10 Fun Monkey Party Games
These games are a great way to entertain guests at a monkey-themed birthday party.
Who’s the Monkey?
Gather players and choose one to be the guesser. That child leaves the room. The rest of the players choose another person to be the monkey. That player starts to move around like a monkey. The rest of the players copy the motions of the player who is the monkey. The guesser is brought back into the room to watch the movements of the crowd.
Every time the monkey changes movements, the rest must quickly follow, trying not to give away who is the monkey. When she guesses correctly, she gets to choose which player has to be the guesser for the next round.
Monkey Chain
Divide players into two teams. Have them line up to form a chain. Give each team a barrel of monkeys. The first player in line has to take one out and pass that monkey and the barrel to the next player. The second player has to link a second monkey to the first and then pass the barrel on. The third player attaches a third monkey. This continues down the line, and passing the monkeys becomes more difficult as the chain becomes longer. If the barrel reaches the end of the line and there are still monkeys inside, players will pass the chain back in the opposite direction. The first team to empty the barrel and have an unbroken monkey chain wins.
Monkey Freeze Dance
Play this game like you would the traditional game of Freeze Dance. However, when the music plays, instead of dancing, the kids will walk and jump around like monkeys.
When the music stops, the monkeys must freeze in place. Any player who doesn’t freeze right away is out of the game. Continue playing until only one player remains. He is the winning monkey dancer.
Musical Vines
This is a monkey-themed take on the classic game of musical chairs. Instead of chairs, hang lengths of green curling ribbon from the ceiling. Hang them in a row or circle, so that they look like hanging vines. You should hang one less vine than you have players. Kids circle the vines while music plays. When the music stops, they must reach up and grab a vine. The monkey who was not able to grab onto a vine is out. Remove another vine from the ceiling and start the music again. Keep playing like this until only one player is left holding a vine.
Banana Relay
Divide kids into two teams. Give each team a spatula and a banana. Set a line several feet away from where the teams will start the race. One at a time, players from each team have to carry the banana on the spatula to the line, turn around and return to their teams. The banana-on-the-spatula is handed off to the next player in line. If a player drops the banana, he must start over. The first team to have all members complete the task wins.
Banana Peels
Cut yellow paper into the shapes of banana peels, and tape them to the floor. Play some music, and have the kids dance around like monkeys. When the music stops, the monkeys must immediately freeze in place. Once frozen, anyone caught standing on a banana peel “slips,” and is out of the game.
Banana Split Race
Divide players into two teams. Give each team everything needed to make a large banana-split sundae. Set the items and ingredients at one end of the room and have the teams line up on the other side. Players race, relay-style, to collect all of the items. Once they have retrieved everything needed, they will build a banana split sundae. The first team to finish wins, but, actually, everyone wins because they all get to eat the sundaes at the end of this game.
Banana Peeling Pairs
Divide players into pairs. Tie one hand behind each player’s back. Give each pair a bunch of bananas. Set a timer and have them work together with their free hands to peel the bananas. When time is up, the team that peeled the most bananas wins.
Banana Eating Contest
Place a small, peeled banana on a plate (make one plate like this for each player). Cover the plates with whipped cream. Have players put their hands behind their backs and see who can find and eat their banana first.
Monkey Stomp
To play inflate several large, long yellow balloons. Toss them on the floor. Set a timer and send the monkeys in to stomp them, challenging them to pop them all with their feet before time runs out.
Who’s the Monkey?
Gather players and choose one to be the guesser. That child leaves the room. The rest of the players choose another person to be the monkey. That player starts to move around like a monkey. The rest of the players copy the motions of the player who is the monkey. The guesser is brought back into the room to watch the movements of the crowd.
Every time the monkey changes movements, the rest must quickly follow, trying not to give away who is the monkey. When she guesses correctly, she gets to choose which player has to be the guesser for the next round.
Monkey Chain
Divide players into two teams. Have them line up to form a chain. Give each team a barrel of monkeys. The first player in line has to take one out and pass that monkey and the barrel to the next player. The second player has to link a second monkey to the first and then pass the barrel on. The third player attaches a third monkey. This continues down the line, and passing the monkeys becomes more difficult as the chain becomes longer. If the barrel reaches the end of the line and there are still monkeys inside, players will pass the chain back in the opposite direction. The first team to empty the barrel and have an unbroken monkey chain wins.
Monkey Freeze Dance
Play this game like you would the traditional game of Freeze Dance. However, when the music plays, instead of dancing, the kids will walk and jump around like monkeys.
When the music stops, the monkeys must freeze in place. Any player who doesn’t freeze right away is out of the game. Continue playing until only one player remains. He is the winning monkey dancer.
Musical Vines
This is a monkey-themed take on the classic game of musical chairs. Instead of chairs, hang lengths of green curling ribbon from the ceiling. Hang them in a row or circle, so that they look like hanging vines. You should hang one less vine than you have players. Kids circle the vines while music plays. When the music stops, they must reach up and grab a vine. The monkey who was not able to grab onto a vine is out. Remove another vine from the ceiling and start the music again. Keep playing like this until only one player is left holding a vine.
Banana Relay
Divide kids into two teams. Give each team a spatula and a banana. Set a line several feet away from where the teams will start the race. One at a time, players from each team have to carry the banana on the spatula to the line, turn around and return to their teams. The banana-on-the-spatula is handed off to the next player in line. If a player drops the banana, he must start over. The first team to have all members complete the task wins.
Banana Peels
Cut yellow paper into the shapes of banana peels, and tape them to the floor. Play some music, and have the kids dance around like monkeys. When the music stops, the monkeys must immediately freeze in place. Once frozen, anyone caught standing on a banana peel “slips,” and is out of the game.
Banana Split Race
Divide players into two teams. Give each team everything needed to make a large banana-split sundae. Set the items and ingredients at one end of the room and have the teams line up on the other side. Players race, relay-style, to collect all of the items. Once they have retrieved everything needed, they will build a banana split sundae. The first team to finish wins, but, actually, everyone wins because they all get to eat the sundaes at the end of this game.
Banana Peeling Pairs
Divide players into pairs. Tie one hand behind each player’s back. Give each pair a bunch of bananas. Set a timer and have them work together with their free hands to peel the bananas. When time is up, the team that peeled the most bananas wins.
Banana Eating Contest
Place a small, peeled banana on a plate (make one plate like this for each player). Cover the plates with whipped cream. Have players put their hands behind their backs and see who can find and eat their banana first.
Monkey Stomp
To play inflate several large, long yellow balloons. Toss them on the floor. Set a timer and send the monkeys in to stomp them, challenging them to pop them all with their feet before time runs out.
Source...