Birthday Party Games for a 12 Year Old Boy

No child's birthday party is complete without having some games. A 12-year-old boy is getting to the age as a pre-teen or tween where some party games are "childish," while others are still far too adult in nature. Thus choosing appropriate games for a 12-year-old can be challenging at times. However, there are still lots of birthday party games that tweens will love, ensuring they have a good time at the party.

Set up a gaming room or a game section. Have the kids take turns challenging one another to various games. You can set it up to be a tournament or championship-style match in which people play until they lose, or do one-on-one tournaments. Or if you have multiple controllers for video game system, then play a racing game and see who can out-drive the others.

Divide the kids into two or more teams. Let each team choose one person to be the mummy. See who can wrap up their mummy the fastest using all the toilet paper you give them (a few rolls). Afterward, have the "mummies" participate in a race to see which mummy can race to the finish line first; they should be waddling since they've been wrapped up. Play it a couple times so everyone gets a chance to be the mummy.

A classic summer fun game, the water balloon toss never gets old. Have the kids partner up and line up in two lines so they each face a partner. Give one person from each team a water balloon. On each whistle or cue from you, they have to toss the water balloon to their partner. Their partner must catch the balloon. If they drop it and it breaks, that team is out. The next toss, they have to take a step back so the distance between them is greater. The game continues until there's only one team left that hasn't dropped or broken their water balloon.

Put a little twist on the traditional scavenger hunt by making it into a treasure hunt. Give each group a set of clues that they have to figure out (a riddle of sorts) to discover what items they need to find on the scavenger hunt. The first team to bring back all the correct items (yes, they have to figure out the clues correctly) wins.

Get a large beach ball and write questions all over it with a marker. Have everyone sit around and toss the balloon. Each time a person catches it they have to answer the question where their thumb is on the balloon. The questions should have a wide range and include everything from "what is your favorite color?" to "what's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?" to get kids laughing and having a good time.