Mardi Gras Party Games

Mardi Gras is French for "fat Tuesday." In Catholic tradition, Fat Tuesday is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the day marking the beginning of Lent. Raucous celebrations mark Fat Tuesday as the last day of indulgence until Lent is over. Revelers eat doughnuts, dress up in colorful costumes, play loud music and participate in all manners of debauchery. If you're throwing a Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras party or a themed birthday party, you have to have plenty of games. It wouldn't feel like Mardi Gras without them.

Passing the beads often results in plenty of giggling, tangled party guests and funny poses. You need two strands of Mardi Gras beads at least 50 feet long. Make some by cutting small bead strands between two beads and gluing the strands end-to-end with super glue or by tying them together. Split your guests up into two teams. Each team must pass its bead strand down the line as quickly as possible. However, there is a "catch." Each team member must thread himself onto the strand by passing it through a shirt, down a pant leg, into a shoe or even through a thick watch or bracelet. The team to get their strand from one end of the line to the other wins.

This coin toss is a play on common carnival games. Tie a cord between two chairs to mark where the players must stand. Number a few colorful top hats or baskets and set them in a row with "one" closest to the starting line and the highest number furthest away. Each player gets three coins or strings of party beads. Players must toss the objects into the hats or baskets. The higher hat numbers can have the biggest prizes. Prizes may include costume jewelry or hats, candy, bottles of sparkling cider or wine, gift cards or other party favors.

For this game, spray paint a bunch of Mardi Gras beads and coins with different colors of glow-in-the-dark paint. Choose at least three contrasting colors, such as yellow, green and purple. Hide the treasure all over the party area. Some should be in the open while others should be harder to find. Split your guests into three teams and assign them each a color. The team to find the most treasure in five minutes wins.