Updated on: Sep 18, 2024
A search Bar Mitzvah or a Bat Mitzvah is a coming-of-age party at the age of 13 for Jewish girls and boys. This is a day that each Jewish boy and girl studies for and looks forward to throughout their childhood. After the ritual, there is typically an extravagant party thrown at a nearby venue filled with friends and family. Here are 13 bar mitzvah games to keep your guests moving and having fun at your Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Even if older guests don’t wish to participate in these games, they will get a kick out of watching everyone else having fun.
Bar Mitzvah Games: Dance Floor Games
1. Musical Chairs
Musical chairs is a game that can be played by both kids and adults. Bring out a numbered amount of chairs to the middle of the dance floor and create a circle. From there everyone participating will be walking around the chairs in a circle while music is being played. Once the music stops everyone must sit in a chair, if someone cannot find a chair, they are eliminated. Every time someone is eliminated you then remove the same amount of chairs until there is 1 winner.
2. Snowball Dance Effect
This is a great way to get everyone at the party moving. If you have a DJ at your party, have them announce the rules of the game. The game starts off with the teen of the hour choosing someone at the party to dance with. Music will begin to play and they will dance. Once the music stops, they must go find someone else to bring to the dance floor and dance with. The music will begin playing again and both couples will dance. When the music stops, everyone will scramble to find someone else to bring to the dance floor and dance with. The game continues until everyone is on the dance floor.
3. Dance Contest
Host a dance competition on the dance floor for your guests to show their best moves. You can either have the Bat/Bar Mitzvah be the judge, or you can have the crowd cheer for who they think deserves to win. For more variety, you can have different categories on how the dances will be judged such as funniest, most creative, most elegant, or whatever you want! Have a variety of songs that guests can dance to. Mix it up with faster and slower-paced songs in order to see what your guests come up with.
Bar Mitzvah Games: Team Games
4. Thread the Needle
Gather all of the players that want to participate on the dance floor and have them hold hands in a circle. Have the search Bar Mitzvah start off with a hula-hoop around their arm. When the music starts, they must send the hula-hoop around the circle without letting go of the hands of the person next to them. When the music stops, the person who has the hula hoop on them is out. Continue starting and stopping music until there is one person left.
5. Treasure Hunt
This is a spin-off of musical chairs that can get your guests moving. Your guests are going to want to pay attention to their surroundings if they want to be successful in this game. Set up one less chair than the number of participating guests in the middle of the dance floor.
Call out something that the players must find at the venue and bring it back to the chair. Some ideas can be something red, a balloon, a party hat, etc., and progressively get harder as the amount of players decreases. The person left without a chair or item is out. Continue playing until there is one player left.
6. Name That Song
Everyone is put into teams of 4-6 people and come up with a team name. Every team is then handed a sheet of paper so they can write down their answers for the correct song and artist. The DJ will then play the first 5 seconds of ten songs and will then be given time to write and discuss what they believe the correct song and artist is. Every team will write down their 10 answers, the DJ will announce the correct answers and the winning team will then receive a prize
7. Coke and Pepsi
If you have a DJ, they should be familiar with this game. Have each of your guests partner up and then have them decide who wants to be “Coke” and who wants to be “Pepsi.” Once they have made their decision, have all of the “Cokes” stand side by side and have the “Pepsis” stand across the room in front of their partner.
When “Coke” is called out, those guests must run across the room and sit on their “Pepsi” partner’s knee. When “Pepsi” is called out, those guests must run across the room and sit on their “Coke” partner’s knee. The fun part of this game is that you can use any word and make up anything that you want the partners to do.
Players will be eliminated when they are the last to complete the task. For example, a pair of partners would be eliminated if they are the last to sit on their partner’s knee. An example of another word and action you could use is “Sprite.” When this word is said, the partners must meet in the middle and lock arms back to back. You can also call out the name of the Bat or Bat Mitzvah and have everyone yell something funny in unison. You can customize this game for your guests and your guest of honor to have lots of fun with it.
8. TP Mummy
Have multiple industrial-size rolls of toilet paper on hand for this game. Announce to your guests that you will be playing this game and see if there are any takers. Divide your guests into an appropriate number of teams (there must be at least 2 players per team). Give each team a roll of toilet paper and start the music.
The first team to completely wrap their teammate with toilet paper, so that no other part of their body is visible, wins. When a team thinks they are done, have everyone else stop and inspect the mummy. If the guest is completely covered, that team wins. If there are some parts showing, tell the other teams to continue wrapping their mummies!
9. No Hands
Get something round like a small ball, orange, or an apple and line all the guests up. Have the first player hold the object under their chin and against their body. They must pass the object to the next person without either of them using their hands. The goal is to get the object all the way down the line without using any hands or letting it fall.
After everyone gets a practice round in, split the players up into two teams, and have a competition. Have a bucket of round objects that each team must pass down the line. Give the players the length of a song to get as many objects to the other side of the line. The team that ends up with the most objects at the other side of the line wins.
Bar Mitzvah Games: Balloon Games
10. Balloon Pop
Tie a balloon to each of your guests’ ankles. When the music begins, your guests must run around trying to pop other players’ balloons while protecting their own. They can do this by stomping on one another's balloons. Once their balloons are popped, they are out of the game and must freeze right where they are.
11. Wobbly Knees
Announce to your guests that there is a race going on from one end of the venue to another. Line everyone up and get them excited to run. Right before you say, “on your mark,'' hand out inflated balloons to each guest participating.
They must complete this race with the balloon in between their knees. Once everyone’s balloon is secure, say, “get set, go!” The first one to cross the finish line with the balloon still between their knees is the winner. You can also add a team aspect to this game by splitting the guests into two equal teams and conducting it as a relay race.
12. Hacky Sack Pass
Have three lines of 10 people and have everyone facing the same direction. Then hand a hacky sack to the first person in the line and the game will begin. The first person will pass the hacky sack to the person behind them by tossing it over their head then the next person will receive the hacky sack and pass it to the next person behind them by tossing it between their legs and so on. When the hacky sack reaches the last person in the line they must bring it back to the first person and that team will be victorious.
Bar Mitzvah Games: Conclusion
Whether you choose to play one or multiple activities at your event, these bar mitzvah games are bound to liven up your Bar/Bat Mitzvah! The list provided above has a variety of different games you can try so don't feel limited to one. Hopefully, you found this guide on bar mitzvah games helpful and easy to use. Cheers to hosting your event!
Now that you have some ideas for games, check out our other article on Bar Mitzvah party favors and decorations.
Also, take a look at our Bar Mitzvah budget sheet and checklist to help make your party planning easy and on budget.
Want more help planning Bar Mitzvahs? Click here for more ideas, tools, and more.
Need help deciding on new party games? Then click here for all that you need to know.
Written by Jessica Bundy and Mackenzie Tolrud; Contributors: Ana Fabijanic, Patrick Ferdes, Anna Wertman and MacKenzie O'Dwyer