubble solution and dip the string in it. Instead of blowing through your giant bubble wand, you will have to run around with it to make bubbles with the air resistance.