10th Birthday Party Games for Boys

Planning games for a 10th birthday party can be a bit terrifying. You’ve got a group of boys who are too old for pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey but still young enough that handing them games controllers and calling it a day isn’t going be enough.

I helped plan my nephew’s 10th birthday a few years ago and the first game we tried flopped. Really Hard. I thought the boys would love a simple relay race but they lost interest it in about three minutes.

They needed something with more edge, a bit more competition and frankly a lot more chaos. 10 year old boys want something that challenges them, is a battle and gives them bragging rights.

They aren’t little kids anymore but they’re not quite ready for teenage stuff either. Your games need to be in that spot that’s still competitive, burns up energy and cool enough that they’ll actually want to play them.

So the following are the best party games for 10-year-old boys. I’ll go through them by type, looking at the best action games, strategy ones, quieter options and more so you have the best activities for your 10 old boys birthday party.

Action Games

Capture the Flag (Classic or Glow Version)

The Original Glow in The Dark Capture The Flag Game

This is a classic game and has been around forever for a good reason – everyone loves it. You get two teams, two flags and one mission: steal the other team’s flag without getting tagged.

One of the best things about Capture the Flag is that it works for almost any size of group and in any backyard. You need some boundaries (use cones, ropes, or maybe trees as markers), a “jail” area for tagged players and flags (bandanas, t shirts or actual flags work fine).

The glow in the dark version takes things to another level though. Wait until dusk or night, give every kid a glow stick or two (you can tape them to their shirts or let them carry them), use glow in the dark flags and then let the fun start.

I did it at my nephew’s party and the kids talked about it for weeks. The darkness just makes it more exciting and memorable.

Tips:

• Set some boundaries before you begin as you don’t want kids running into the neighbor’s yard
• Make a “jail” where the tagged players wait until a teammate comes and rescues them
• For the glow version use LED strips or rope lights to mark the boundaries

Nerf Blaster Arena

NERF Elite 2.0 Commander RD-6 Dart Blaster

If you’ve got some Nerf guns lying around, and if you’ve got a 10 year old son/nephew then you probably have lots of them, you can turn your backyard or or basement into a battle arena. Use cardboard boxes, plastic bins, pool noodles and whatever else you can find to make hideouts and cover.

You can do team battles, every man for himself or target games where kids try to knock down plastic cups or hit specific spots.

If you go for this one then make sure you have enough “ammo” and that everyone knows the rules before you start. Things like no headshots, no point blank shooting, no aiming at the birthday cake etc. should be made clear beforehand.

Also, the foam darts from Nerf guns go everywhere, so maybe have a cleanup challenge at the end where kids have to collect them all.

Dodgeball with a Twist

Regular dodgeball is fine but 10 year olds have played it a million times at school. You can make it more interesting and fun though with some extra rules.

Try “last man standing” where players that are knocked out can get back in if their team catches a ball. Or do a “zombie round” where the tagged players join the other team instead of sitting out. Use soft foam balls (not the rubber ones that hard and leave marks) and keep the rounds short, no more than 3 to 5 minutes for each.

Obstacle Course

Build an obstacle course using whatever you have and then time the kids as they go through it. Chairs can be used for them to swerve through, hula hoops to jump in and out of, cones to go around, a rope to jump over, maybe a tarp to crawl under.

Time each kid individually does have a leaderboard to see who does best. Boys around this age are very competitive and will love trying to beat each others times.

You can also do team relays where kids tag the next person to go. Throwing in some fun challenges like “do 5 jumping jacks at station 3” or “spin around three times before the finish line” will make it even more interesting for them.

Gladiator Pool Noodle Duels

Pool Noodles Foam 6 Pack – Soft Large Rainbow Foam Noodle Tube

Get two pool noodles, set up two platforms that are strong and won’t fall over (buckets turned over, stumps or those foam balance pads) and have two kids try to knock each other off. It’s like American Gladiators but with less chance of getting hurt.

To make it more interesting run it as a tournament with brackets. The winner stays on and the next kid steps up to challenge them.

Keep the rounds short (30 seconds max) because it’s more exhausting than it looks. And yes, you’ll need to closely supervise this as the boys are almost certain to go over the top with the pool noodles and you’ll have to be there to keep them calm.

Team Puzzle and Strategy Games

Scavenger Hunt: Agent Edition

Scavenger hunts will always be popular but how you present it makes a difference. If you call it a “mission” the 10 year olds will suddenly become a whole more interested. It sounds cooler and will give it a more mysterious feeling they won’t be able to resist.

To really sell it create a storyline – they’re secret agents recovering stolen intel, or explorers finding ancient artifacts, or just something that fits in with whatever theme you’ve gone for woth the part.

Write out clues that lead to the next location and hide small challenges at each spot. It could be something like they have to decode a message, take a team photo doing something silly or stack rocks in a pyramid.

You can even add some props to make it feel more authentic. Things like sunglasses or walkie talkies. If you have the time print out some secret agent badges.

Making the hunt have a time limit as it gives the game a lot more urgency. Make sure there’s enough time that the teams don’t feel stressed out though. You want them to be excited not anxious.

And have a good prize at the end for the winning team. A goodie bag or first choice of party favors works well.

Lego Building Contest

This works really well even for kids who aren’t into Lego because the competition part really hooks them in. Time them (10 to 15 minutes should be long enough) and give everyone the same pile of random Lego pieces before setting a challenge. It could be something like the fastest to build a car, who can build the tallest tower that can stand for 10 seconds, most creative monster, the best house design etc.

You can either let the kids do it solo or split them in to teams. Teams are better if you’ve got a mix of skills when it comes to Lego building.

At the end have everyone vote for the winner (birthday boy gets the tiebreaker vote).

Spy Laser Maze

This is incredibly simple but feels really cool. Take some red crepe paper streamers (or yarn if you don’t have streamers) and crisscross them across a hallway or doorway at different heights and angles. Kids then have to get from one end to the other without touching any of the lasers you’ve just made. You can either let them do it for fun or time each of them and make it a competition.

To give it even more drama you can turn off the lights and use glow sticks or LED strips so the streamers are lit up. You can also add challenges like “get this object from the middle without touching any lasers” or make it a relay where teams go against each other for the fastest time in total.

Escape the Crate (DIY Escape Room)

Escape rooms are huge right now and you can create a simplified version at home. Lock a prize or treat inside a box with a combination lock.

Make 3 or 4 puzzles that give clues to the combination. Hide the puzzles around a room or space and let the kids work together to solve them.

Puzzles can be simple: a word scramble that reveals a number, a riddle whose answer is a number, an easy math problem or a message written in invisible ink (lemon juice reveals this when you hold it up to light).

Do it all to a timer for extra pressure – 15 to 20 minutes usually works. The kids love working as a team and feel great when they finally crack it.

Throwing and Target Games

Sling Shot Challenge

Set up targets at different distances — plastic cups on a table, buckets on the ground, paper plates taped to a fence and so on. Use things like beanbags, small foam balls or crumpled paper balls. Give each target a point value depending on how hard it is to hit.

The kids get 5 throws each and the highest score wins. You can do this as a or as teams where you add the scores add up.

The good thing about target games is they work for everyone regardless of their skills and as they carry on and practice then the kids will improve throughout the party.

Water Balloon Dodge (Outdoor Only)

This is one of the best games for summer parties. One team gets a bucket of water balloons and the other team has to run across an area without getting hit. If you get hit, you’re out. Switch sides after everyone’s had a turn running.

You don’t want those throwing to be too close but also close enough that they can hit someone. And fill a LOT more balloons than you think you need. The kids will go through them faster than you think and half of them will break before they even get thrown.

Ring Toss or Foam Axe Throw

Foam Axe Throwing Game

A DIY ring toss is easy – just set up bottles, posts or even just paper towel tubes stuck in the ground. Use plastic rings (or make them from rope).

If you want to try foam axe throwing you can buy cheap foam axes with Velcro and a target board from all the usual places online. Or just use foam discs and see how close kids can get to a bullseye drawn on some cardboard.

The scoreboard is important with this one. Write names and scores where everyone can see. It will take it from just throwing stuff around aimlessly to a proper competition that the kids really get into.

Frisbee Golf

Innova DX Disc Golf 3 Pack Starter Set

Make some holes around your yard using things like hula hoops, buckets, laundry baskets etc. Mark each hole with a number and a starting point.

Kids then take turns trying to throw their Frisbee into each target in the fewest throws. Keep a scorecard for each player.

You can make this easier or harder by changing the distances – closer eaiser, further away harder – and putting in some obstacles. Put a target behind a tree or make them throw around a corner for even more difficulty.

It’s basically mini golf but with Frisbees and it works great for parties outdoors with enough space.

Game Show and Team Challenges

Minute to Win It Showdown

Having some quick challenges like these are great because you can fit in quite a few if them during a party and the energy stays high.

A few that work great for this age:

• Stack Attack: Stack and unstack 36 plastic cups in a pyramid and back to a single stack in under a minute
• Cookie Face: Move an Oreo from your forehead to your mouth using only your face muscles
• Junk in the Trunk: Attach a tissue box filled with ping pong balls to your waist and then shake them all out
• Marshmallow Tower: Build the tallest tower you can using only spaghetti and marshmallows
• Penny Hose: Pull a penny out of the toe of a pantyhose on your head without using your hands

They can be done either individually or in teams. Having a time limit of a minute is what makes these work as even easy take become intense. You can keep a score if you want or just do them for laughs.

Trivia Battle: Birthday Edition

Create a quiz with questions about the birthday boy. It should have questions about his favorite things as well as general pop culture they’d know.

Split the kids into teams (2 to 4 teams works best). You can make it feel more like a game show by using a bell or buzzer. Or you can just have them shout their team name.

Questions can range from “What’s [birthday boy]’s favorite video game?” to “How many lives does a cat have?” to “Which movie has the song ‘Let It Go’?”. Make some of them easy and some more challenging.

Blindfolded Builder

Partner the kids up. One wears a blindfold and has to build something (a tower of blocks, a cup pyramid, put some objects in a pattern). The other is only allowed to give instructions with their voice. They can’t touch their partner or the objects. It should be limited to 2 to 3 minutes.

Balloon Pop Quiz

Write some trivia questions or challenges on bits of paper and put them inside balloons before blowing them up.

Kids then take turns popping a balloon (by sitting on it, stomping it or however) and have to answer the question or do the challenge. If they get it right they get a small prize or a point. If they get it wrong they do a silly dare.

The dares should be harmless but funny. Things like do your best chicken dance, sing “Happy Birthday” in an opera voice, do 10 jumping jacks while saying “I’m a party animal.”

Funny or Chill Games

Would You Rather (Gross / Funny Edition)

When you feel the energy is starting to drop or you need a way to move between games turn to Would You Rather. Go with age appropriate gross out or funny scenarios: “Would you rather eat a cricket or lick the bottom of your shoe?” “Would you rather have to smell your gym socks all day or wear wet socks for a week?” “Would you rather fight one horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses?”

You can also let the kids take turns making up their own questions too. Some of the ones they come up with are hilarious (and often weirder than anything you’d think of).

Go around the circle and have everyone answer. No wrong answers, just a lot of laughing and “ewww gross!”

Hot Seat

One kid sits in the “hot seat” and has to answer questions from the group for 60 seconds. Questions can be funny (“If you could have any superpower but you’d turn orange, would you?”), random (“What’s your weirdest dream?”), or just anything that fits. You want the questions to keep coming fast though, don’t let things slow down, and the answers should be quick too.

Everyone gets a turn if they want or just do a few rounds with volunteers. The kids get to learn random things about each other and because it’s so fast it dosent get boring.

Silly Obstacle Course with Challenges

This is similar to the earlier obstacle course but give an upgrade to make it more fun. Between each station the kids have to do something silly: do a cartwheel (or attempt one), high five a specific tree, balance a plastic spoon on your nose for 5 seconds, say “I’m a birthday champion” in a robot voice, hop on one foot for 10 seconds etc.

Charades: Action Version

This is just regular charades but with topics boys this age like: sports moves (dribbling a basketball, scoring a goal), superheroes, video game characters, animals. Write them on bits of paper and the kids then take one at random and have to act it out without talking.

Sample Game Flow for a 2-Hour Party

Here’s a tested schedule that balances high-energy and chill moments. Adjust depending on your group and the space you have.

Time	Activity
0:00 to 0:15	Free Play or Warm-up (Nerf or Lego station available)
0:15 ton0:30	Capture the Flag
0:30 to 0:45	Minute to Win It Challenge (3-4 different games)
0:45 to 1:00	Snack and Refuel Time (pizza, juice boxes etc.)
1:00 to 1:15	Spy Scavenger Hunt
1:15 to 1:30	Dodgeball or Obstacle Course
1:30 to 1:45	Quieter Game: Hot Seat or Would You Rather
1:45 to 2:00	Cake, singing, goodie bags, parents start arriving

Tips That Will Matter

• Keep score for some games, but not all of them. Scorekeeping is what makes it a competition and boys love that at this age. But if you score every single thing you’ll have to deal with sore losers and kids who check out if they’re behind. So pick 2 or 3 games to score and let the others just be fun.
• Team games beat one on one. Team games mean kids aren’t isolated when they lose and there’s less pressure on any one alone.
• Give the birthday boy a special role. Let him pick the teams, go first, be a team captain or break ties. It’s his day and this stops him from feeling like the party isn’t about him that can happen when everyone’s just playing games.
• Water breaks are not optional. Especially if you’re outdoors or it’s warm. Dehydrated kids are going to get cranky fast. Have water bottles or a cooler close by. And do the sensible thing by having drink breaks between the games.
• Mix active and chill deliberately. You can’t do 90 minutes of sprinting games. Kids will burn out. So it’s best to alternate between high energy games with thinking games or chilling out activities.
• Have a backup plan. The weather changes, a game doesn’t work or you finish faster than expected. Keep one or two extra games in ready to go for when this happens. Would You Rather and Charades doesn’t need any setup.
• Don’t be afraid of a little chaos. These are 10 year old boys. It’s going to be loud. Someone’s going to fall (hopefully not getting hurt). Things will not go exactly as planned. That’s okay.