My ten and eight year old sons both have birthdays in August. They wanted a combined party in the backyard with about 35 friends. Together, they decided to have a Cookie Fest!
I needed two birthday cakes– but this was a cookie party, so NO cake. We settled on a stack of homemade sugar cakes with a bamboo skewer stuck through the middle of each stack. They looked like miniature Towers of Pisa. The boys loved them, and the preparation time was very little!
Now, how to entertain 35 kids for three hours…
This party was during the evening so some of the time was spent eating dinner. The rest was filled with cookie challenges, games, and a scavenger hunt (of sorts). Be warned– you will need to purchase several packages of cookies for these activities. Just find the cheapest generic cookies you can!
Cookie Relay Races
Divide your guests into teams. Create a start and finish line in your yard. Most of the races will require the kids to run to the finish line and then back to the line where they started, tag the next teammate in line, and the race continues. Here are some ideas for relays:
Line up cookies on a blanket (on the ground) at the finish line. The kids have to run to the cookies, kneel down and eat a cookie without using their hands, say “Happy Birthday, _____” , then run back to the start line.
Hold a cookie between the knees and waddle to the finish line and back.
Crab walk to the finish line with a cookie balanced on your stomach.
Hold a cookie between your neck and chest, and run to the finish line and back.
Hold a cookie between two people without using your hands and run to the finish line and back together.
Balance a cookie on your head and run to the finish line and back.
Use a cookie like a Frisbee. Throw it, then run to wear it lands, pick it up and throw it again, until you get to the finish line and back.
Use a broom or hockey stick to golf a cookie to the finish line and back.
Steal the Cookie
Play “Steal the Bacon,” but with cookies! I turned a frisbee into a giant cookie by covering it with brown paper and black-marker chocolate chips. We used the frisbee for the “bacon”.
Cookie Building Challenges
Divide into teams and see which team can make the tallest tower with their cookies.
Divide into teams and create cookie sculptures. You could assign a topic, like vehicles or habitats. Our kids went crazy with the building. I added a few extra building materials to our pile of cookies, including toothpicks, frosting, and marshmallows.
Cookie Drop
Have one person stand on a chair and try to drop small cookies (Cookie Crunch cereal is perfect) into the open mouth of another person laying on the ground below.
Cookie on a String
This is adapted from the old “Donut on a String” game. Tie a string to a fudge striped cookie. (They have holes in the middle just like a donut.) Suspend the cookies in the air by hanging them from monkey bars or a clothesline. The kids try to eat the hanging cookies without using their hands.
Our main event for the night was “The Great Cookie Caper”. It was kind of like a scavenger hunt. We divided into teams of 5-6 kids, each team with one adult. They ran around the neighborhood and completed the tasks. You can adapt the caper to your neighborhood. Our kids always love race challenges like this. Make up your own Cookie Caper or use ours: The Great Cookie Caper
The team that returned to the Cookie Castle first received medals made from cookies. They were just cookies wrapped in saran wrap hanging from a ribbon attached with masking tape.
End the night with presents, cookies, and ice cream.