Two rules cover most of it. Nobody is ever out — an eliminated four-year-old is a crying four-year-old, and you lose ten minutes. And one activity, prepared properly, beats three prepared badly.
The other thing worth knowing: at this age a two-hour party holds about four things, and one of them should be food. Kids under six cannot sustain a game past ten minutes, so plan short and repeat the one that lands.
01
Pass the Parcel
Free
The old one, and still the best for this age — a small thing in every layer so nobody leaves empty-handed.
12 min
5–24 people
Ages 3–7
An evening of prep
Sit-down
Indoors
What you need
Newspaper or wrapping paper · A small item per layer · Music
How to play
1Wrap a prize in as many layers as you have children, with a sticker or a piece of candy between each.
2Sit in a circle. Music on, the parcel goes around. Music stops, whoever holds it takes off one layer.
3Control the music so every child gets exactly one turn. This is the whole skill of the game.
How it ends
The last layer is the prize. Because you controlled the music, nobody was missed.
02
Musical Shapes
Free
Musical chairs without the crying. Paper shapes on the floor, and no shape is ever removed.
10 min
5–30 people
Ages 3–6
Minutes to set up
Running around
Indoors
What you need
Paper shapes, one per child · Music
How to play
1Tape a paper shape to the floor for every child.
2Music on, everybody dances. Music off, stand on a shape.
3Never remove a shape. Call a color or a shape name instead — "everybody on a circle" — so they crowd together and laugh.
How it ends
Nobody is out, ever. Children of this age do not enjoy elimination, whatever we remember.
03
Pin the Tail
Free
A blindfold, a spin, and a paper tail to stick on the poster. Closest to the right spot wins.
15 min
3–30 people
Ages 3–9
Minutes to set up
Up and about
Inside or out
What you need
A big drawing of the animal taped to the wall: a donkey, a bunny at Easter, the party’s own dinosaur · A paper tail per child with their name on it · Tape or sticky tack · A blindfold
How to play
1Tape the poster at the children’s height, with plenty of floor in front of it.
2One at a time: blindfold on, three gentle spins, then point them at the wall.
3They stick their tail where they think it goes. Their name is on it, so it stays there.
4The littlest go first and get a hand on the shoulder. Peeking is a do-over, not a disqualification.
How it ends
Closest tail wins, but everyone’s stays up on the poster.
04
Sticker Hunt
Free
Stickers hidden at knee height, a paper strip each to stick them on. Works for children too young for a written list.
12 min
4–30 people
Ages 3–6
Minutes to set up
Up and about
Inside or out
What you need
Two sheets of stickers · A paper strip per child
How to play
1Hide stickers low down — knee height, where they will look.
2Give each child a strip of paper and send them off.
3They stick each one they find onto their strip.
How it ends
Everybody keeps their strip. No counting, no winner.
05
Animal Actions
Free
Name an animal, everyone moves like it. Ends with everyone flat on the floor as a sleeping cat.
8 min
4–30 people
Ages 3–6
No prep
Running around
Inside or out
What you need
Nothing
How to play
1Call an animal. Everyone moves like it until you call the next one.
2Alternate loud animals with quiet ones — elephant, then mouse.
3Finish on a sleeping cat, everyone flat on the floor. It settles the room, which is the real purpose.
How it ends
Nobody wins. Use it to calm a room before food.
06
Freeze Dance
Free
Dance while the music plays, freeze when it stops. Anyone who moves does a silly penalty, not an elimination.
12 min
5–40 people
Ages 5–11
No prep
Running around
Inside or out
What you need
Music and something to pause it with
How to play
1Music on, everybody dances. Music off, freeze.
2Anyone who moves does a silly penalty — one lap of the room — and rejoins.
3Silly penalties rather than elimination keep everyone playing, which is the difference between five minutes and fifteen.
How it ends
Stop while they still want more. Final round in slow motion.
07
Make Waves
Free
A bedsheet, everyone holding the edge. Waves, mushroom, and swap-places-underneath.
12 min
6–30 people
Ages 3–8
No prep
Running around
Inside or out
What you need
A large bedsheet
How to play
1Everyone holds the edge. Make small waves, then big ones.
2Mushroom: lift high together, then run underneath and sit on the edge so it domes over you.
3Swap: call two names, they change places under the sheet while everyone else lifts.
How it ends
Finish with the mushroom. It always gets a cheer.
08
Treasure Hunt
In the event kit
Six clues, each one leading to the next, ending at a hidden prize.
25 min
4–32 people
Ages 6–11
An evening of prep
Up and about
Inside or out
What you need
Six printed clue cards · A prize to hide
How to play
1Hide clue 2 in the fridge, 3 in the washing machine, 4 under a pillow, 5 in the bath, 6 on a bookshelf, and the prize under the doormat. Clue 1 is read out to start.
2The six clues print ready to cut. No bath? Use the shower; the clue reads the same.
3Hand out the first. They read it together and go.
4Walk behind them. At this age one clue will stump them and you will need to help.
How it ends
The last clue leads to the prize. Something shared works better than something one child wins.
09
Relay Races
Free
Four short races, teams of equal size. Egg and spoon, sack, three-legged, backwards.
20 min
8–40 people
Ages 6–12
Minutes to set up
Running around
Outdoors
What you need
Two spoons and two potatoes · Two pillowcases · Scarves for legs · Cones or bags as markers
How to play
1Two teams, equal numbers. Mark a start and a turning point.
2Four races: egg and spoon, sack hop, three-legged, and running backwards.
3Change the pairings each race so nobody is stuck with the fastest or slowest.
How it ends
Points per race, announced at the end. Winning team gets first dibs on the cake.
10
Made It, Keep It
In the event kit
One craft, all the pieces pre-cut, and every child leaves with the thing they made.
25 min
4–30 people
Ages 5–12
A project
Sit-down
Inside or out
What you need
Pre-cut craft pieces, one set per child · Glue sticks · Pens · A bag per child to carry it home
How to play
1Choose one craft, not three. Cut everything out beforehand.
2Lay a set at each place so nobody waits for scissors.
3Names on the back before they start, or you will have a pile of unclaimed crafts.
How it ends
The craft is the party favor. It replaces a bag of plastic nobody wanted.
11
Party Bingo
Free
Bingo cards of things that happen at a party. Cross them off as they happen.
45 min
6–30 people
Ages 6–14
Minutes to set up
Sit-down
Inside or out
What you need
A bingo card per child · Pens
How to play
1Cards list things that will happen — someone spills a drink, the cake comes out, a balloon pops.
2Hand them out as guests arrive and let it run in the background all party.
3Nobody has to concentrate on it, which is why it works.
How it ends
First to a full line shouts. Keep going for a full card if they are still interested.
12
Sixty-Second Challenges
Free
Six one-minute challenges with household objects. Stack the cups, move the cookie off your forehead.
25 min
4–30 people
Ages 6–15
Minutes to set up
Up and about
Inside or out
What you need
Plastic cups · Cookies · Cotton balls · Two bowls · A timer
How to play
1Six challenges, one minute each. Stack a cup pyramid. Move a cookie from forehead to mouth with no hands. Move cotton balls between bowls with a spoon in your teeth.
2Everyone attempts each one, or run it as elimination rounds if the group is big.
3Announce the challenge, then start the timer. Not before, or they start early.
How it ends
A point for each challenge completed. Read the totals out at the end.
Two rules cover most of it. Nobody is ever out — an eliminated four-year-old is a crying four-year-old, and you lose ten minutes. And one activity, prepared properly, beats three prepared badly.
The other thing worth knowing: at this age a two-hour party holds about four things, and one of them should be food. Kids under six cannot sustain a game past ten minutes, so plan short and repeat the one that lands.
01
Pass the Parcel
Free
The old one, and still the best for this age — a small thing in every layer so nobody leaves empty-handed.
12 min
5–24 people
Ages 3–7
An evening of prep
Sit-down
Indoors
What you need
Newspaper or wrapping paper · A small item per layer · Music
How to play
1Wrap a prize in as many layers as you have children, with a sticker or a piece of candy between each.
2Sit in a circle. Music on, the parcel goes around. Music stops, whoever holds it takes off one layer.
3Control the music so every child gets exactly one turn. This is the whole skill of the game.
How it ends
The last layer is the prize. Because you controlled the music, nobody was missed.
02
Musical Shapes
Free
Musical chairs without the crying. Paper shapes on the floor, and no shape is ever removed.
10 min
5–30 people
Ages 3–6
Minutes to set up
Running around
Indoors
What you need
Paper shapes, one per child · Music
How to play
1Tape a paper shape to the floor for every child.
2Music on, everybody dances. Music off, stand on a shape.
3Never remove a shape. Call a color or a shape name instead — "everybody on a circle" — so they crowd together and laugh.
How it ends
Nobody is out, ever. Children of this age do not enjoy elimination, whatever we remember.
03
Pin the Tail
Free
A blindfold, a spin, and a paper tail to stick on the poster. Closest to the right spot wins.
15 min
3–30 people
Ages 3–9
Minutes to set up
Up and about
Inside or out
What you need
A big drawing of the animal taped to the wall: a donkey, a bunny at Easter, the party’s own dinosaur · A paper tail per child with their name on it · Tape or sticky tack · A blindfold
How to play
1Tape the poster at the children’s height, with plenty of floor in front of it.
2One at a time: blindfold on, three gentle spins, then point them at the wall.
3They stick their tail where they think it goes. Their name is on it, so it stays there.
4The littlest go first and get a hand on the shoulder. Peeking is a do-over, not a disqualification.
How it ends
Closest tail wins, but everyone’s stays up on the poster.
04
Sticker Hunt
Free
Stickers hidden at knee height, a paper strip each to stick them on. Works for children too young for a written list.
12 min
4–30 people
Ages 3–6
Minutes to set up
Up and about
Inside or out
What you need
Two sheets of stickers · A paper strip per child
How to play
1Hide stickers low down — knee height, where they will look.
2Give each child a strip of paper and send them off.
3They stick each one they find onto their strip.
How it ends
Everybody keeps their strip. No counting, no winner.
05
Animal Actions
Free
Name an animal, everyone moves like it. Ends with everyone flat on the floor as a sleeping cat.
8 min
4–30 people
Ages 3–6
No prep
Running around
Inside or out
What you need
Nothing
How to play
1Call an animal. Everyone moves like it until you call the next one.
2Alternate loud animals with quiet ones — elephant, then mouse.
3Finish on a sleeping cat, everyone flat on the floor. It settles the room, which is the real purpose.
How it ends
Nobody wins. Use it to calm a room before food.
06
Freeze Dance
Free
Dance while the music plays, freeze when it stops. Anyone who moves does a silly penalty, not an elimination.
12 min
5–40 people
Ages 5–11
No prep
Running around
Inside or out
What you need
Music and something to pause it with
How to play
1Music on, everybody dances. Music off, freeze.
2Anyone who moves does a silly penalty — one lap of the room — and rejoins.
3Silly penalties rather than elimination keep everyone playing, which is the difference between five minutes and fifteen.
How it ends
Stop while they still want more. Final round in slow motion.
07
Make Waves
Free
A bedsheet, everyone holding the edge. Waves, mushroom, and swap-places-underneath.
12 min
6–30 people
Ages 3–8
No prep
Running around
Inside or out
What you need
A large bedsheet
How to play
1Everyone holds the edge. Make small waves, then big ones.
2Mushroom: lift high together, then run underneath and sit on the edge so it domes over you.
3Swap: call two names, they change places under the sheet while everyone else lifts.
How it ends
Finish with the mushroom. It always gets a cheer.
08
Treasure Hunt
In the event kit
Six clues, each one leading to the next, ending at a hidden prize.
25 min
4–32 people
Ages 6–11
An evening of prep
Up and about
Inside or out
What you need
Six printed clue cards · A prize to hide
How to play
1Hide clue 2 in the fridge, 3 in the washing machine, 4 under a pillow, 5 in the bath, 6 on a bookshelf, and the prize under the doormat. Clue 1 is read out to start.
2The six clues print ready to cut. No bath? Use the shower; the clue reads the same.
3Hand out the first. They read it together and go.
4Walk behind them. At this age one clue will stump them and you will need to help.
How it ends
The last clue leads to the prize. Something shared works better than something one child wins.
09
Relay Races
Free
Four short races, teams of equal size. Egg and spoon, sack, three-legged, backwards.
20 min
8–40 people
Ages 6–12
Minutes to set up
Running around
Outdoors
What you need
Two spoons and two potatoes · Two pillowcases · Scarves for legs · Cones or bags as markers
How to play
1Two teams, equal numbers. Mark a start and a turning point.
2Four races: egg and spoon, sack hop, three-legged, and running backwards.
3Change the pairings each race so nobody is stuck with the fastest or slowest.
How it ends
Points per race, announced at the end. Winning team gets first dibs on the cake.
10
Made It, Keep It
In the event kit
One craft, all the pieces pre-cut, and every child leaves with the thing they made.
25 min
4–30 people
Ages 5–12
A project
Sit-down
Inside or out
What you need
Pre-cut craft pieces, one set per child · Glue sticks · Pens · A bag per child to carry it home
How to play
1Choose one craft, not three. Cut everything out beforehand.
2Lay a set at each place so nobody waits for scissors.
3Names on the back before they start, or you will have a pile of unclaimed crafts.
How it ends
The craft is the party favor. It replaces a bag of plastic nobody wanted.
11
Party Bingo
Free
Bingo cards of things that happen at a party. Cross them off as they happen.
45 min
6–30 people
Ages 6–14
Minutes to set up
Sit-down
Inside or out
What you need
A bingo card per child · Pens
How to play
1Cards list things that will happen — someone spills a drink, the cake comes out, a balloon pops.
2Hand them out as guests arrive and let it run in the background all party.
3Nobody has to concentrate on it, which is why it works.
How it ends
First to a full line shouts. Keep going for a full card if they are still interested.
12
Sixty-Second Challenges
Free
Six one-minute challenges with household objects. Stack the cups, move the cookie off your forehead.
25 min
4–30 people
Ages 6–15
Minutes to set up
Up and about
Inside or out
What you need
Plastic cups · Cookies · Cotton balls · Two bowls · A timer
How to play
1Six challenges, one minute each. Stack a cup pyramid. Move a cookie from forehead to mouth with no hands. Move cotton balls between bowls with a spoon in your teeth.
2Everyone attempts each one, or run it as elimination rounds if the group is big.
3Announce the challenge, then start the timer. Not before, or they start early.
How it ends
A point for each challenge completed. Read the totals out at the end.
Planning the rest of it?
The planner takes the date, the headcount and who it is for, then works out which of these fit the time you actually have.
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Something didn't arrive. Nothing you have saved is affected — your event is stored on this device.
Your events stay on this device after you sign out.
Delete your account?
This permanently deletes your account, every event saved to it, your published invitations and the replies your guests sent. It cannot be undone. Events kept on this device stay here.
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One account keeps the same event on your laptop and your phone.
Tell it about your party once. The invitations, the menu, the printed kit, the shopping list and the games build themselves from your answers — so the time goes into the gathering, not the planning.
Say what the party is, when, for how many and for whom. The invitation, welcome sign, menu, banner, toppers, food cards and thank-you tags are made in one design with your words already on them. Type a name here and it is set on every sign below in that design’s own lettering. Nothing typed is kept or sent anywhere.
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Prop a laptop on the table and the screen runs the game: one person taps, everyone else shouts. Or deal the cards, with the rules right there on the page. Nothing to install.
Free, all of it — the theme, the menu with quantities, the guest list, the budget, the shopping list, the checklist. What costs money is the printed kit, once.
Just play a game tonight
Open a pack for your occasion on any screen. No account, nothing to install. Add the names at the table and it is personal before the first round.
Part of the game library didn’t arrive. We’re not showing a partial list, because it would leave packs missing formats with nothing to tell you so. Everything else on the site works, and nothing you have saved is affected.
Game night
Games people ask to play again.
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Build my game night
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Tonight, in playing order
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Tonight
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How many are playing?
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On the TV
The screen runs the game.
It reads out the rules, keeps the score and runs the clock, so whoever is hosting gets to play too. Open this page on the laptop or the TV and press Play.
Every game the TV hosts needs at least three players, so a night for two is played at the table. The best of it is just below.
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At the table
Or deal it out.
Card games, dice games and the ones that need nothing but a pen, each quick to learn and hard to stop playing. The rules are on every card.
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Built for the room, not the download.
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Fill this in first
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Your side
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Nothing in the colour library answers to that. Try the city with its sport, or the country.
On the screen tonight
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Fills the screen and sizes the board for the room. Escape to come back.
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WHO IS IT ABOUT?
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IN THE GAME NOW
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EDIT THE QUESTIONS
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Saved on this device only. Nothing you type here is uploaded, and it stays put if you close the tab.
LOADING THE GUIDES
We couldn’t load the guides
Part of the content library didn’t arrive. We’re not showing a partial index. The planner and the games are unaffected.
Planning guides
Guides for the event you are actually planning
Written to answer the question, not to rank for it. Every figure in them comes from the same engines the planner runs.
For the events that go away — costed per head for a long weekend, with the months worth going. Pick a place and the planner starts with the trip already known.
Each one answers in a single screen, prints as a list you can take to the shop, and uses the same arithmetic as the planner — so the number does not change if you carry on there.
Forguests
Every answer below is worked for this many, and each calculator opens on it.
The planner takes the date, the headcount and who it is for, then works out which of these fit the time you actually have.
NOT FOUND
This page isn’t here
The link may have been copied incompletely, or the page it pointed at has moved on. Everything the site knows is still one step away.
Why it exists
Planning a party is mostly admin
Somebody has to work out how much chicken feeds thirty, whether the sprouts and the potatoes can share an oven, what a fourteen-year-old will find embarrassing, and which of the eleven things on the list has to happen before the invitations go out.
None of that is the fun part, and all of it is knowable. That is the whole idea behind Kit & Occasion: the answers exist, they are just spread across forty browser tabs and the memory of whoever hosted last year.
How it works
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What is free and what is not
The planning is free. All of it — the menus, the quantities, the guest list, the budget, the shopping list, the games, the checklist. Not a trial, and not capped at one event.
What costs money is the printing: a coordinated set of signs, labels, table cards and game materials in your own colours, sized correctly, with the paper worked out and the assembly written down. It is the gap between having a plan and having a party, and it is the part people dread. One payment, no subscription.
Start with whatever you are planning next
What the printing is
One set, drawn for the occasion and coloured for yours
The welcome sign, the menu, the place cards, the labels and the games, on six of the tables it has been set for. Pick one and the planner opens knowing what you are planning.
