Best party games for approx 20 3-5 year olds?

[BR44]

Musical statues: check.

Don't want to do musical chairs due to chair shortage or pass the parcel as I want to keep it present/party bag free.

Ideas please!!!!

[frames]

A dressing up race
Passing the balloon race - spilt into teams
Dead lions - a must...the last game before they go home, and then read a short story....eg Kippers Birthday..
A large floor jigsaw...hide all the pieces and then they put it together.

I will try to think....DC had a party game type birthday party for her 4th...the children had really quite limited concentration on anything too complex

[snoggle]

For DS's 4th we found non-competitive games worked the best. They loved Farmers in his Den and musical animals (when the music stops shout out an animal which they have to pretend to be).
Treasure hunt worked well, again a cooperative one where the treasure was all combined (we used a big jigsaw).

Interspersed with a quieter activity -crown-making: cardboard crown blanks, pens, some stickers and jewels, everyone made their own crown to keep them busy while we got the food ready to go.

[BR44]

So many good ideas already! Thanks frames and snoggle. Love the idea for a collaborative floor puzzle and musical animals is definitely going to happen!!

[BR44]

But at the risk of sounding inept, what's Dead Lions?

[frames]

Dead Lions. Children all lay on the floor very still. They have to stay as still as possible...ie playing dead...if they move they are out. The winner is the child left in. The children who are caught out...to keep them occupied they can help spot movement. The trick is to just keep them lying there as long as possible.

[frames]

Oranges and lemons....but don't get to rough with the axeman bit...some children do get frightened!

[frames]

Place setting before tea can occupy time, so they have to
Line up
Collect a plate
Collect a napkin
Collect a cup
Find their name at the table.