Backwards Party Games for Kids & Adults

Get the Backwards Party Started Right – Icebreaker Ideas

Icebreakers at the beginning of your party are the perfect way to:

• keep kids busy while the host mom greets the parents
• give your guests something fun to do while waiting for everyone to arrive
• ease a group of people into the party spirit when they don’t know each other
• pump up the fun factor for the excitement to come – like an opening act

Here are our suggestions for icebreakers:

Photo Booth

If they’re dressed backwards for the party, a photo booth is a fantastic idea for an icebreaker. They can have their photo taken by themselves and with others as guests arrive.

Hang a sheet with colorful stripes or a cheerful solid as a backdrop and have them pose for a photo.

Add a box of interesting props to encourage their creativity.

• pipe – real or bubble pipe
• feather boa
• necklaces of all colors, lengths & styles
• toy weapons
• dry erase speech bubbles

Of course they’ll post their photos on social media and everyone will know how amazing your party was!

If you get a volunteer to take photos while you greet guests, you can send the photo to them later as a thank you.

Or turn it into a craft for kids – they decorate picture frames now as an icebreaker and your volunteer prints the photo off, inserts it into the dried work of art to send home as a party favor.

TPing the party area

What could be more backwards than TPing (toilet papering) the party room instead of pretty crepe paper garland?

When each guest arrives give them a roll of bathroom tissue and let them go at it. It makes for an unforgettable experience – and usually ends up being the favorite part of the party. (And don’t think this is just for kids. No Way! Adults really get into it too.)

(See our photo at the top of the page.)

We removed all the chairs and ran a cord across each end of the room and above the center of the table.

For a kid’s party we suggest really going backwards and eating under the table!

The draping toilet paper helps create a “cave” that kids enjoy.

We put some oversized pillows for them to sit/lean on, and ran twinkle lights to hang from the underside of the table.

Falling Bubbles

Bubbles usually float up, right? By placing a bubble machine* high up and letting the bubbles flow down like a waterfall, it looks backwards.

If they are dressed backwards, here is a really fun idea: set up a video camera and TV so the kids can watch themselves dressed backwards trying to catch bubbles. Challenge them to use their TV image to try and catch bubbles behind their backs, which will look forwards when they are wearing their clothes backwards. Mind-bending!

Bubbles will entertain kids for as long as you need.

Make Backwards Cookies

Kids love decorating cookies – even those who hate crafts.

Set up several bowls of different colored icing, a plate of cookies and some sprinkles. Give each kid a paper plate, a plastic knife and a napkin when they arrive.

Tell them to make Backward Cookies – cookies with icing on the outside instead of in the middle like an Oreo. They can frost both sides of the cookie and add sprinkles to their liking.

Start at the End with Party Favor Bags

Give them goodie bags when they arrive.

Nibbles are a great way to keep kids busy, and giving them “party favor bags” when they arrive is in keeping with the backwards theme.

See our Wild & Wacky Backwards Day Party Printables package to help with the favor bags.

Walk and Talk Backwards

Greet everyone with a hearty “Goodbye” instead of hello and even talk backwards if you can.

Give your guests each a “Hello My Name Is” name tag with their names spelled backwards.

Make a game of it!

Set a time period at the beginning of the party and put a gold star on guest every time they remember to:

• call other guests their new name on the name tag
• walk backwards everywhere they go
• write with their opposite hand
• anything else backwards that they come up with – because they will!

Have a prize for the person with the most stickers at the end of allotted time.

Backwards Party Games

Let the games begin!

• crazy-wild activity games to get everyone pumped up
• cool-down games to get them ready to settle in to a movie or dining backwards

{Chaotic Fun} Opposite Charades

Tape a word or phrase on a person’s back for them to guess within a specified time limit.

(Have an egg timer that buzzes or set the alarm on your watch or cell phone.)

Everyone else – yes everyone, at the same time – acts out the clues charades-style to help them guess the answer.

It’s utter chaos – and so much fun!

Want to make it even more challenging? Use the Minute to Win It countdown on YouTube for a more dramatic countdown – and only 60 seconds to guess the answer! (Make sure you narrow it down for them with Food, Person, Movie Title, Movie Character, Place, Object, etc.)

{Crazy Fun} Limbo

For a backwards party you have to limbo!

You can use a broomstick or an Inflatable Limbo Stick*, or get a full-fledged Limbo Kit*.

And if you’re limbo-ing (is that a word?), you just have to have Chubby Checker’s Limbo Rock playing in the background – which you’ll find on YouTube.

{Memory-books Fun} Backwards Fashion Show

Since everyone is dressed in the best backwards chic, why not take it to the next level and have a Backwards Fashion Show! We show you how here.

Backwards Treasure Hunt

• write all the clues backwards (its easy – use the backwards writer at Spell Backwards.)
• give children access to a mirror so they can read easily read the clue
• surprise them by leading back to the starting point to find the hidden treasure
• make sure they walk backwards when going from clue to clue!

More game ideas

Play Simon Says but do the opposite of what the leader is saying, such as lift your left leg when they want you to lift your right leg. It’s difficult!

Play Opposite Hide and Seek (also known as sardines) where the leader hides and the group tries to find the leader. When someone finds the leader they hide with them. As each person finds the leader, they join the group in hiding from everyone else. The last person to find the group hiding together is the next leader who hides.

Play Replace the Flag which is the opposite to Capture the Flag. Divide group into two teams and divide your playing area into halves, one for each team. The best kind of game area includes places to hide and a large area to run – so its best outdoors but doesn’t have to be. Tie a colored ribbon on player’s arm to represent their team with a different color for each team. Their goal is to put the team’s flag (same color as their armband) on the flag pole hidden by the opposing team in their own territory within a time limit. Tagged people must go to jail in the opposing team’s area but can be rescued when teammates tag them.

Hold Backwards Races. Do all the usual party races, only perform them running backwards: egg and spoon race*, crab race, sack race* – a relay race is absolutely hilarious backwards.

Pen & Paper Games

Its a good idea to have a “cooling off” game before eating, and pen & paper games are perfect for that.

Backwards Story

Backwards Bill is a fun poem by Shel Silverstein made even “funner” when read by him.

Get kids to write a story about a day in a backwards town:

• which is the name of their town or city spelled backwards
• the main character is their name spelled backwards
• details everything they did yesterday but in backwards order or is about someone as silly as Backwards Bill

Palindromes

A palindrome is a word, phrase or verse that is the same when read forwards or backwards.

Here are a few examples, but you can see a whole list here.
– kayak
– level
– mom
– noon
– racecar
– now I won
– nurses run
– my gym
– a santa at NASA

Have a competition to see who can think up the most palindromes in a specific period of time, or just blow their minds by showing them this song by Weird Al Yankovic using all palindromes.

Want more?

See all of our Backwards Party ideas.