Exploding bombs, stuffed children, last survivors: the best competition games for kids provide laughter and giggles for children and also sometimes thrills charged with crackling tension. The competition games for indoors and outdoors are all quickly implementable and for most nothing extra must be purchased.
Competitive games are games in which people compete against each other. They are small, exciting, playful solo, pair, or team competitions that you play for fun. For added thrill and even more excitement with cheering along, a bet is made between the teammates. What the kids bet is up to them. You can also provide them with small toys or sweets as a wager. The additional incentive of being able to win something is an enormous incentive (not only for children ;-)).
Some of our competition games for kids are purely competitive, of course you can always bet on who or which team will win. But you don’t have to. Most of the games come with suggestions for betting. The important thing is that they are only suggestions, you can play all games without betting, except “bet that”. But more importantly, you can play all games with bets! The more bizarre, crazy, funny the bet the better.
For a better overview, the games are divided into competition games for kids indoors and betting games for children outdoors. The games are most suitable for children from 7 or 8-13 years.
10 Indoor Competition Games for Kids
Many of the competition games for children indoors are fun games of skill. No matter what hobby and sport a child plays, in these games no one can know in advance who will come out on top.
1. Unwrap Surprise Egg – Bet I Am the Fastest?
- Age: from 10 years
- Materials needed: one surprise egg per player
- Number of players: from 2
- Duration: about 5 minutes per player
Each child gets a surprise egg and is allowed to put it on the table in front of him. The aim of the game is to unwrap the egg as quickly as possible with the mouth. The egg must not be swallowed and the hands must not be used either. Everyone is timed and whoever is the fastest wins. In this competition game for kids, everyone bets on themselves.
2. Defuse Bomb – Bet the Bomb Will Not Explode?
- Age: from 8 years
- Materials needed: Toilet paper, 2 identical items (light)
- Number of players: from 4
- Duration: about 10 minutes
This fun competition game for kids is played in two teams. Before the game starts, the teams bet on how many bombs will explode on the other team.
Then it starts. Each team gets a toilet paper roll and a light object. Two players each hold the toilet paper at one end and place the object on it. Now the bomb must be transported on the taut band into the bucket without falling down and thus exploding. The team whose tip is closest to the correct result wins.
3. Sorting Game – Bet I Am Best at Sorting?
- Age: from 10 years
- Materials needed: 2 chairs, 4 bowls / plates, three kinds of nuts or three kinds of lids
- Number of players: from 3
- Duration: approx. 3 minutes per round
Two candidates each sit down on a chair. At their feet in front of each is a bowl with an identical number of chestnuts, hazelnuts and walnuts. Alternatively, they can be crown caps, corks and plastic lids. Next to them are 3 more empty bowls. After the start signal, the two candidates have to rearrange the nuts or lids into the bowls with their toes. They have 3 minutes to do this. The goal is to sort the most nuts or lids correctly into the bowls.
Before starting, the remaining children bet on which candidate will win and manage to sort the most correctly sorted nuts or lids into the bowls in 3 minutes.
How to make it harder: To increase the difficulty (and the fun factor) you can also blindfold the candidates and have them sort blindly.
4. Potbelly Bet – Bet My Balloon Is the Fattest
- Age: from 10 years
- Materials needed: Balloons
- Number of players:no matter
- Duration: approx. 3 minutes
The aim of this competition game is to inflate the balloon with the largest circumference. The trick: To make it impossible to judge the competition, the children have to inflate the balloons blindfolded. Whoever thinks they have inflated the balloon as plumply as possible ties it in a knot and the circumference is measured. If a balloon bursts, that player is eliminated – he wanted too much. The winner is the child with the thickest balloon.
5. Stuffed – Who Pads His Candidate Best?
- Age: any
- Materials needed: Newspapers
- Number of players: 1 volunteer per group
- Duration: approx. 5 minutes
You form two teams of equal size. Each team gets an equal number of newspapers and provides a volunteer. At a start signal, each team begins to crumple up sheets of newspaper and put them under the volunteer’s T-shirt and in his pants. As soon as a given time (for example 5 minutes) is over, the team that has stuffed its volunteer with the most newspaper balls is counted and wins.
If the kids really get into it (teens tend to be difficult), “Stuffed” is indisputably one of the most fun competition games for kids.
6. Betting Tasks Without Material for the Whole Group
- Age: any
- Materials needed: none
- Number of players: interesting from 6 players.
- Duration: 3 minutes per bet.
The children form at least two teams and compete against each other at the same time. The better team wins the big betting game.
- Bet you can’t manage to do 100 push-ups within 2 minutes
- Bet that you do not manage to hit 5 wheels in a row in 1 minute
- Bet you can’t manage to recognize 8 out of 10 feet blindfolded
- Wager that you can’t make 5 of you blindfolded recognize another one of you
- Bet you can’t manage to stand silently for 1 minute and then all raise your right hand at the same time
- Bet you can’t build a pyramid out of 5 kids that lasts 10 minutes
- Bet you can’t get two guys to dress up as girls and pass as them within 5 minutes!
- Bet you can’t manage to do a handstand for 5 minutes on one hand
- Bet that you do not manage to recite all the capitals of Europe as the last bet in a row
- Bet you can’t manage to pick your own shoes out of a big pile with all your shoes in 2 minutes?
7. Betting Tasks With Material for the Whole Group
- Age: any
- Materials needed: none
- Number of players: interesting from 6 players
- Duration: 3 minutes per bet
For the tasks in these bets that bets you need materials. All children are divided equally into at least two teams and play against each other at the same time. The winner is the better team.
- Bet you can’t manage to lie between 2 chairs for 3 minutes
- Bet that you do not manage to knot a 4 meter long string from cooked spaghetti in 5 minutes
- Bet that you do not manage to drink 2 liters of mineral water in 1 minute
- Bet you can’t manage to build 7 card houses 7 stories high in 7 minutes
- Bet you can’t make it so that one*of you is dressed completely in one color
8. Laugh Bet – Bet You Laugh!
- Age: from 10 years
- Materials needed: none
- Number of players: from 2 teammates
- Duration: approx. 2 minutes
Have you ever tried not to laugh? That’s pretty difficult when your challenger does nothing but make you laugh with grimaces, jokes, and anything else he can think of. Before it starts, a couple agrees on a wager that the one who loses must fulfill. The challenger bets that he will make the teammate laugh within 2 minutes, while the latter will win if he manages not to laugh for 2 minutes.
9. Guessing Questions Competition Games for Kids
- Age: from 10 years
- Materials needed: jar of candy, pen, piece of paper
- Number of players: from 4
- Duration: about 10-15 minutes
In front of the children is a large jar filled with sweets. Each child must guess how many candies are in the jar and secretly write the number on a piece of paper with his or her name and fold it. The child who is closest to the correct number wins the game and receives the entire jar full of candy as a prize.
10. Feather Blowing – Bet My Feather Wins?
- Age: from 10 years
- Materials needed: Springs, stopwatch (smartphone)
- Number of players: from 2
- Duration: about 10 minutes depending on the number of players
You can play feather blowing either in two groups or everyone against everyone. Each group can choose a feather and give a time as a tip on how long the group as a whole or each individual alone will manage to keep the feather in the air by blowing: “Bet I can do 10 seconds? Now everyone takes their turn and the time is stopped. The bet is won by the person whose estimate of how long the feather will stay in the air is closest to the real result. In a betting game as a group, the total time decides.
10 Outside Competition Games for Kids
Jumping, throwing, catching, running: the outdoor games for children are playful, fast-paced competitions where kids can let off steam.
11. King of the Jungle – Bet I Can Do What the Monkeys Can!
- Age: from 10 years
- Materials needed: bananas, stopwatch
- Number of players:no matter
- Duration: approx. 3-5 minutes
Monkeys can do a lot of things with their feet: even peel and eat bananas. Some people can actually do that too! In one of the fun competition games for kids, kids form two teams and 2 volunteers compete against each other. Everyone else bets out loud who will manage to peel the banana in time with their feet, or even eat it, or who will not. All the candidates who made it compete against each other until only one winner remains. This is the king of the jungle (and gets a prize).
12. Ball Master – Bet I Catch All the Balls Out of the Air
- Age: from 8 years
- Materials needed: Table tennis balls, water glass
- Number of players:no matter
- Duration: about 3 minutes per player
Ball master is one of the competition games for children, where skill is important. The candidate must catch 10 table tennis balls with a water glass. These are thrown down from a ladder, from the table or tree, or thrown by the teammates. Each ball caught in the glass gives one point. Who catches the most table tennis balls?
13. Rally – Bet We Can Do X Change
- Age: from 10 years
- Materials needed: Balls
- Number of players: from 4
- Duration: approx. 3 minutes per bet
In this competition game for children you form teams of two. Each team places a bet and announces how many rallies they will manage. The other teams bet on whether they will make it or not. A rally consists of player 1 throwing the ball to his teammate and at the same time player 2 kicking another ball to him with his feet. As soon as a ball is not caught or kicked at the same time, it is over.
14. Throwing Bet – Competition Games for Kids With A Ball in Team
- Age: from 10 years
- Materials needed: per teammate
- Number of players: from 4
- Duration: approx. 3 minutes per bet
The toss bet is another bet with balls for teams of two. Also in this competition game, before starting the challenge, each team announces how many throws they will manage and the other teams bet whether they will manage it or not. A toss consists of the first player throwing a ball up in the air and at the same time the 2nd player throwing it to him, catching it and quickly throwing it back to catch the ball thrown up.
How often do you bet, do you manage to throw the ball up, catch it and change the ball?
15. Blind Course – Bet I Don’t Knock Anything Over!
- Age: any
- Materials needed: Bottles, strings, blindfold, target shield or line
- Number of players:no matter
- Duration: about 3 minutes per player
A course is set up in advance by stretching cords and placing bottles. The target is marked with a sign or a line. The first candidate is blindfolded after he has memorized the course. He now tries to master the course as much as possible and climb over cords and bottles until he reaches the goal. Who manages not to knock anything over?
This game is all about fun and there is no scoring!
16. Throwing Cans – Competition Games for Teams
- Age: from 10 years
- Materials needed: ball, 9 cans, handcuffs
- Number of players:no matter
- Duration: approx. 3 minutes per team
9 cans are stacked to form a tower. The children form teams of two and are tied together by their hands. They must now work together to shoot the cans off the table with their bound arm. Which team manages to knock over all the cans? The children watching make bets on who they think will make it. The winners are the team that hit the most cans and the tea that bet on the correct winning team.
17. Island Hopping – Pacey Games for Children
- Age: from 7 years
- Materials needed: towels, paper cups, target line (rope or chalk spray), water, measuring cup
- Number of players: from 2
- Duration: approx. 15 minutes
Preparation: Spread the towels about 120 cm apart as a course and mark the starting line and the finish.
Each player receives a paper cup filled to the brim with water in each hand and tries to hop through the course from island to island, spilling as little water as possible. The candidates start one after the other and stand in a row behind the starting line. If a candidate steps next to a towel, into the sea, the attempt is invalid and he must line up again at the back. The winner is the player who still has the most water in his two cups. The easiest way to measure this is with a measuring cup.
18. Balloon Race – Funny Running Game for Two
- Age: from 7 years
- Materials needed: Balloons, finish line (rope or chalk spray)
- Number of players: from 4
- Duration: about 10 minutes
In the balloon race, children form teams of two. Each team gets a balloon and lines up at the starting line. How big the team inflates the balloon is up to them. The goal of this competition game is to run the distance in pairs with the balloon. Each race goes 3 distances: the first distance from the start line to the finish line the pair crosses with balloons clamped between their heads. The second distance back from the finish line to the start line the balloon is clamped between their bellies. The final stretch from the start line to the finish line the balloon is clamped between their backs. But be careful: The balloon must not be touched with the hands as soon as they start running! If the balloon falls down, the pair has to start again from the beginning. If the balloon bursts, the pair is eliminated. The winner is the pair that first crosses the finish line with the balloon between their backs.
19. Ping Pong Betting – Competition Games for Children With Ball
- Age: from 8 years
- Materials needed: Ball
- Number of players: from 4
- Duration: about 3 minutes per player
A volunteer throws a ball with one hand above his head and catches it with the other hand. He tries to throw the ball back and forth as many times as possible without dropping it.
Before the contestant starts, he announces the minimum number of times he will manage to throw the ball back and forth and catch it. The other children place bets on whether he will succeed or not.
20. The Last Survivor – Creative Competition Games for Kids
- Age: from 12 years
- Materials needed: none or if necessary price
- Number of players: from 2 volunteers
- Duration: about 15-30 minutes
In this competition game for children, the task is to dress up as the last survivor after the apocalypse. It can be hidden shorts with a skirt made of reeds or brushwood, paint the whole body with mud and work with any natural materials that children find outside. You can also distribute cleaned waste such as containers as headdresses, plastic bags at the site. The more stark and wild the disguise the better. At the presentation, each survivor demonstrates their costume.
Not everyone has to dress up for this competition game – at least two teammates who volunteer and feel like it are enough. The others are the judges and each award points for the costume as well as the presentation and bet on who will win. The winners are the last survivor with the most points and the teammates who bet on the winner.
Are you looking for nice games for kids for a kids birthday party? Do you already know these fun games with confetti, games with streamers and these balloon games? On Abenjteuer Freundschaft there are games for families, friends and couples for special occasions like birthday or Christmas but also for every day colorful ideas for leisure. Browse through our ideas!
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