Games for Bar Mitzvahs

Have all the kids stand in a circle around the Bar Mitzvah boy. He’ll choose one girl to dance with as the music starts. When the DJ stops the music and yells “snowball,” the boy and girl have to choose someone else from the circle to dance with. This continues, with the number of dancing couples gradually increasing with a “snowball” effect, until everyone is dancing and enjoying themselves.

This Bar Mitzvah game is played by splitting the group in half and having each half line up on one side of the room—call one “Coke” and the other “Pepsi.” The DJ will yell “Coke,” and all the Pepsis will have to run to the Coke side of the room and sit on their partner’s knee (and vice versa). The last pair is out. Continue this process until only one pair remains. Variations include yelling “Mountain Dew,” which means everyone has to run to the middle and high-five their partner (with the last pair going out).

Wrap a nice gift in several (two dozen or more) plastic bags and have the game participants stand in a circle. Let the Bar Mitzvah boy start with the bag and start passing it around the circle. Similar to “hot potato,” the participants will keep passing the parcel around the circle until the DJ stops the music. When the music stops, the person holding the package removes one of the plastic bags. Continue this process and gradually the package will be reduced bag by bag. The lucky individual who has the bag when the music stops for the final time gets to keep the gift.

Split the group into teams of four. Consider breaking each group into three kids and one adult. The adults will serve as the mummies, and each kid will be given a roll of toilet paper for wrapping. Have the DJ play a monster-themed song while the teams compete to fully wrap their mummy and add various decorations (balloons, flowers from the tables, gift wrap). The game finishes when the song ends. Have an impartial judge such as the DJ decide which mummy is the best.