At Home Birthday Party Ideas For Kids

For my son’s 5th birthday, he requested a birthday party at home. I was a little nervous about throwing a kids’ party in our house, but, it ended up being great!

I cleaned, decluttered, and kid-proofed our house to the max, and also organized some fun home birthday party activities.

Since my son’s birthday is in the winter in the wet cold PNW, I had to come up with indoor birthday party ideas. Here they are!

Fun Ideas For Kids Birthday Parties At Home

The activities listed below all have just enough structure to keep kids out of trouble, while also allowing lots of room for freedom, creativity, and fun!

The home birthday activities I share here are also budget-friendly, or can easily be adapted to an affordable version.

10 Indoor Home Birthday Party Activities

1. Scavenger hunt
2. Playdough table
3. Big group coloring poster
4. Collage craft station
5. Play fort
6. Wall gym and stepping stones
7. Magnetic tiles
8. Pretend play corner
9. Bean bag toss
10. Dance party

1. Scavenger Hunt

My soon-to-be 5-year-old loves scavenger hunts. So of course we had to include this as an activity for his birthday party at home!

I found a dozen animal pictures using the online design tool Canva (I use the free plan). I also used a template from Canva to create the scavenger hunt checklist.

Next, I printed the 12 animal photos and a bunch of scavenger hunt sheets off at the library.

Before the night of the party, I taped the scavenger hunt pictures all around our house.

I also ordered a pack of temporary tattoos from Amazon to give out as prizes after the scavenger hunt.

Kids loved the thrill of the hunt! It also gave them a chance to work together.

All in all, a scavenger hunt is a fun, budget-friendly, indoor or outdoor activity for a kids’ birthday party.

The tattoos cost $7.99 and printing the pictures at the library and using Canva’s free plan to get the pictures was all free (note that some libraries may charge for printing).

2. Playdough Station

The playdough station at my 5-year-old’s home birthday party was a popular spot!

For this activity, I made a big batch of playdough using our homemade playdough recipe.

Next, I set up a kids’ craft table with cookie cutters, rolling pins, and mini animal figurines. I had some small stepstools and floor cushions around the table for seating.

Both kids and adults were able to gather around this table during the birthday party and enjoy an engaging, low-key, sensory activity.

I bought a craft table at Goodwill, and step stools and floor cushions at Ross. We already had these furniture items, but I definitely would have sought some out for the birthday party had we not.

3. Group Coloring Poster

I ordered a big coloring poster from Amazon featuring a little city with cars, buildings, and roads.

A group coloring poster is a great way for kids and even adults to work on something collaboratively!

The poster was big enough that multiple kids and/or adults could sit around it and color.

4. Collage Craft Station

The craft station was another central gathering spot during the birthday party.

I wanted a craft activity that would not create a big mess or require too much supervision but would still be engaging for kids.

So I ended up finding a big pack of colorful foam peel-and-stick shapes, along with a pack of colorful cardstock. I also bought a big pack of googly eyes and glue sticks.

I set all of these materials out on a couple of plates on a kids’ picnic table.

There was minimal clean up and kids floated to and from this activity throughout the party.

5. Play Fort

I had been eyeing fort-building kits on Amazon for the past year. So my son’s home birthday party was the perfect excuse to finally bite the bullet and buy one!

I bought some colorful sheer tulle curtains to drape over the fort, and threw some fun throw pillows, a fuzzy blanket, and stuffed animals into the fort. I also hung some twinkle star lights inside for some extra whimsy!

I know we will use this fort kit for years to come!

Making a fun play fort out of a big cardboard box or some furniture with sheets draped over is another budget-friendly option.

6. Stepping Stones and Wall Gym

Kids need to move, groove, jump, duck, and twirl! They need to get all their wiggles out and having some play equipment and/or open space encourages all those things at a home birthday party.

We already had a small wall gym with a rope ladder, climbing ladder, and rings; however, I probably would not have purchased this for the birthday party had we not already had it. Since all the kids’ parents were there to supervise though, I was fine leaving it up for the party so the kids could enjoy it.

I also put out some play stepping stones for kids to jump around on.

7. Magnatiles

Magnatiles (or off-brand magnetic tiles) are great for kids of all ages! We already had some magnetic tiles, but I bought a few more from Amazon to add to our collection to set out for the birthday party.

I set them out in a couple of baskets on the floor.

This is a nice activity for kids to wander to if they are feeling uncertain about what to do or need a grounding activity.

While Magnatiles are considered to be the premium magnetic tiles and brand-name versions, a lot of the generic and cheaper magnetic tiles are perfectly good! I cannot tell the difference between Magnatiles versus the less expensive set I bought from Amazon.

8. Pretend Play Corner

Kids have incredible imaginations, and giving them some props to encourage pretend play is a great activity for a preschooler home birthday party!

I cleaned up our Melissa & Doug play kitchen/diner and made sure there was plenty of space for kids to move around it.

I got this kitchen/diner off of Facebook Marketplace for a fraction of the price it costs new. Thrift stores like Goodwill also often have play kitchens for sale. These are great eco-friendly and budget-friendly options if you aren’t buying new.

9. Bean Bag Toss

A simple game of bean bag toss is a classic for a reason! It’s the perfect birthday party game because it’s simple, lighthearted, and fun for all ages.

I found a simple bean bag toss for a few bucks at Target. A bean bag toss game would be easy to DIY too. Just search “DIY bean bag toss” on Pinterest!

10. Dancing

Kids love to dance! They need at least a little open space to groove if having an indoor birthday party at home, so clearing some space to do that was a must.

I made a kids’ birthday party playlist on Apple Music with some fun songs to encourage spontaneous dancing throughout the party. There were some mellow songs thrown into the mix as well because who can dance to Danny-Go and the Freeze Dance Song for 2 hours straight?

Planning a Home Birthday Party

I must admit that planning my preschooler’s at-home birthday party involved more than I thought it would. You wouldn’t think that a 5-year-old’s home birthday party would be that big of a deal, but there was a lot to prep for and keep in mind!

So here are some of the things I learned along the way.

Start Planning Early

I started gathering supplies and planning for my son’s home birthday party a couple of months or so in advance. I’m not great at planning and organizing, so I knew I would have to start doing these things early.

I’m so glad I did, because even with planning, my husband and I still ended up staying up late the night before the party to put up decorations, set up activities, and make cupcakes.

Here are all the Simple Birthday Decorations For A Home Birthday Party I set up!

Physically Space out Activities

Since we do not live in a mansion, I spaced out activity stations as best I could to keep kids from getting overstimulated.

The spacing allowed kids to migrate to different play areas as they wished.

Clean and Declutter the House

One of the great things about having a home birthday party was that it motivated me to do a massive house decluttering and cleaning. I wanted guests to feel comfortable and welcome, and kids to have a safe space to play and explore.

Here are some of the things I prioritized as I was cleaning and decluttering;

• Put away any potential problem toys (for example, we put away toys we knew my 5-year-old would have a really hard time sharing)
• Removed any safety hazards (for example, cords kids could trip on)
• Deep-cleaned the bathroom
• Set up a welcoming doorway entrance
• Cleared our coats and shoes from the entryway so guests would have a place for their coats and shoes
• Vacuumed, mopped, washed windows
• Clean bits of food off of walls and chairs (yes, I have small children and bits of food plastered around my house)
• Blocked off the hallways leading to bedrooms

What do you think of these home birthday party ideas for kids? Say hi and let me know in the comments below!