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Musical Chairs

(For Ages 6+)

Ingredients:

  • Radio or music player
  • 2 or more chairs
  • 3 or more players

Prep Time:

  • 10 minutes

Recipe for Fun!

There is no better game than musical chairs to get kids flexing their listening and social and problem-solving skills. A popular birthday party game for kids, it’s also a fun play idea for playdates, scout troops or other get-togethers involving kids. Musical chairs is also a fun idea for grown-up parties to get everyone up, moving, and having fun.

The more players and chairs involved, the longer the game will take. The number of players is only limited by the number of chairs you have handy!

How to Set Up Musical Chairs:

  • Count the number of players.
  • Collect chairs equivalent to the number of players, minus one.
  • Arrange the chairs in a double line, back to back.
  • Instruct the players to walk clockwise in a tight circle around the chairs.

How to Play Musical Chairs:

  1. Start the music and have the players walk clockwise in a circle around the chairs.
  2. Stop the music suddenly, and all players need to sit quickly in an empty chair.
  3. One person will be left standing without a chair, and they will be out of the game.
  4. Another chair is then removed.
  5. The game continues until there is only one person seated in a chair.
  6. That person is the winner of the game.

Tip: Let kids build social skills by navigating sticky situations like what to do when two people try to sit on the same chair. Learning to create and enforce rules is one of the great things kids learn by playing games like musical chairs!

Fun Twists on Classic Musical Chairs Game: For little kids, put out pieces of paper instead of chairs. The kids have to be sitting criss-cross applesauce on the paper when the music stops. Having a pool party or birthday bash at a waterpark? Musical beach towels is a fun summer twist on musical chairs.

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