Create a gift-passing game

Which games can I combine gift-giving with?

Spin the bottle: When arriving, each child should keep their gift. Once all guests have arrived, there is first cake to satisfy the cake craving. Afterwards, all children can sit in a circle. A prepared bottle, which you can, for example, fill with streamers or confetti, is placed in the middle of the circle. Now the birthday child may spin the bottle. The person it points to may hand over their gift and, after it's unwrapped, spin the bottle next. If the bottle points to someone who has already handed over their gift, simply spin again. This continues until all presents brought have been distributed and unwrapped.

Drawing lots: For this game you give out small slips of paper as the guests arrive. On them you can write small symbols like a sun or a house, or letters and numbers. The matching slips are placed in a hat or cap. When it's time to unwrap the gifts, your child draws a slip from the hat and then gets the present from the guest with the matching slip, may open it, and so on.

Rolling the dice: To roll the dice, all the children sit in a circle. You can then hand out a die with a color or a number. Decide beforehand what the individual numbers mean. If a six comes up, for example, a gift is distributed, or on blue it may be unwrapped.

Treasure hunt: A treasure hunt is especially popular at children's birthday parties because, as a great attraction, it passes the time and keeps the children moving. To do this, collect the gifts as discreetly as possible when the guests arrive and keep them in a safe place. These then go into the treasure chest and are unwrapped as a reward after the treasure hunt. So that the other children are not too disappointed that there was nothing in the chest for them, you can additionally put small packets with colored pencils or a few sweets in the treasure chest.

Hide-and-seek: In this variation of the pot-banging game (Topfschlagen) the birthday child is blindfolded as soon as all guests have arrived and the birthday cake has been eaten. Then everyone may hide the gift they brought. Afterwards the blindfold is removed and your child may start searching for the gifts. The guests can help with calls like 'hot' when it is close, or 'cold' when no gift is nearby. If you want to increase the difficulty, your child can try to guess who the gift is from after unwrapping it.

Games for gift presentation – how to make it fun for everyone

Geschenkeübergabe | Mutter hat Tochter auf dem Schoß und packt ein Geschenk aus

Not too long: Celebrating the presentation of gifts is a nice part of a children's birthday. But keep an eye on the fact that the gifts don't take up the majority of the party and that the children can still play or do crafts together. Otherwise they'll quickly lose interest in the birthday party.
Keep an eye on the mood: Once the first gifts have been distributed and unwrapped, you may notice that the children are fidgeting in their seats or standing up and wandering around. Then you can pause the gift presentation and postpone it until later.
Every child is different: Some wait anxiously until they can finally hand over their gift, others don't necessarily want to sit still and watch someone else being given a present. Don't force the children to participate in the presentation if they absolutely don't want to.
What does your child want? Most children will probably want to tear open the presents right after or even during the reception of guests to see what's under the paper. Practicing a bit of patience certainly can't hurt. However, ask before planning the birthday whether your child would even be interested in combining the gift presentation with a game.