How to Plan a Fear Factor Birthday Party for Kids

Planning a Fear Factor birthday party can be almost as fun as throwing the party itself. While almost any type of disgusting and challenging game will work, here are some suggestions for general types of activities with specific examples to get you thinking.

Instructions

1. Consider the age and gender of your guests. You'll need to design activities that will entertain but not cause too much fear in the kids coming to the party. Make your games a little easier for a younger crowd and a bit more gross and challenging for older kids.

2. Develop a plan for giving out prizes. You can use a point system for attempting and winning each challenge and give prizes out based on points. Be sure all of the prizes are something the kids will like and don't have a first place prize that is far and away better than all the rest. You don't want to create resentment amongst your partygoers.

3. Choose a game or two that involves eating something gross yet safe. You can clean out a can of dog food and fill it with a concoction of food that looks like dog food. Have the kids roll a die and the number they roll is the number of spoonfuls of "dog food" they'll have to eat. Another fun game is to make English muffin pizzas with odd toppings. Have the kids reach into a bag and pick out three items that will then be cooked on their pizza. Include regular items like sauce, cheese, and pepperonis, but also include things like Vienna sausage, sardines, pickles, and other strange items. These can make for some very interesting combinations.

4. Select a challenge that requires the kids to hold or feel something slimy and get a little messy. A fun activity for this is to a have kids bob for something, either in liquid or a bowl of noodles. You may want to put mini candy bars in a barrel of liquid and call your game "Bobbing for turds." Or this could be a team event in which each team must find items in a trashcan. Fill a trashcan with normal trash but also include things like oatmeal, coffee grounds, maple syrup, wet toilet paper, and any other slimy thing you can think of. Also include things they must find in the trash like a spoon, a bar of soap, a paperclip, and other solid items. Include the same number of items as you have team members so everyone has to find at least one item.

5. Design a race that involves a challenging task for the kids to perform either as a team or individually. Each child could have to untie a challenging knot to release an item from your backyard tree or swing set and bring the item to the finish line. If you have a swimming pool, kids could swim to the bottom to retrieve items placed there.