A sweet 16 party is a huge deal. A girl only turns 16 once and so you want to make it as special and memorable as possible.
And that means getting the whole party right. Which includes the games and activities.
A few years ago I helped plan my niece’s party and we had this big scavenger hunt planned that just didn’t work. Everyone stood around looking at their phones within five minutes of it starting. It was awful. So I know how it can go wrong.
Planning games for sixteen year olds can be tricky because they aren’t kids anymore but they’re also not too cool to have fun. They won’t want to show up to sit in a circle and play pin the tail on anything.
And that’s the biggest mistake I see parents make. Picking games that are either too childish or too structured.
So if you’re staring at your party planning list wondering how to keep a group of teenage girls entertained for two hours you’re in the right place.
I’m going to give you a whole range of games, from creative photo based ones to more chill activities for the less outgoing guests, games that get everyone laughing and group games that will get some proper conversations going.
We’ll also go through a party schedule, some sleepover game ideas if you’re brave enough to host overnight and tips for keeping everything going when half the group is ready to move on and the other half is still in the middle of an activity.
Creative Games
Let’s start with the games that sixteen year olds actually want to play – the ones that result in photos they can post.
Photo Scavenger Hunt
Split everyone into teams of three or four and give them a list of photos to take but with a time limit. You need to make the challenges specific enough to be funny but broad enough that teams can get creative.
This is a good starting point:
- Everyone jumping midair at the same time
- The whole team wearing sunglasses (extra points if they’re ridiculous ones)
- Making a heart shape with your hands
- A photo with a stranger who’s happy to be in it participate (this one’s always chaos and I love it)
- Recreating a famous movie scene
- Finding something purple
15 minutes should be long enough. When everyone comes back together you should go through the photos and vote on things like “funniest”, “most creative” or “best teamwork”.
Glow Stick Dance Party + Freeze Cam
60 Multicolor Fiber Optic Wands Upgraded Flashing Glow Lights
If your party goes into the evening this one works brilliantly. Hand out glow sticks or glow bracelets and turn off most of the lights. Then just crank up the music and set a phone or camera to slow motion mode.
The game: everyone dances and at random points someone yells “FREEZE!”. Everyone has to stop in whatever ridiculous position they’re in.
The filming it in slow Motion is the main part. You want to play back whatever you filmed as soon as you’re done. It’s usually hilarious ans everyone will want to see themselves frozen mid flail.
DIY TikTok Challenge Battles
You knew this one was coming. Split the teens into teams or let everyone go solo. Pick something that’s trending or let the birthday girl choose her favorite. Tyen everyone has to create their own version.
Vote on categories like best sync, most original interpretation, or weirdest dance moves. What’s best about this one is that it’s low stakes. Nobody’s expecting perfection, and the bad attempts are usually the funniest ones.
On top of that you’re getting some content for TikTok out of it which means the guests will be way more invested than they would be in some random activity.
Who Can Take the Best Selfie With…
Give everyone a challenge list and a time limit. They have to take the best selfie with each item on the list.
Examples that will work well:
- A pet (any pet, even if you have to find the neighbors cat)
- A spoon balanced on your nose
- The birthday girl
- A reflection in a weird surface (car window, mirror, puddle etc.)
- Making the grumpiest face
It works really well because everyone gets competitive but people will also start helping each other out to get the best shot.
Chill and Glam Games
Not everyone wants to be jumping around the whole time. These activities give people a chance to slow down. They also work great as a way to move between the higher energy games.
Spa Station Challenge
Set up a table with face masks, nail polish, scrubs, cucumber slices and whatever other spa supplies you can get. Let everyone help themselves but add in a ten minute challenge.
Options: a nail art contest (who can make the craziest design), most extra face mask selfie (think cucumbers, headband, the works), or a “design someone else’s nails” partner challenge. The actual spa part is relaxing but the contest part keeps it from feeling like dead time.
Warning: this will take longer than you think. Someone will mess up their nails and need to start over. So be ready for this to take up at least twenty minute.
Design a T-Shirt or Tote Bag
Buy plain white t shirts or canvas tote bags in bulk (they’re cheap online), put out some fabric markers with iron-on patches, rhinestones and stencils and then let everyone design their own.
You can do a best design vote at the end, or just let everyone create something they like and will want to keep. It also means you can use what they make as a party favor – something that’s better than generic goodie bags every time.
Tip: have a few design ideas printed out for inspiration. Some people will know what they want to create straightaway but others will stare at a blank shirt for ten minutes without a starting point.
Lip Sync Charades
One person lip syncs to a song and everyone else tries to guess what it is. The catch: you’re not allowed to use hand gestures, just facial expressions and lip movements.
Go through the group quickly and mix in ballads with faster songs.
It works really well because it’s funny to watch, easy to get into and doesn’t need anyone to actually sing (which can be intimidating).
The more dramatic the song the better. Someone mouthing the words to a Celine Dion power ballad is always hilarious.
DIY Mocktail Contest
Have a juice bar with different juices, sodas, sparkling water and bits like fruit slices, mint, umbrellas and fun straws. Everyone makes their own mocktail and has to name it something silly.
Then you have the teens show them and a few judges (or everyone votes) rate them based on taste, how creative they are and the presentation.
A bit like making something for party favors this works because everyone gets a drink they chose which is better than putting out a bowl of punch.
Funny Games
These are the games that get everyone laughing and moving around. They’re great for the middle of the party when the energy is dropping and you need something to shake things up.
Balloon Dare Pop
Before the party starts write some funny dares on small pieces of paper and pur them inside balloons. Inflate the balloons and scatter them around. The party guests then take turns popping a balloon (by sitting on it, stomping it etc.) and have to do the dare inside.
Keep the dares light and funny:
- Do your best fashion runway walk across the room
- Text your crush the word “rawr” (this one always gets screams)
- Try to sing with water in your mouth
- Do your best impression of the birthday girl
- Dance like nobody’s watching (but everyone is)
- Take a selfie with the weirdest face you can make
Popping the balloons brings some suspense to the game because you never know what you’re going to get. And if someone really doesn’t want to do a dare have a backup option like “do five jumping jacks” so nobody feels trapped.
Human Ring Toss
This is ridiculous and that’s exactly why it’s so good. Use glow necklaces or pool rings and have someone stand still while the others try to throw the rings onto their arms, head or hands they’ve stretched out.
Make it more difficult and interesting by having blindfolded tosses, putting a time limit on it or having the target person pose in weird positions.
Cereal Box Game
This one’s harder then it first looks. Put an empty box of cereal on the floor and everyone takes turns trying to pick it up with their mouth. You aren’t allowed to use your hands and your knees can’t touch the ground. You can only use your feet to balance yourself.
After everyone finishes a round rip off a section of the box to make it shorter. Keep going until the box is pretty much flat on the ground and people are having to do splits trying to reach it.
Someone is bound to fall over. In fact lots of people will fall over! It’s so funny and tons of fun.
Name That Song (1-Second Edition)
Play just one second of a song and see if anyone can guess it. Use a playlist of well known songs but make it harder by choosing parts without lyrics (just the instrumental intro, for example).
Bonus tip: you can also make it more interesting by matching it to the theme of the party. So do all Taylor Swift songs, throwback 2010s hits, Disney soundtracks, or songs that were popular when the guests were in middle school.
Group Games
These games are great for when everyone’s gathered together and you want something that gets conversations going and people laughing without needing too much setup.
Most Likely To…
Someone reads out a prompt and everyone points at the person they think fits it best. The person with the most votes has to defend themselves.
Some prompt ideas:
- Most likely to survive a zombie apocalypse
- Most likely to become TikTok famous
- Most likely to forget where they parked
- Most likely to dye their hair green accidentally
- Most likely to win a hot dog eating contest
- Most likely to have 10 cats in the future
This game works really well because it’s all about knowing each other. So its got a personal feel to it but at the same time but it isn’t too serious. And when people have to defend themselves it brings up lots of funny stories and explanations.
Hot Seat
One person sits in the “hot seat” and for a minute has to answer quick fire questions from everyone else. Try to keep the questions a mix of funny, personal and very random too.
Examples:
- If you could only eat one food forever, what would it be?
- What is your most embarrassing moment this year?
- Who’s your celebrity crush?
- What is the weirdest thing in your room right now?
- If you had to get a tattoo tomorrow, what would it be?
Work through the whole group so everyone gets a turn. Some people will love being in the spotlight and others will squirm the entire time.
Truth or Dare – Upgrade Edition
Regular truth or dare can get a bit boring because people waste five minutes coming up with dull questions. But you can fix this by using cards that have been pre written (you can make these yourself or buy sets online). Keep the truths and dares appropriate for teens but not boring.
Good dares: call someone and sing “Happy Birthday,” do your best animal impression, swap an article of clothing with someone, do a cartwheel (or attempt one).
Good truths: what’s the last lie you told, who was your first crush, what’s the app you use the most, what’s something you’ve never told your parents.
“This or That” Speed Round
Ask quick “this or that” questions and everyone has to answer without thinking. Go fast enough that people don’t have time to overthink it.
- Beach or mountains?
- Cats or dogs?
- Texting or calling?
- Sweet or salty?
- Morning or night person?
- Summer or winter?
- Instagram or TikTok?
You’ll be surprised how worked up people get about their answers.
Sleepover Game Ideas
If you’re having a sleepover you need games that work when everyone’s tired and sprawled across sleeping bags.
Would You Rather (Extreme Edition)
Regular “would you rather” but make the choices get more and more ridiculous as you get further into the night. Would you rather fight one horse sized duck or 100 duck sized horses? Would you rather only be able to whisper or only be able to shout for the rest of your life?
You don’t need any sort of setup and when everyone’s brains start to slow down at night it gets even funnier.
Scary Story Round
One person starts a scary story with a single sentence, then the next person adds another sentence, and so on around the circle. The story will get weird and off track and probably not actually scary but that’s part of the fun.
Dim the lights and use flashlights to really play it up. It works better than you’d think.
Guess That Sound
Someone gets up weird sound effects on their phone (animal noises, random household sounds, nature sounds) and plays them for the group. Everyone guesses what it is. You can find YouTube channels that are dedicated to just bizarre sounds.
Dream Journal Game
Everyone writes down a random dream prompt on a bit of paper (something like “you’re a penguin at a job interview” or “you can only speak in song lyrics”). Everyone takes one of the prompts from a bowl and then have five minutes to sketch what that dream would look like.
Share the drawings and try to guess whose is whose. Don’t worry about how good the drawings are – the worse they are the funny it usually is.
DIY Face Mask Contest
If you did spa stuff earlier in the party you can do it again but it becomes weirder at night. Who can create the most ridiculous face mask look using everything available? Take photos, vote on the winner and laugh at how terrible everyone looks.
Midnight Dance Battle
At some point around midnight someone will suggest putting on music. When this happens go with it. Have a dance battle, teach each other dances, learn a TikTok routine together. Whatever works at the time.
Sample Game Schedule: Sweet 16 Party Flow
This two hour party schedule that keeps things and won’t make you feel rushed.
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 0:00 to 0:15 | Welcome guests and let them chill (music, snacks, have people arrive and get settled) |
| 0:15 to 0:30 | Photo Scavenger Hunt |
| 0:30 to 0:45 | Spa Station or Mocktail Challenge |
| 0:45 to 1:00 | Lip Sync Charades |
| 1:00 to 1:15 | Snack Break and Cake |
| 1:15 to 1:30 | Balloon Dares or Group Games (Most Likely To, Hot Seat) |
| 1:30 to 1:45 | T Shirt Design or DIY Activity |
| 1:45 to 2:00 | Photo Booth and Party Favors |
Be prepared for this not going exactly as you planned. Someone will want to keep doing the scavenger hunt. Another group will finish the mocktails in five minutes and be ready to move on. That’s fine. This schedule should only be a guide, not something you can’t ever move away from.
Tips for a Great Game Flow
Let the birthday girl be in control. She can pick the order of games, act as a judge, decide when to move on to the next thing etc. It’s her party and giving her the final say over everything makes it feel more special and not like “mom planned this.”
Rotate between high-energy and chill activities. Don’t do three active games in a row or everyone will be exhausted. Follow a dance battle with a craft activity. Follow a craft with something that gets people moving.
Keep music going the entire time. Silence makes things awkward. Create a playlist beforehand with the birthday girl’s favorite songs and have it running in the background.
Don’t force participation. Some people will jump into every activity straightaway. But others will want to watch for a bit before they join in. Both are fine. The worst thing you can do is pressure someone who’s not ready because they’ll then spend the whole party dreading the next part where they’re forced.
Have backup games ready. Print out this list or keep it on your phone. If something flops or finishes faster than expected you need to be able ready to move on quickly. Awkward silence or dead time is going to mess up the whole vibe.
Keep supplies visible and accessible. If you’re doing crafts or activities with materials don’t hide everything in boxes. Put it somewhere people can see it and grab what they need. This will make participation more likely and everything feels less structured.
Plan for the kids who show up late. Someone will arrive thirty minutes late. Have activities that are easy to jump into mid way through (like the spa station or T shirt design) so latecomers don’t feel like they missed everything.
Sally Gibson is the founder of Someone Sent you a Greeting, a holiday/celebration website. Sally’s writing work has been mentioned in Woman’s World, Yahoo, Women’s Health, MSN and more. If you have any questions get in contact with one of the team via the about page.