About twenty minutes into a mermaid party, the balloon garland stops doing any work and the games have to. Nine kids with nothing to do will find the one piece of furniture in your house they should not jump off. The clue-card treasure hunt and the seashell painting are in our Mermaid Under the Sea Party Planning Pack, and the mermaid party ideas guide covers shell painting, a freeze dance, and a sea glass hunt. This article is the rest of the games block: six games for ages 5 to 8 that cost almost nothing and repeat none of those.
Two Calm Games That Need No Setup
Mermaid Says
It is Simon Says in a different outfit. You call out “Mermaid says swim like a dolphin” or “Mermaid says flip your tail,” and the kids act it out. Anything you call without the words “Mermaid says” is a trap. Here is the one change worth making for this age: do not send kids out for a mistake. A five-year-old who is eliminated at minute two will spend the next ten minutes at your elbow. Instead, anyone who slips up becomes a “sea turtle” and helps you catch the next person. Everyone stays in, and the kids get to be the sneaky ones. For the 7- and 8-year-olds, hand over the caller job after a couple of rounds and watch how fast they get.
Pin the Tail on the Mermaid
Draw a big mermaid with no tail on a sheet of poster board or butcher paper, tape it low on a wall, and cut a tail from construction paper for each child. Put a loop of tape on the back and write each kid’s name on their tail so you can see afterward whose landed closest. Spin each child twice, not five times. Over-spun kids walk straight into the sofa. If a child hates blindfolds, let them close their eyes instead. Allow about seven minutes for ten kids.
Four Active Games, Mostly With a Pool Noodle
Pool noodles are inexpensive at discount and dollar stores, and one or two cover every game in this section. They are also soft enough that nobody gets hurt. You do not need a pool or even a yard. A driveway, a garage, or a cleared living room will do.
Seaweed Limbo
Two adults hold one noodle flat between them. Start at about chest height for the kids and lower it a few inches each round. Kids shuffle under without touching it. Anyone who brushes it becomes a seaweed holder and takes one end of the noodle from a grown-up. That keeps the line moving, and nobody stands around waiting for a turn that is not coming. By chin height, the 8-year-olds are leaning back so far they look like they are doing yoga. Stop at eight minutes, before it turns into a waiting game.
Swim to the Reef (noodle relay)
Two teams of four or five. Mark a start line and set a cone or a chair about fifteen feet away, which is the “reef.” Each swimmer holds a noodle between their knees and shuffles to the reef, around it, and back, then hands the noodle to the next teammate. The first team to sit down wins. It is slow, wobbly, and funny to watch. Run it twice so the losing team gets a rematch before anyone sulks.
Sharks and Mermaids
This is the one for your older guests. Mark a “reef” at each end of a space about 20 feet long. One child is the shark and stands in the middle holding a noodle. Everyone else is a mermaid and has to swim from one reef to the other without being tagged. The shark tags by gently tapping a mermaid on the back with the noodle, so nobody gets grabbed. A tagged mermaid becomes a second shark and joins the middle. Rounds are short, three to five minutes, and the last mermaid free becomes the next shark. Play it outdoors or in a garage. Do not play it in a living room with a coffee table.
Pearl Spoon Race
Give each child a plastic spoon and a ping-pong ball (the “pearl”). They walk the pearl across the room to a bowl (the “clam”), drop it in, and walk back for a second pearl. Whoever fills their clam first wins. This is the game for kids who do not want to run, and it is quiet enough to slot in right before cake. For 8-year-olds, add a cone to weave around.
A Bubble Station That Buys You Ten Minutes
Set out a few bubble wands, a bottle of bubble solution, and a shallow baking dish to dip into. Kids drift over whenever they have a spare minute, and it covers early arrivals while you wait for the last family. Put it on a patio or porch if you can. Bubble solution on hardwood or tile gets slippery fast. If it has to be indoors, set the dish on a towel-lined tray and keep it well away from where the games are happening.
Keeping Seven- and Eight-Year-Olds Interested
Five-year-olds love the mermaid theme without reservation. By 8, some kids decide it is a little young. Do not drop the theme. Give those kids a job: calling Mermaid Says, running the stopwatch for the relay (any phone will do), judging Pin the Tail, or being the first shark. Kids this age usually prefer running the game to merely being in it, and the little kids copy them.
Building the Games Block
Our mermaid party ideas guide puts the whole party on a 90-minute timeline, and games fill roughly 30 to 40 minutes of that. Here is one way to spend 35 of them: Sharks and Mermaids for 8 minutes, the Pearl Spoon Race for 7, Mermaid Says for 5 as a breather, the noodle relay for 8, and Pin the Tail for the last 7 while you get the cake ready. Keep the bubble station running the whole time as the place to drift to. Alternate loud and quiet, and finish on something calm so the kids are settled before the cake comes out.
If It Rains
Mermaid Says, Pin the Tail, the Pearl Spoon Race, and Seaweed Limbo all work in a living room with the coffee table pushed to the wall. Run the relay down a hallway, one team at a time, and give each team a stopwatch time to beat instead of racing side by side. Skip Sharks and Mermaids indoors; the running and the furniture are a bad combination. Replace it with a second round of Mermaid Says. For everything else on the shopping list, from the treasure hunt cards to the favor bags, see the Mermaid Under the Sea Party Planning Pack.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many games does a mermaid birthday party need?
Four or five is plenty for a two-hour party. Aim for a mix: one high-energy game, one calm one, and a standing activity like the bubble station that kids can drift to. More than five and you run out of time for cake and favors.
What mermaid party games work for 7 and 8 year olds?
Sharks and Mermaids, the noodle relay with a stopwatch, and a chin-height round of Seaweed Limbo all have enough challenge for this age. Give the older kids a job such as caller, judge, or timekeeper so the theme does not feel babyish to them.
Do I need a pool for mermaid party games?
No. Every game here runs on a patio, a driveway, a garage, or a cleared living room. The only gear is a pool noodle or two, a few plastic spoons, some ping-pong balls, and bubbles.
What are some mermaid party games for kids who do not like running?
Mermaid Says, Pin the Tail on the Mermaid, the Pearl Spoon Race, and the bubble station are all low-running. They are also the best choices for the stretch right before cake, when you want the room calmer.