Updated on: Oct 05, 2024
Looking for some fun and easy games to play at your teenager’s birthday party? It can be hard to find party game ideas that are perfect for teenagers. We have compiled a list of some game ideas for teenagers' parties that are age-appropriate and fun. This list includes fun teen party games that won’t break your budget, games that can be played indoors, and guessing games that will work their brains.
Indoor Teen Party Game Ideas
Balloon Games
Balloons are cheap and can be found just about anywhere. If the weather is not cooperating, there are many balloon activities that can be played inside.
1. Balloon Holder
For this activity, blow up as many balloons as you wish and scatter them throughout the venue. Set about a minute on the clock, and when the timer stops, all the participants have to collect as many balloons as they can. If a balloon pops, it does not count.
Encourage the guests to get creative with places to hold their balloons. They can be held in their mouth, under their arms, between their legs, anywhere! When the timer runs out, the participant with the most balloons wins.
2. The Knee’d to Relay
Split your guests up into two teams. Have the first player place a balloon in between their legs, holding the balloon by their knees. Set up a chair on the opposite side of the room. Then, when someone yells, “go!”, the player must run across the room to the chair without dropping their balloon.
Once the player gets to the other side, they must pop the balloon either by squeezing it between their legs or sitting on it. Once they pop the balloon, their next team member can go. The first team that finishes wins!
3. Cow Round Up
For this game, you will need two cardboard boxes and black balloons. The black balloons will represent the cows, and the objective of the game is to gather all of the black balloons into the cardboard box in the shortest amount of time possible.
But, there’s a twist! The participants have to place their hands behind their backs and get on their knees so that all they are using is their chest and face! Let one team go first, then a second team after that to see who has the shortest time.
4. Clothing/Balloon Relay
Split your guests up into a few teams of two or three. Get about three pairs of funky theme boxers or tie dye boxers, some balloons, and some chairs. The first person has to slip on the boxers, run to the other side where the chair is, and try to pop the balloon by sitting on it. Once they pop the balloon, they have to run back and give their boxers to the next teammate. The first team to finish wins!
5. Heel Popping
Have all of your guests tape or tie a balloon to the back of their shoes. The goal is to pop someone else’s balloon without popping your own. The last person standing with a balloon still intact wins!
6. Head Bumping
For this game, you will need hats with pins on top of them. Fill a room with balloons and set a certain amount of time on the clock. Once the time begins, players try and pop as many balloons as they can. The player who pops the most balloons during the allotted time wins!
7. Gift Swap
This game works well if you have a collection of different party favors (i.e., a box of chalk, a box of candy, or a small toy). Write numbers on a piece of paper matching the number of guests you have starting from one. Fold the papers, and let your guests pick one.
When everyone has their numbers, the first person can choose a gift and so on. Have a second set of numbers prepared. Once everyone has their gifts, draw randomly from the second set, and call out the number. If number two gets called, they can choose to keep their gift or steal one from the others. This goes on until each number is called.
Action Games
If you are unable to play games outdoors, keep your teenagers occupied with these fun, action-packed indoor games.
8. Paper Clip Relay Race
Split the guests up into two teams, and hand each of them a small group of paper clips. Put however much time you would like on the clock, and once the clock starts, each person on the team has to attach the paper clips to form a chain. When the music stops, the team with the longest paper clips chain wins.
9. Square Dance
This isn’t your typical square dance. Take a large sheet of paper, newspaper, construction paper, or anything in the shape of a square, and put it on the floor. Have the guests break off into pairs of two and stand them both on the paper. Start the music and have each pair dance on their sheet of paper.
Once the music stops, the pair must fold their paper in half. Then, they must continue dancing on it. This continues until two people can no longer stand on one sheet of paper. One of the pairs must then get on the other’s back while they continue to dance on the sheet of paper. The last one standing and dancing on the sheet of paper wins!
10. Slap the Joker
Have the guests split up into groups of two and give each group a deck of cards split in half between the two players. The players then start to take turns, quickly flipping their cards one by one onto a pile in the middle of the table. Whenever a player sees a Joker, they slap their hand down on the pile. Whoever’s hand hits the pile first gets to take the pile. The first player to obtain the entire deck of cards wins.
11. Noodle Relay
For this action game, you’ll need to have some cooked noodles, gloves, and two-liter bottles. It doesn’t matter what kind of noodles you use, but long and slender noodles will work best. Split the guests up into two groups, forming two lines.
The first person in each line puts on the gloves, runs up to the bowl of noodles, and grabs as many as they can. They then run and put all the noodles in their team's bottle. Then they run back to the next teammate in line and hand off the gloves. The first team to get all of their noodles in the bottle wins!
12. Icebreakers
A great way to start off a party is by playing a fun icebreaker game to allow everyone to get to know each other. There are many different icebreakers out there like Never Have I Ever, but one of our favorites is the “tick-tock” game. In this game, one person is chosen as “it.”
That person then stands in the center of the circle, points to someone in the circle, and says either “tick” or “tock." If they say “tick,” the person who is pointed at must say the name of whoever is on the left side of them. If they say “tock,” they have to say the name of the person on their right. If they get it wrong, they become the person who is “it” and the game starts again. By the end of the game, everyone should know everyone else’s name.
13. Tower of Soda Cans
Many soda cans are needed for this indoor game, and you’ll need to make sure they’re cleaned out and empty. Split the guests into groups of two, and set a timer for two minutes. During this time, the teams can strategize and plan. Once the timer stops, the groups have another two minutes to build a tower as high as they can. At the end of those two minutes, the group with the highest tower wins.
14. Scarecrow
The object of this game is teamwork and speed. Split your party up into groups of three. Then, provide each group with several items of clothing. The goal is for two team members to dress the “scarecrow,” or third member, faster than the other teams. The first team to fully dress their “scarecrow” wins.
15. Musical Gifts
For this game, you will take a small gift (maybe a party favor or candy bar) and wrap it many times and in many different layers. You will then pass the gift around while music plays. Once the music stops, the lucky person holding the gift unwraps one layer of the present.
The music begins again, and the gift is passed until the music stops. The player who unwraps the last layer wins the gift and the game. Another option is to wrap many small gifts throughout the layers and have a larger gift as the last layer. This way, many of your guests will leave the game with something fun.
16. Blind Makeup Artist
If this party is for a group of girls they are going to love this. Put a blindfold on one guest who is the artist and choose someone to be the model. From there give the artist makeup to work with and watch the masterpiece they blindly make!
17. Pass the Peanut
Get some spoons and some peanuts. Put a spoon in each players mouth and have them stand in a line. The first in line gets the peanut and the objective is to move the peanut onto the next persons spoon. If they make it all the way down the line they win the game!
18. Clothing Layers Relay Race
Split the party guests up into two teams and give the first member of each team a bag of clothes. The bag can contain shoes, shirts, scarves, anything! The first person must put each article of clothing on without help from anyone else on their team.
They then have to take everything off and put it back in the bag to pass on to the next team member. The cycle continues until every team member has put on, and taken off, all the clothing. The first team to finish wins.
Guessing Games
Even if your space is not large enough for the action or balloon games, you still have options! Guessing games don’t take up much space and are not commonly used. They are often easy to explain, simple to play, and inexpensive. Guessing games are really fun things to do for your party games. Don't forget to make a party checklist so you don't forget anything!
19. Mystery Food
Blindfold participants, and feed them samples of different types of food. Get creative with the food; you don’t want the game to be too easy! Keep track of their guesses, and when everyone is done, go over the answers. The person who guesses the most right wins. This guessing game can be funny and exciting, but be careful with food allergies.
20. Name that Tik Tok
Most teens are on Tik Tok these days. There are multiple ways you could play this game since the app has many popular features, including "sounds," videos, dances, etc. Your guests could perform the dances and the other participants and could guess the song or the other way around: the name is stated, and the guests must perform the dance. This would create an amazing teen scene for the party!
There are many popular "sounds" on Tik Tok that teenagers quote. To include this feature in the game, the host could start quoting a "sound" and whoever finishes the quote, gets a point. An added component of trivia could be added to the game, asking questions such as who founded Tik Tok and when the app came out. This game could also be played virtually over Zoom or Facetime.
21. Feel It
Place different objects into paper bags and have the guests feel the bag. Then, they must guess what they think is inside the bag. This is most fun when the objects you put into your bags have different textures. Some examples of items you can put in the bags are feather boas, whipped cream, or a hairbrush. This game can have a winner if the guests keep track of the answers they guess correctly or simply be a fun and interactive activity.
22.Spin-a-Dare
This game is a twist to the classics Truth or Dare and spin the bottle. Put a bunch of dares into a bowl and have the guests sit in a circle. Spin the bottle and whoever it lands on chooses out of the bowl and performs their dare!
23. Memory Loss
In this game, one player leaves the room and the other participants have to decide on a character for the one who left the room to be. When the player comes back into the room, they are only allowed to ask the question, “Who am I?” Each of the other guests must answer the question truthfully, but as abstractly or misleading as possible.
They have ten minutes to figure out who they are and can make three actual guesses. After the time is up and they either guess correctly or are told who they are, someone else leaves the room, and the game begins again.
Outdoor Teen Party Games
If you're planning a party for a teenager, particularly in the summer, and you have access to a large outdoor space, this is the blog for you. It can be hard to find outdoor teen bday party games with the popularity of video games. This is our suggestion: get those teens outside. You won’t regret providing an entertaining way for teens to channel their energy. Outside party games for kids and teens are essential for having a great party. This list consists of fun outdoor activities for you to use at your next teen party.
Water Games
24. Water Gun Warfare
If you wish to have a water fight at your party, purchasing supplies for everyone in attendance could be quite expensive. To save a bit of time and money, ask the guests who RSVP to bring supplies for a water fight. These can be things like sprinklers, water balloons, super soaker guns, etc. Also, make sure to remind guests to bring a bathing suit, or a change of clothes, and a towel. After the water gun fight, feel free to invite your guests for a swim if you have a pool since they will already be soaking wet!
25. 500 Toss
For this game, you will need a rubber ball or a whole lot of water balloons. If you choose water balloons, you may want to let your guest know to bring a change of clothes. This is a great game for big groups, as there is no limit to the number of people who are allowed to play: it's a free-for-all!
To play this game, one person (usually the host/hostess) tosses the ball high in the air for the other players to try and catch. As the thrower does this, he or she calls out the number of points the catch is worth. Only the person who makes the catch earns the points, so expect a bit of rowdy competition.
Once a player “catches” 500 points, he or she is the new thrower. If you are going to use water balloons as your “ball,” make sure to provide a lot of extras in case of popping. You can also make this more intense by allowing points only to those who catch the balloons without popping them.
If you would like, having a few extra supplies for those who forgot theirs, or don’t own any would be a generous touch. This water fight can be a free-for-all or an organized team effort. You could declare the “least-soaked” team the winner, or create another way of judging the competition.
26. Slip N’ Slide Madness
Although traditional slip n’ slides are a bit small for teenagers, that doesn’t mean they are completely off the table. Instead, get a giant tarp and set it in a large outdoor space, like a backyard or a park. The larger the tarp, the longer the slide; however, be warned, the longer the tarp, the more supplies you will need to keep it slippery.
If you have access to a hill, the incline makes the sliding experience a lot more fun. Make sure you have access to at least one water hose to keep the tarp slick. To create the slippery effect, spray the tarp with water, and add some baby shampoo or bubbles. Then you are ready to let your teens slide away!
Classic and Unique Outdoor search Games
27. Capture the Flag
A great old-fashioned game that never fails. The rules are simple: divide your guests into two teams, and divide the playing field in half. Then give each team a “territory,” and give each team a flag to hide in that territory. For added fun, divide the teams into girls vs. boys - may the best team win!
The object of the game is for each team to steal the other team’s flag. However, once a player crosses into the other team’s territory, they can be caught and sent to the opposing team’s jail. After a player ends up in jail, they can only be freed by being tagged by another member of their team. The game is best played in a sparsely lit area with many obstacles and places to hide behind. We highly recommend a great deal of (neutral) adult supervision to ensure a fair game and the safety of all guests.
28. Don’t Break the Egg!
A classic relay race is great for all ages, but this one is especially great for competitive teens. To play, set up a relay course and divide the guests into teams. Give each person a spoon. The first person on each team also gets an egg. The goal is to carry an egg on a spoon through the relay course.
Once you have successfully made it through the course, you pass it to the teammate who is next in line. It is then their turn to try and make it through the course. If someone drops an egg, the team has to start back at the beginning and try again. To make this even more challenging, you can make your guests carry the spoon in their mouth; no hands!
29. Reality TV, but in Reality
Bring your guests’ favorite reality television shows to life by having teenage guests compete in theme contests or challenges. Set up obstacles that teams must overcome in the style of The Amazing Race or Survivor, or create a scavenger hunt that includes difficult clues.
Teens will love getting to use their brains and brawn to overcome these challenges and win the ultimate victory.
30. Flashlight Tag
If your party is in the evening, take advantage of the darkness by starting a game of flashlight tag. In a safe and large outdoor area, designate one party guest as “it,” and give them a flashlight. The participant who is “it” must count to 50 or 100 before setting out to find the other party guests.
“It” catches a person by shining their flashlight on the other players. Once a person is caught, they become “it” as well. In order to officially “catch” someone, “it” must identify the person they’ve caught by saying their name. If “it” gets the name wrong, the person gets ten seconds to run free. This is one of the outside party games for kids that is great at keeping children occupied while ensuring they have a great time!
31. Scavenger Hunt
This game is fun for all events. Pick a theme to center the hunt around and then have your guests start hunting. Set a time limit with a list of items they need to find and whoever has the most items at the end wins.
32. Donut on a String
This is not a very common game but the name speaks for itself and it is very simple. Put donuts on strings that are hanging down and have guests eat the donuts but without the use of their hands.
33. Glow Stick Commandos
An organized twist on Flashlight Tag, a Glow Stick Commandos game, requires multiple “its,” and a fairly large group of people monitoring the game. For this game, divide your players into teams.
Glow sticks serve as points and/or currency for prizes, and each color of glow stick has a different point value. Glow sticks must be laid out in different parts of a large outdoor area before the game begins.
At the start of the game, players must leave “home base” in order to collect glow sticks, aka points, for their team. However, leaving the “home base” is dangerous because they could get caught in the flashlight beam of one of the “it” people!
The flashlight holder has three tries to guess the identity of the glow stick holder. If they guess correctly, the holder must give up their glow sticks and return to “home base” before setting out again.
The possibility of getting caught encourages players to use disguises: hence the name “commandos.” The people monitoring the competitions are in charge of giving out points and prizes. Though a bit complex, this is an incredibly fun and memorable game.
These outdoor, fun teen games are sure to get your party guests’ blood pumping. Allowing teens to be active, social, and enjoy time outside is always a win. Your guests will certainly never forget what a great time they had at your party.
Teen Party Games: Conclusion
Hopefully, this list of teen party games to play with teens has helped you plan the perfect indoor or outdoor-teen party! You can even combine some of these ideas and have a party that is both indoor and outdoor. None of these party game ideas are particularly "girly" or "boyish," so if you are planning a party for your teenage daughter or son, feel free to pick from any of the ideas! There are many tween birthday party ideas to choose from, and making sure your party has fun and engaging games is imperative. If you are in need of any other party planning help, check out easyeventplanning.com. There you will find all of your local party-planning necessities.
Written by Shannyn Apolaro and Chelsea Muzar; Contributors: Chris Legere, Sydney Pattison and Sadie Penwright