The Clothes Horse

This is a great way to get the wiggles out, occupy the kids and use your imagination!

Favorite party games will last years in memory and are fun, energetic and totally pointless! This is the premise of relay races. Not only are relay races great for holding the kids attention they take little in way of set up and preparation, and once initial instruction is over all you need to do is sit back, watch and laugh!

The clothes horse relay is a very adaptable game that is always a party favorite, with very little effort on your part. This game is especially great for themed parties. If your theme is winter games, princesses, dinosaurs, Halloween or anything else simply put together a large pile of similarly themed garments.

Items needed:

Guests, a big pile of clothes for each team, space and a camera (optional)

Appropriate ages:

This may not be the best game for youngest party goers since the players need to be able to dress by themselves. The target age should be over 4 at least.

Keep the age of your players in mind when selecting clothing. You may want to think twice about shirts with millions of tiny buttons, hooks or stiff snaps. The object is to dress quickly and move on. Don’t discourage your little players by picking complicated vestments.

The object of the game:

To play divide the groups into teams. Place the clothing on the opposite side of the room. Each player must run to the pile of clothes and put on each item as fast as they can. If you are using a camera have them pose for their photo. Then remove the clothes run back to tag the next player. Play continues until each player has the chance to attire themselves. The first team finished wins!

Variations:

The variety of clothing is not the only variation to this game.

The gloves: To make this game more challenging for older player place limitations on how they dress. For example include a large set of fluffy ill-fitting gloves in the clothing pile and stipulate that the gloves must be the first time put on. The watch as they struggle to dress quickly while hampered by the gloves.

Pass it down: Instead of having each player race to the pile have them form a line across the room like an old fashioned bucket line. The player at the head of the line nearest the clothing then puts on an article of clothing and passes it to the next player. The clothes are passed to each player until all articles have been tried on and removed. The first team to successfully transfer their entire pile of clothes from on end to the other wins.

Your kids will love this game!