Ultimate Shrek Birthday Party | Game & Activity Ideas
Hello and welcome to this Shrek-themed birthday party ideas page, packed with games activities and suggestions for decorations to throw the ultimate Shrek Birthday Party!
I’m Zoe, and before starting this blog I worked as a professional kids’ party host for 9 years. I know what works and what doesn’t and I am here to share all the tips to help you throw a party that is as straightforward and stress-free as humanly possible!
After reading this page, you might also like to check out my post How to Plan a Kid’s Birthday Party | CHECKLIST guide! for the practical steps.
Ultimately the purpose of a birthday party is for your kids to have a great time and for you to be present with them and their friends for a special life milestone. The aim of all my posts is to help you achieve that, so use what works for you and forget the rest. Without further ado, let’s go!
Shrek theme party games
1. Shrek Adventure Time!
This is a super fun, high-action, high-concentration game. A facilitator calls instructions and kids have to perform the associated action below!
- To the swamp – Children run to one side of the room
- To kingdom of far far away- Children run to the other side of the room
- Bugs for dinner – Children run their bellies and say ‘yummm’
- Mud bath – Children splash to the floor, into an imaginary mud bath
- Donkey’s here – Children put hands on hips and make a grumpy face like Shrek does when he is finding donkey annoying
The last one to do the action is out! Or, if you prefer younger kids, you can reward the fastest person instead to avoid sending kids ‘out’.
Pro tip: If you don’t want to upset children by sending them ‘out’ you can send them over to jump into the massive imaginary pile of jello! Squelch!!! Children will enjoy making a big squelching sound and dramatic jump- it makes everyone else laugh too.
2. Pin the tail on…Donkey!
This is a Shrek take on the classic party game of pinning the tail on the donkey. Blindfolded, children have to guess where the donkey’s tail is, and the closest guess wins!
This is one you can easily DIY or they are available for a very affordable price online in many places.
3. Peel the onion game!
This game is a little like Pass the Parcel but plays on the famous scene from the movie where Shrek explains that Ogres are like onions, “Ogres have layers!”
Wrap a little prize in newspaper and then keep wrapping the outside in more and more layers, inside each layer adding a little candy or a little challenge or joke (Check out this site with 210 best kids party jokes for inspiration!)
For the outside layer, either use purple or brown wrapping paper or paint newspaper purple and gather the parcel in a layer, scrunch-tieing the top to make it look like an onion shape.
Children sit in a circle and as the music plays pass the parcel around. When the music stops the person holding the parcel unwraps a layer and gets the challenge or a joke or candy inside it. The last person gets the bigger prize in the middle.
This game is a classic and great fun!
4. Princess Princess Dragon
This game is similar to duck duck goose but with a theme. It’s a great one to play as children arrive (or as children might get tired of lunchtime at different rates) as new players can easily join and it’s fun and familiar to them.
Children sit in a circle facing inwards. Child A walks around the outside of the circle and gently taps the group one by one on the head as they pass saying princess, princess, princess…..then, they choose one child (child B) to say dragon!
Child B jumps up and chases Child A around the circle. Child A has to run around the whole group and sit back in Child B’s space. If they manage, Child B becomes Child A in the next round. Otherwise, Child A has to play again until they succeed.
5. Dragons Footsteps
Kids line up along one side of the room and at the other side, one kid is the designated dragon. (The game is like Grandmother’s Footsteps). This dragon faces the wall, away from the other kids.
While the dragon is turned away, the adventurers tiptoe forwards and as soon as the dragon turns around they have to freeze. If the dragon catches anyone moving, they can be sent out or back to the start line. The child who manages to tap the shoulder of the dragon wins!
6. Fairyland disco statues
This game is like music statues but with Shrek music and some suggested fairyland character dance moves! Youtube has some playlists of the best Shrek songs that you can select from for this!
Children dance while the music plays and as soon as it stops, they have to freeze. Anyone who wobbles is sent out! Or, for younger kids, you can reward the best statue- or the silliest statue position to prevent sending kids ‘out’!
Shrek party activities!
1. Shrek Adventure story acting
In the movie, Shrek and Donkey go on an adventure to save the princess. We have created a Shrek-style pdf interactive story as a free download that you can read aloud and act out with the kids!
This is a brilliant party activity- it combines creativity with adventure and hits at the spirit of why children are so captured by the Shrek story!
2. Shrek Gingerbread man decorating
Based on the character from the magical fairytale land: the giant gingerbread man! this is a fun Shrek-themed craft activity for the kids, that leads to delicious results!
You could let the decorated cookies dry and send them home and put them in little cellophane packets with a stick-on ribbon as party favors!
If this sounds like fun, check out this post from Cooking with my kids for instructions and a recipe! Equally great for your kids and less hassle, feel free to buy them ready-made- either way the kids will have a great time decorating.
3. Ogre Pinata!
Pinata is always a fun game for a kid’s party. Have a look on Etsy for pinata ideas- such as this awesome one that we love!
Shrek Party Decorations Ideas
Shrek is a really fun party theme to get creative with decorations for but as always we have some top tips for the boldest, simplest decorations that will transform the atmosphere of the space for the lowest cost and effort!
Here are our top 5 decoration suggestions for the Shrek themes party:
- Glittery green curtains! These instantly make a space feel festive and are perfect for the entryway or to cover up bookshelves or noticeboards that are not in keeping with the theme! Here is a link.
- Shrek balloon garlands! We don’t think you need specialised ‘Shrek’ balloons but we suggest big bunches of regular green and yellow or green and white sets. Balloons are the most festive, uplifting decoration to any space!
- Giant Shrek birthday banner and photoshoot backdrop! There are some great backgrounds on Amazon for not too costly that will pack such a bunch in decorating the space if it’s within your budget.
- Bubbles and a disco ball! This type of decoration is generic but it totally changes the atmosphere of a space and doesn’t need to be Shrek themed. Shine a bright light/torch on the mirror disco ball and fill the room with a party vibe. They are also inexpensive and can be used again and again. You could also look at colourful disco lights for a similar effect.
- Music! To transform the atmosphere of a space music is the most evocative thing, especially for littlies! The movies have brilliant soundtracks so be sure to have them playing whenever there is a good moment. For background music in downtime, play some ‘fairy music‘ for the musical far far away kingdom vibe.
Have you also seen our post on deas for an ultimate Ice Age Kid’s Party?
GoodLuck!
Awesome parents of Shrek fans, good luck! We hope this post has given you loads of inspiration and ideas for the party and that you can also feel a bit excited about it!
Take heaps of photos to remember this special day and use any other parents of older siblings as help if you can to let you be as present with your child as possible. Much more important than a Pinterest style curation!
Best of Luck,
Zoe x
