Contributed by Tim Brugger, Catalogs.com Top 10 Guru

It’s Birthday time and you’re nearly prepared for the onslaught of raving 10-year olds that constitute The Party.

To help keep them busy, here are the Top Ten Birthday Party Games to the rescue.

10. Musical chairs

For Birthdays, try a variation on the classic. Instead of pulling a chair each time the music stops, have enough chairs for all the kids, but decorate one to match the Birthday theme. Whichever child lands in that chair at the appropriate time, gets a prize of some sort. Since each child will have more opportunities, this should also serve to limit the potential for violence from those that got ousted.

9. Goofy relay races

Birthday games that involve children burning energy are never a bad idea. A variation on the traditional relay race, goofy races involve running backwards, hopping on one leg or having a partner guide a racer that is blindfolded. As with many Birthday games, creativity is what separates the good from the great.

8. Musical statues

What makes musical statues a great Birthday game is it can be played either indoors or out. Though, if the weather requires an indoor musical statue game, consider removing sharp objects from the immediate area before the dance floor turns into a mosh pit. These are kids at a Birthday party after all.

7. Balloon stomp

Tie a balloon, with about 4 feet of string, on the ankle of each child. The objective is to stomp on the other Birthday party attendee’s balloon. The last one standing (with a full balloon) wins. As with many Birthday games, furnishing a bit of candy or some other form of prize is always a winner.

6. Pin the tail

Any Top Ten list of Birthday games must include a pin the tail game. As all parents know, it’s included in the Birthday Party Hosting bylaws given to all new parents when leaving the hospital with their new born. Notice this Top Ten list item does not necessarily have to be pin the tail on the donkey, as many of us grew up with. Rather, tailor the animal or creature being “pinned” to the Birthday party theme.

5. Pinatas

What could possibly more enjoyable to a newly turned 9-year old than to pound the stuffing out of large, colorful toy-like object to get at a pile of candy? What’s hard to understand about this Birthday game is why we don’t continue playing well into our 50’s and 60’s. Kids have all the fun.

4. Egg and spoon race

This Birthday game takes a bit of room of course, but is great for burning excess energy, bringing out the friendly but competitive nature of children, and won’t break the bank. Boiling the eggs in advance will limit the mess in the backyard, but isn’t nearly as much fun as watching the faces of kids who just got egg-gook all over themselves.

3. Scavenger hunt

This is a great Birthday game, in part because it involves all the attendees, with no waiting. Sending a few groups of kids off to find a list of items, with a prize waiting for the winners, is a sure-fire hit. Make certain to impose a time limit with this one, otherwise the die-hards of the group will be out until the wee hours searching for that one, last hard-to-find item.

2. Water balloon toss

Best played on a warm day, tossing water balloons for sport should probably be considered for the next Summer Olympiad. Offer this one at your next Birthday party, and you’re almost assured of having the parents standing in line to play too.

1. Birthday treasure hunt

These take a bit of forethought from the Birthday party hosts, but are an absolute sure winner, particularly when it’s tied into the Birthday theme. It’s a blast watching the kids running all over creation after deciphering a clue, only to find another clue, which leads to the next; and so on, and so on. Parents with evil intent, feel free to extend this game into the early evening hours by requiring the decoding of 46 clues.