EPIC Toy Story Birthday Party | Games, Activities and DIYs!
Hi and welcome to this page where I share my ultimate ideas tips and tricks for an epic toy story party! We have rounded up suggestions for games, activities, crafts, adventures and decorations to make this the ultimate festive day for your little one!
I’m Zoe, previously a professional kid’s birthday host for 8 years and now owner of Parties Universe where I share ideas to keep parties as fun and stress-free as possible.
I hope to make this day special for you AND your child, so have a read of these ideas below and see what inspires you. These suggestions are all low-cost and imagination-filled, my favourite way to run a party.
Toy Story theme game ideas
1. Toy Playtime!
In this game, party guests are playing the role of toys! (You can have them pick a toy for fun if you like, think about how that toy might move, dance, walk etc.)
They start off strewn around lying or sitting on the floor as their ‘child’ will have left-off playing with them.
The game is a little like music bumps, ‘toys’ dance around while the music plays and as soon as it goes off the facilitator shouts “Children coming back” and the ‘toys’ have to resume their original position on the floor, just as the toys in the movie do!
Last back to their spot, or anyone in the wrong spot is out! For younger kids, you can also reward the first back to their spot, or the best-frozen statue to avoid sending kids out.
This is a really fun game that can be high-energy if you need a quick burnout activity! Encourage crazy dancing in the style of their chosen toy 🙂
2. 4 Corners!
This is a fun game to adapt to any theme and is perfect for a Toy Story where you can choose the 4 characters together with your child to make sure you’ve got their favourites.
Children run around the room and the facilitator stands in the middle. When they should ‘4 corners!’ kids must run to one of the 4 corners:
- Buzz Lightyear
- Woody
- Mr Potatohead
- Rex
The facilitator covers their eyes so they can’t see and spins around and picks one of the corners and kids in that corner are ‘out’ or have to be sent over to plunge into the ‘massive pile of jello’ with the most dramatic dive possible (this is a more fun way to play than being sent ‘out’)
This is a fast-paced and high-anticipation game – kids will be full of adrenaline!
3. Neighbour’s dog footsteps!
A bit like grandma’s footsteps this game plays on classic scenes in a few of the movies where the toys have to sneak somewhere and pretend to be frozen whenever anyone comes past- particularly next door’s dog!
Children line up along one side of the room and at the other one child is designated neighour’s dog. The dog faces the wall- not looking at the children.
While the dog is turned away, the children tiptoe forwards and as soon as the dog turns around they have to freeze. If the dog catches anyone moving, they can be sent out or back to the start line. The child who manages to tap the shoulder of the dog wins.
This is a fun game and gives kids a chance to check out their sneaky side! It’s a nice one where even the more shy children can have a great time.
4. Woody Woody Buzz!
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 Woody, Woody, Woody…then, they choose one child (child B) to say Buzz!! (feel free to use any character for this last one!)
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.
Simple but great!
Great Toy Story party activities Play-stations!
1. Play-zones
What do toys most love to do?! They most love to play! So for this part of the party, we will have some little play-zones and the guests can have a go at loads of great classic game challenges!
You can put the kids in groups and have them rotate around play zones or just let them free to choose whichever they enjoy.
To run this you will need a few helpers (which could include older siblings). Ideas of lovely classic games are:
- Skipping / Jump rope (Count the alphabet for the starting letter of the next holiday, or the next pet name!)
- Hopscotch
- Jena (kids take it in turn to pull block)
- Balloon Toss up (work together to stop it touching the floor)
- Pin the tail on the Donkey
While the kids play, have some fun music playing and maybe even make use of a bubble machine or disco lights to add some playfulness to the feeling of the room!
2. Toy Story mission time
In this party of the party, the toys can go on an adventure to rescue their friend (You could even use one of your child soft toys, which you can hide at this stage to add extra suspense)
To save it, toys have to go on a toy-story style mission over two back gardens to reach the special toy (whatever you choose it to be) which has landed in a neighbours back garden by mistake!
Toys need to use their special powers to overcome three challenges:
- First they must battle through a huge garden hedge like they are in a jungle
- Next they must creep past a snoozing dog without being heard
- The last giant challenge is to jump over a super-tall garden wall
Ask the kids which special toy skills can be used to help with the challenges. For example, Buzz might be able to fly up the wall and take some of the toys with him.
The slinky dog might be able to send his top half up and then jump the second up separately. Mr potato head could send his eyes ahead of him to find the best route through the hedge jungle. Barbie has such long legs, she might be great at creeping past the dog….
There are loads of ideas for this- get the kids to help come up with some and then physically go on the challenge together. The challenge can end with a hunt around the room for the soft toy that has been hidden somewhere!
3. Toy Disco!
One of the best things about toy story is the brilliant soundtrack… and all great soundtracks lead to great discos! If you can, add special features to the disco, such as bubbles of disco lights so add extra fun.
We suggest a mix of toy story favourite songs and some generic fun kids party music for them to have a great time dancing to.
4. Craft activity: Make a forky-pal!
It’s finally time for the beloved forky character to get a new group of Pals! This is a fun craft activity and brilliantly-theme aligned.
Get some plastic or disposable wooden spoons and forks and some sharpies/markers and pipe cleaner-style decorations. All you need is some sticky tape to go with. To elevate the craft table you can add googley eyes, buttons, sequins and any bits of colourful paper and scrap fabric and glue.
Once all the children have made their forky or spoony characters take a photo of each with their creation as a lovely keepsake for your child.
Toy Story Party Decorations!
Our top 3 suggestions for Toy Story Party decorations:
- Big Bunches of DIY balloons! Balloons are the funn-est, brightest and most uplifting decoration in our opinion- just what we all think of when we think party! For Toy Story, we suggest RED YELLOW and BLUE, with a couple of extra cow-themed ones thrown in to tie the bunches and theme together.
- Interactive props: We suggest a DIY photo frame decorated with the Toy Story theme background of blue and white clouds, yellow checkers and cow print, or you could even print and glue on the characters. Kids can take photos behind it, quite like a photo booth.
- Toy Story photo backdrop: For under $15 you can get these huge backdrops to take pictures in front of. These are also a perfect way to cover up parts of your house that you wouldn’t mind hiding for the party like bookshelves or glass cabinets.
- Themed tableware: We don’t always suggest spending on this but for such iconic characters and beloved friends, it’s a great way to get some of the branding into what can otherwise be a pretty DIY party. This Toy Story set on Amazon is inexpensive and will get you all you need without the hassle.
- Tinsel foil entryway: A tinsel foil entryway turns the party into a magical space for all the children. Physically interacting with some of the decorations on your way into the party zone. You can add to this interactive decoration party by having any fun theme props such as bubble machines or disco lights if you have them!
- MUSIC! Last but not least, music is the best atmosphere creator and toy story has such brilliant soundtracks, it would be a miss not to make the most of them. Use the music as the children arrive for added impact and at any high-energy time throughout the party. You can find compilations anywhere but we are linking to our favourite Toy Story free Playlist on youtube for ease!
Goodluck!
We hope you have loved some of the ideas on this site, and feel pumped to host this awesome Toy Story birthday party!
We have created a step-by-step guide with a timeline for kid’s party planning which includes this PDF party planning checklist, and a PDF list of tasks you can be delegating. These are ALL FREE, no email is required either, simply download to make the process simpler for yourself!
Above all, make sure you are present for your child and that they are having fun! Birthdays are special times, and parties are a lovely way to gather with friends. They are joyous, not stressful, so only arrange what feels fun for you- your kids will have fun if you have fun!
Best of luck, Zoe xx
