• 28 games
  • Checked October 2026

Cat Themed Party Games

Yarn games, cat and mouse games, paw and tail games and quiet cat naps, for ages 3 to 9.

Cat Themed Party Games

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  1. Ears On: Make Your Cat Ears1. A making table for the start of the party. Give each child a paper headband strip and two paper triangles.2. Children color the triangles as ears: striped, spotted, black or orange.3. A grown-up tapes the ears to the strip, and the strip into a headband that fits.4. Each cat chooses a cat name for the party. The host writes it inside the band, so that every pair of ears finds its owner.Youngest player: age 3. Players: 1 to 12. You need: paper strips, paper triangles, crayons and tape.
  2. Cut a Yarn as Long as Yourself1. A guessing game. Each child pulls yarn off the ball until they think the piece is exactly as long as they are tall, and a grown-up snips it.2. No holding it up against yourself before the cut.3. One at a time, children lie on the floor and a friend lays the yarn beside them, from the heels to the top of the head.4. The closest fit wins. Each child takes their piece of yarn home.Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 12. You need: a ball of yarn, and scissors for a grown-up.
  3. Rhymes With Cat Around the Circle1. A rhyming round. Children sit in a circle, and the first says a word that rhymes with cat.2. The next child says another: hat, mat, bat, flat.3. Everyone acts each word for a second before the turn moves on.4. When nobody can think of a new rhyme, change the word to mouse, then to paw. The circle tries to beat its own count each time.Youngest player: age 5. Players: 3 to 12. You need: nothing.

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Yarn games 7

  • Bat the Feather on a String 1. A catching game, sitting down. Tie a paper feather to a string, and the string to a stick. 2. Kittens sit in a circle. A grown-up dangles the feather and makes it hop from kitten to kitten. 3. A kitten may bat at it with one paw, and only when it is right in front of them. 4. Whoever traps it between two paws holds the stick next, with a grown-up's hand to help. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 2 to 10. You need: a stick, a string and a paper feather.
  • Cut a Yarn as Long as Yourself 1. A guessing game. Each child pulls yarn off the ball until they think the piece is exactly as long as they are tall, and a grown-up snips it. 2. No holding it up against yourself before the cut. 3. One at a time, children lie on the floor and a friend lays the yarn beside them, from the heels to the top of the head. 4. The closest fit wins. Each child takes their piece of yarn home. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 12. You need: a ball of yarn, and scissors for a grown-up.
  • Three Yarn Balls Into the Cat Bed 1. A tossing game. Put a basket with a folded towel in it on the floor: the cat bed. 2. Each child stands on a line two steps away and tosses three small balls of yarn underarm, one at a time. 3. Count the ones that stay in the bed. 4. Children of six and up take a step back after each ball that lands. Everyone has a second turn to beat their own count. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 1 to 12. You need: a basket, a towel and three small balls of yarn.
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Yarn games, continued

  • Unwind There, Wind It Back 1. A relay in two halves. Each team has a ball of yarn, and a chair stands at the far end of the room. 2. The first kitten holds the loose end at the start line while the second walks the ball to the chair, around it and back, letting the yarn out. 3. The third kitten follows the yarn the same way and winds it back onto the ball. 4. Take turns until everyone has done both jobs. The first team holding a neat ball wins. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 6 to 15. You need: a ball of yarn for each team, and a chair.
  • Yarn Ball Bowling at the Milk Cartons 1. Bowling, with a ball of yarn. Stand six empty milk cartons in a triangle at the end of a hallway. 2. Each child rolls a tight ball of yarn from a line and has two rolls a turn. 3. Count the cartons knocked over, then stand them up for the next bowler. 4. After everyone has bowled twice, add up each child's cartons. Children under five roll from halfway. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 2 to 10. You need: six empty milk cartons and a tight ball of yarn.
  • The Yarn Ball Hides a Sticker for Everyone 1. Pass the parcel, with a ball of yarn. Before the party, wind a big ball of thick yarn and tuck a sticker into it every few turns, at least one for each child. 2. Children sit in a circle. The first child unwinds the yarn until a sticker falls out, and keeps it. 3. The ball goes to the next child, and the loose yarn piles up in the middle. 4. A child who finds a second sticker hands it to someone who has none. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 3 to 12. You need: a large ball of thick yarn wound with stickers inside.
  • Yarn Ball Relay, Paws Only 1. A relay race, with the ball batted along the floor. Each team has a ball of yarn with its loose end tucked in. 2. The first kitten bats the ball along the floor with closed fists, around a chair and back. No picking it up and no kicking. 3. The next kitten takes over at the line. 4. A ball that comes unwound is wound up again by the kitten who was batting it. The first team home sits down and purrs. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 4 to 16. You need: a ball of yarn for each team, and a chair.

Cat and mouse games 7

  • Cat and Mouse, Closing Gates 1. Cat and mouse in a circle, in one of the ways it is played. Children stand in a wide ring holding hands with arms stretched, so that each gap is a gate. The cat and the mouse start outside the ring, on opposite sides. 2. The cat chases the mouse in and out through the gates. 3. Each gate closes once it has been used: those two children step together. 4. When every gate is shut, the ring counts to ten. If the mouse is still free, the mouse wins. Choose a new cat and a new mouse. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 8 to 20. You need: nothing.
  • The Cat Turns Around, the Mice Freeze 1. Red light, green light, with a piece of cheese to reach. The cat stands facing a wall and washes its whiskers. A yellow sponge, the cheese, lies on the floor behind the cat. 2. The mice start at the far wall and creep forward. 3. When the cat spins around, every mouse freezes. A mouse seen moving goes back to the start. 4. The mouse who picks up the cheese is the next cat. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 4 to 15. You need: a yellow sponge.
  • Count the Mice With Your Eyes 1. A looking game. Before the party, tape paper mice around the room where they can be seen without moving anything: on a chair leg, a lamp, a door frame. 2. Children walk around with their hands behind their backs and count. 3. Nobody touches a mouse or says a number aloud. 4. Each child whispers a total to the host. Then everyone walks the room together and counts them off. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 2 to 15. You need: paper mice and tape.
  • Mousetraps Close on the Meow 1. A running game with arches, as in London Bridge. Half the children stand in pairs around the room and join raised hands to make mousetraps. 2. The others are mice and scurry through every trap in turn. 3. When the host meows, the traps lower their arms gently. 4. A mouse inside a trap joins hands with another caught mouse to make a new trap. Play until three mice are left, then swap sides. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 8 to 20. You need: nothing.
  • Which Mouse Squeaked? 1. A guess-the-voice game, with no blindfold. One child is the cat and sits in the middle with eyes covered. The mice sit in a circle around the cat. 2. The host points at a mouse, who squeaks three times in a small voice. 3. The cat looks up and has two guesses at who it was. 4. The mouse who squeaked is the next cat. Mice may disguise a squeak, but may not change seats. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 5 to 15. You need: nothing.
  • Which String Has the Mouse? 1. A lucky dip, on strings. Put a toy mouse in a box and tie a string to it. Add a string for every other child, each tied to a paper fish, and let all the ends hang out through a hole in the lid. 2. Each child chooses a string and holds the end. 3. On "pull," everyone pulls together. 4. Whoever pulls out the mouse helps to set up the box for the next round. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 3 to 10. You need: a box with a lid, strings, a toy mouse and paper fish.
  • Wind the Mouse Home 1. A winding race. For each player, tie a long piece of yarn to a toy mouse or a rolled sock, and tie the other end to a cardboard tube. 2. Lay the mice in a row at one side of the room. The players sit at the other side, holding their tubes. 3. On "go," players wind the yarn around the tube by turning it with both hands. 4. The first mouse to touch its tube wins. No pulling the yarn in by hand. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 8. You need: a toy mouse or a rolled sock, a long piece of yarn and a cardboard tube for each player.

Paws, tails and whiskers 7

  • Bell on the Collar, Not a Jingle 1. An obstacle course, done as quietly as a cat. Tie a jingle bell to a ribbon and loop it loosely around a child's wrist as a collar. 2. Lay a course: under a table, over a row of cushions, around a chair and back. 3. The cat goes through it on hands and feet and tries not to let the bell ring. 4. The others listen and count the jingles. The fewest jingles wins, and speed does not matter. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 12. You need: a jingle bell on a ribbon, a table, cushions and a chair.
  • Copycat, Add a Move 1. A memory chain of cat moves. Children stand in a circle. The first does one thing a cat does: licks a paw, arches its back, stretches, pounces or swishes a tail. 2. The next child copies it and adds a move. 3. Each child in turn does the whole chain in order and adds one more. 4. When someone forgets a move, the circle shows it and that child starts a new chain. Count the longest chain of the day. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 3 to 12. You need: nothing.
  • Ears On: Make Your Cat Ears 1. A making table for the start of the party. Give each child a paper headband strip and two paper triangles. 2. Children color the triangles as ears: striped, spotted, black or orange. 3. A grown-up tapes the ears to the strip, and the strip into a headband that fits. 4. Each cat chooses a cat name for the party. The host writes it inside the band, so that every pair of ears finds its owner. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 1 to 12. You need: paper strips, paper triangles, crayons and tape.
  • Musical Cat Beds, How Many to a Bed? 1. Musical chairs, with towels for beds and nobody out. Spread folded towels on the floor, one for every two children. 2. Cats prowl on all fours while the music plays. 3. When it stops, the host calls a number, such as "two to a bed" or "three to a bed," and the cats curl up in groups of that size. 4. Cats left without a full bed call the next number. Finish with "all the cats in one bed," around a single towel. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 6 to 16. You need: folded towels and music.
  • Pin the Tail on the Cat, Eyes Open or Shut 1. Pin the tail on the donkey, with a cat and paper tails. Draw a big cat with no tail on a poster and tape it up at child height. Give each child a paper tail with their name on it and a loop of tape on the back. 2. One at a time, children walk from a line to the poster and stick the tail on. Each child chooses whether to close their eyes. 3. Nobody is spun, and a child with closed eyes walks with a grown-up beside them. 4. The tail nearest the right spot wins, and every tail stays up. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 2 to 15. You need: a cat poster, a paper tail for each child and tape.
  • Six Artists, One Cat 1. A draw-and-pass game. Each child has a sheet of paper and a crayon, and draws a round head. 2. At the host's call, everyone passes the sheet to the left and adds two ears. 3. Pass again for eyes, again for a nose and a mouth, again for whiskers and again for a body and a tail. 4. The sixth artist gives the cat a name and holds it up. With fewer than six children, the sheets go around more than once. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 3 to 12. You need: paper and a crayon for each child.
  • Through the Cat Flap 1. Limbo, crawled and not bent backward. Two grown-ups hold a plastic hoop upright on the floor: the cat flap. 2. Every cat crawls through without touching the hoop. 3. After each round the grown-ups lift the hoop a little higher off the floor, so that the cats must step and duck through it. 4. A cat who touches the hoop goes around again. Finish with the hoop back on the floor and everyone through in a line. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 2 to 15. You need: a plastic hoop.

Quiet cat games 7

  • Cat Nap, Wake at Your Own Name 1. Sleeping lions, as a way to the table. Every cat curls up on the floor with eyes closed. 2. The host walks among them and whispers one name at a time. 3. A cat who hears their own name gets up without a sound and tiptoes to the table. 4. The last cats asleep are the best sleepers of the party. Play it just before the cake, so that nobody runs to a seat. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 3 to 15. You need: nothing.
  • Find the Twin Kittens 1. The memory game of pairs, with cards you draw. Make eight pairs of cards with matching cats on them: striped, spotted, black, white, orange, gray, fluffy and one with a bow. 2. Lay all sixteen face down in rows. 3. Each child in turn flips two. A matching pair is kept and earns another turn, and two that differ are turned back. 4. When the table is clear, count the pairs. For ages four and five, play with six pairs. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 2 to 6. You need: sixteen cards drawn as eight pairs of cats.
  • Purr When You Hear Cat 1. A listening game with a story. The host tells or reads a short story with a cat, a mouse and a dog in it. 2. Each time children hear the word cat, they purr. 3. At the word mouse they squeak, and at the word dog they sit as still as a statue until the next sentence. 4. Tell it faster the second time. A child of six or more can be the storyteller. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 2 to 15. You need: a short story with a cat, a mouse and a dog in it.
  • Purr, Meow or Hiss? 1. A voting game with cat sounds. The host says something that could happen to a cat: "Dinner is in the bowl," "It is bath time," "A lap is free," "The dog next door is in the yard." 2. On three, every child answers as a cat would, with a purr, a meow or a hiss. 3. The host points to one child to say why. 4. Children of six and up take turns to make up the next thing that happens. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 2 to 15. You need: nothing.
  • Rhymes With Cat Around the Circle 1. A rhyming round. Children sit in a circle, and the first says a word that rhymes with cat. 2. The next child says another: hat, mat, bat, flat. 3. Everyone acts each word for a second before the turn moves on. 4. When nobody can think of a new rhyme, change the word to mouse, then to paw. The circle tries to beat its own count each time. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 3 to 12. You need: nothing.
  • What Is in the Cat Basket? 1. A feel-and-guess game. Put six things a pet cat might own in a basket under a towel: a ball of yarn, a brush, a bowl, a ribbon, a rubber ball and a toy mouse. 2. A child reaches under the towel with one hand and feels one thing. 3. The child says what it is before pulling it out. 4. Pass the basket on. After the first round, a grown-up swaps in two new things while the children look away. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 2 to 12. You need: a basket, a towel and six things a pet cat might own.
  • What Is the Cat Doing? Act It 1. Charades, on all fours. Draw things a cat does on cards: washing a paw, hiding in a box, chasing its tail, stuck in a tree, knocking a cup off a table, asleep in the sun. 2. A child takes a card, shows it to nobody and acts it without a word. Cat sounds are allowed. 3. The others call out what the cat is doing. 4. Whoever guesses right acts next. Children who cannot read yet choose by the picture. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 3 to 12. You need: picture cards of things a cat does.

How this list was compiled: Our suggestions for a child's cat-themed birthday party, for ages 3 to 9. The wording, the ages and the player counts are ours. The first step of each entry names the kind of game it is. Nobody is blindfolded or spun, no game uses a balloon or food, and no cat from a film, a show or a book appears. The closing-gates way of playing cat and mouse was read on 10 October 2026 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_and_mouse_%28playground_game%29 Licence: own work

How it works

These cat themed birthday party games turn the guests into cats for an afternoon. Every one uses the theme: a ball of yarn, a toy mouse, a tail, a pair of ears or a nap in the sun.

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From the door to the cake

1. As guests arrive: Ears On: Make Your Cat Ears. 2. While everyone is fresh: Yarn Ball Relay, Paws Only, then The Cat Turns Around, the Mice Freeze. 3. For the photo: Pin the Tail on the Cat, Eyes Open or Shut. 4. To settle down: Purr When You Hear Cat. 5. To reach the table: Cat Nap, Wake at Your Own Name.

Things to find and make

A cat poster with paper tails, paper mice, ear triangles and a few balls of thick yarn. Wind the sticker ball the night before.

  • Tuck in every loose end of yarn, so that a ball survives being batted by ten cats.

Questions and answers

What cat games can 3 and 4 year olds play at a birthday party?

19 of the 28 start at age three or four. 10 start at three, among them The Yarn Ball Hides a Sticker for Everyone, Which String Has the Mouse?, Through the Cat Flap and What Is in the Cat Basket?

How do you play pin the tail on the cat?

Tape up a poster of a cat with no tail. Each child walks to it and sticks on a paper tail with their name on it, with eyes closed if they choose. The nearest tail wins, and nobody is spun.

Which cat party games need no props?

7 of the 28: Cat and Mouse, Closing Gates; Which Mouse Squeaked?; Mousetraps Close on the Meow; Copycat, Add a Move; Cat Nap, Wake at Your Own Name; Purr, Meow or Hiss?; and Rhymes With Cat Around the Circle.

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