Construction Party Game: Wrecking Ball

Another great game that the kids played over and over again while waiting for their parents to pick them up!

Wrecking Ball Game

Before the party, use a variety of empty boxes to make a "cityscape" of buildings. For instance, a paper milk carton became an apartment building. A cereal box was a skyscraper. An empty paper towel tube was a smokestack, etc. etc. This was a great project to involve my kids in party prep. We covered the boxes in butcher or construction paper and drew on the building details with markers.

Also before the party, fill a black 9"-round balloon with dry beans. (Put a funnel in the mouth of the balloon and slowly pour the beans in.) The balloon is your wrecking ball; fill it until it's got some good weight (enough to knock over your largest box). You probably want to use about a cup of beans, but see what looks right to you. Knot the balloon so it closely holds the beans inside. Tie a long ribbon or string around the knotted balloon and suspend it from the ceiling. (We used a ceiling hook that you'd use for a hanging plant -- it was small and easily removed later.) The length of the string should let the wrecking ball hang about 2-3" above the surface of the table you'll use.

Set up your box cityscape on a table and place the table a few feet away from the wrecking ball.

To play, each child stands in a pre-determined spot next to the hanging wrecking ball. The player can raise the ball from where he/she is standing (let the ball go from their raised arm -- definitely NO throwing) and lets the ball swing! The wrecking ball will swing forward and knock down the boxes. Give each player the same number of swings (3-5 is good, unless the kids are pretty young) and see how many buildings they can tip over.

Construction Party Game: Dump Truck Relay

I almost hate to categorize "Construction Party" under Boys Parties, because boys and girls alike were having a great time with these games! None of them were store-bought and they're pretty easy to put together with a little planning.

Dump Truck Relay Race

I took the lids off two large shoe boxes and decorated the sides to make each box look like the bed of a dump truck. (I just used yellow construction paper and markers and cut out the shapes freehand before gluing them on the sides of the boxes.) Then, I poked a hole in each corner of the box bottom and threaded some lightweight rope through the holes to make two straps for the box (like a backpack). Use duct tape to tape down the ends of the rope inside the box, or knot the end so it doesn't pull through.

Also in advance, make a big ol' pile of "rocks" by wadding up pieces of newspaper or paper from your recycling bin. You'll want a big pile -- a good 80-100 rocks will make for a great relay!

At the party, divide the kids into two teams. The first person on each team puts on the dump truck "backpack" and crawls across the room on hands and knees to his/her other teammates. The teammates fill the truck bed with paper "rocks" and the driver crawls back to the opposite side of the room where he/she dumps the rocks at the construction site. The driver can then get up, run back to the team, and give the dump truck backpack to the next driver on the team.

The winning team is the group who successfully moves the most paper rocks to their construction site -- but it's harder than it looks! With all the guaranteed giggling, rocks will fall out in transit. You might want to make a rule that the non-drivers on the team need to clean up the road while the truck's in transit. (They have to put the loose rocks back at the starting line -- no putting them in the truck while it's moving!)

Construction Party: Dump Truck Invitation

Got a truck lover in the house? This dump truck invitation was a favorite for my 5-year-old and friends. The truck bed pivots like a dump truck to reveal the party info underneath. Ours stayed on the fridge door for weeks after the party, and little hands "dumped" it over every time they passed by.