# "Brain Games" themed Birthday Party. Suggestions? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 12, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-games-themed-birthday-party-suggestions/683550 "2014-03-12T17:21:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-games-themed-birthday-party-suggestions/683550/1 "2014-03-12T17:21:09Z")
Looking for suggestions for a [Brain Games](http://braingames.nationalgeographic.com/episode/0/) themed birthday party. We’ll have a mix of 6-7 year olds, most of whom are pretty academically advanced. Game one will be a sensory-deprivation game where the kids try to select various objects from a large group while blindfolded. Game two will involve a ball rolling down bumpers and predicting where it will fall if dropped from various points on the board. Game three will involve identifying various items as seen through a microscope. 😕 I need help with at least two more. The games should be very hands-on and clean (we’ll be indoors) and have a result which gives each child an insight into their own strengths and weaknesses. Also need to be fairly easy to craft, as Mom has only so much time for building props! Any ideas for foods which fit with the theme would be great as well (I haven’t even started to think about that one!) Please feel free to brainstorm, unformed ideas are better than none; and we’ll be sure to riff off of whatever you come up with. Thanks for any ideas you might have to share! ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-games-themed-birthday-party-suggestions/683550/2 "2014-03-12T19:21:45Z")
How about pass the parcel with a puzzle or challenge at each step? Like ‘Pass the parcel 4 places to the left’ or ‘Drink a glass of lemonade in one go’. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-games-themed-birthday-party-suggestions/683550/3 "2014-03-12T19:27:02Z")
Guess the sushi blindfolded. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-games-themed-birthday-party-suggestions/683550/4 "2014-03-12T19:47:49Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Any ideas for foods which fit with the theme would be great as well (I haven’t even started to think about that one!) Jello or Ice Cream + Brain-shaped molds. For flexible silicon molds, you can even melt chocolate, brush a chocolate coating into the molds, chill, fill with slightly softened ice cream and re-freeze. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-games-themed-birthday-party-suggestions/683550/5 "2014-03-12T19:48:55Z")
I always got a kick out of building devices to protect a dropped egg. Everyone is given the same set of materials, and you try to build something that will withstand the highest drop without breaking the egg. Do you have a second floor window? cause sometimes what they build is surprisingly effective. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-games-themed-birthday-party-suggestions/683550/6 "2014-03-12T23:36:19Z")
Some sort of memory challenge? Maybe show a picture with a bunch of details, and then challenge the kids to remember or recreate it? It could be a picture with two people holding accessories, doing something…then you provide them with a few paper dolls with lots of stick on options. Or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-games-themed-birthday-party-suggestions/683550/7 "2014-03-13T00:51:28Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > I always got a kick out of building devices to protect a dropped egg. Everyone is given the same set of materials, and you try to build something that will withstand the highest drop without breaking the egg. > > Do you have a second floor window? cause sometimes what they build is surprisingly effective. The [marshmallow challenge](http://marshmallowchallenge.com/Welcome.html) is also good, and less potential for mess. Bonus is that you then have marshmallows to snack on. Of course, if you really want them each to leave with an idea of their strengths and weaknesses, nothing beats a [360 feedback](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/360-degree_feedback#Further_reading) session. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-games-themed-birthday-party-suggestions/683550/8 "2014-03-13T01:00:49Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Jello or Ice Cream + Brain-shaped molds. For flexible silicon molds, you can even melt chocolate, brush a chocolate coating into the molds, chill, fill with slightly softened ice cream and re-freeze. I second this! The brain mold (well, not _that_ kind of brain mold) was the first idea that popped into my head. You could even use pink white chocolate wafers to coat it with, so the color’s right. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-games-themed-birthday-party-suggestions/683550/9 "2014-03-13T04:46:50Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > The [marshmallow challenge](http://marshmallowchallenge.com/Welcome.html) is also good, and less potential for mess. Bonus is that you then have marshmallows to snack on. > > Of course, if you really want them each to leave with an idea of their strengths and weaknesses, nothing beats a [360 feedback](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/360-degree_feedback#Further_reading) session. Oh dear Lord, no!!! :eek: ROFL! I’ve seen grown professionals reduced to tears by those. Not that one or two kids couldn’t benefit from one. . . :dubious: 😃😃😃 Thanks all for the suggestions, please keep them coming. We’ll be having the party at the condo association great room, so egg breaking is definitely out, but you’re on the right track. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-games-themed-birthday-party-suggestions/683550/10 "2014-03-13T05:30:12Z")
There was a birthday party game that we used to see where a bunch of interesting items were displayed on a tray for a few minutes at the start of the party, and then removed. At a later point, after a couple of other games, the kids were asked who could name the most items. This is an opportunity for a lot of prizes–the most things named, the most things named of items actually on the tray, prizes for people who named things actually on the tray that nobody else named, etc. In the same vein–actually I can’t remember exactly how this worked, but it involved taking one kid, having one team describe various things like what the kid was wearing, hair color, etc., and have the other team figure out which kid it was, but somehow or other the two teams couldn’t see each other. And then of course it was the second team’s turn to pick a kid to describe to the other team. Maybe one team asked and the other team answered yes or no like 20 questions. I remember lots of tricky games–that is of course where the object is to figure out the trick and not tell anyone until everyone has figured it out, but hard to hand out prizes for that one and kids love prizes. They are probably too young for the limerick game. Also no prizes (the finished limerick is its own reward). ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-games-themed-birthday-party-suggestions/683550/11 "2014-03-14T03:20:09Z")
[Kim’s Game](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim's_Game) I’ve done this with adults successfully to improve observational skills. Kids love it. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-games-themed-birthday-party-suggestions/683550/12 "2014-03-14T10:22:46Z")
Kim’s game is excellent. You can also try various construction games. Using a simple Jenga set ( or multiple sets as needed) how wide a river can you bridge? Garden canes would let you do simple pioneering challenges like burning through a string (or otherwise manipulating it) from across the room or building the tallest tower. You could even build tennis ball ballistas (from instructions, probably). You could role play the various truthful guard/lying guard logic games, starting with the basic set up and moving on to more complex ones. What you could do is string everything together so that completion of one game earns you a clue for a multi-step riddle or in some other way builds towards a finale. ---
**Author:** ![Tara57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Tara57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tara57)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-games-themed-birthday-party-suggestions/683550/13 "2014-03-14T21:54:06Z")
Food ideas - Ice cream in a bag > **[Young Scientist Lab](https://youngscientistlab.com/)** > > Check out new ways to engage middle school students in the life-changing power of innovation with DIY science explorations from the 3M Young Scientist Lab, featuring standards-aligned K–8 instructional resources and project-based student activations. Decorate cookies or pizza and describe your product in terms of fractions. Create cookie or pizza glyphs.