Lumberjack Party Games

Log, forest animal, camp and pancake games for ages 2 to 9, with no axes and no saws.

Lumberjack Party Games

  1. Flapjack Hat Walk From Griddle to Plate1. A balancing walk. Each child puts one felt pancake flat on their head. 2. Walk from the griddle, a dark rug, to the breakfast table without touching the pancake. 3. A pancake that slides off goes back on where it fell. 4. Second round: two pancakes. Third round: walk backward for the last three steps with an adult beside you. Ages 4 and up. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: a felt pancake or two each.
  2. Roll the Log to the Sawmill With a Broom1. A relay race, with a log to roll. Paint a cardboard mailing tube brown, one for each team. 2. Mark a start line and stand a box on its side ten steps away as the sawmill. 3. The first lumberjack sweeps the log along the grass with a broom, into the sawmill and back out again. 4. They sweep it home and hand the broom to the next in line. 5. Hands never touch the log. Every team finishes, and each gets a cheer of "Timber!" Ages 4 and up. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 10 min. Props: a cardboard tube and a broom for each team, and a large box.
  3. Tall Tree, Small Stump1. A listening game. Everyone stands in a space of their own. 2. When the leader says "tall tree", stretch up on tiptoe with your arms high. 3. When the leader says "small stump", crouch down and hug your knees. 4. The leader says them slowly, then quickly, then says the same one twice in a row. 5. Nobody is out. The smallest children can play in a grown-up's arms, lifted up and lowered. Ages 2 and up. Players: 2 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: none.

Next step More birthday party games for kids

How it works

These lumberjack party games are classics that children already know, each with a log, a flapjack or a flannel shirt added. Every game gives the youngest age it suits, and none uses an axe or a saw, real or toy.

Read the full guide

A first birthday with older cousins

Open Calm games for the smallest for the birthday child and any toddlers: they are slow, nobody wins, and a grown-up plays alongside. The cousins run Log games and Camp and flannel games on the grass at the same time, then everyone meets for Pancake games before the cake.

What to make beforehand

Cardboard tubes painted brown, felt pancakes as big as a saucer, a flannel shirt and a few beanbags cover most of the list.

  • Save the tubes from wrapping paper and mailing boxes: painted brown, they are the logs.

Questions and answers

What games do you play at a lumberjack first birthday?

Log Across the Circle, Say a Name, Bear, Owl or Fox Under the Plaid Cloth? and Paper Squares on the Big Shirt are written for age 2 and up, with a grown-up beside each child. Nobody wins or loses in any of them.

Are there lumberjack games without axe throwing?

Yes, all of them. No game here uses an axe or a saw, real, toy or cardboard. The one target game, Beanbag Pine Cones at the Dinner Tin, is played with beanbags thrown at a hanging pie tin.

Which lumberjack party games work indoors?

Most of them. The pancake and calm games fit a living room. Log Roll Down the Lawn, Bushy Tails: Squirrels Pull Scarves, Two to a Log, Around the Stump and Beanbag Pine Cones at the Dinner Tin need a yard.

What can older kids do at a lumberjack party?

Children of five and up can play Log Jam: Giant Pick-Up Sticks, Bushy Tails: Squirrels Pull Scarves and Bedroll for Two, and Order Up: The Cook Remembers the Breakfast gets harder with every right plate.

More tools

Browse Acting and Drawing

All 30 games

Log games 6

  • Log Jam: Giant Pick-Up Sticks 1. Pick-up sticks, made big. Cut six pool noodles in half, or collect twelve wrapping-paper tubes. 2. An adult holds them upright in a bundle on the grass and lets go. 3. In turn, each child lifts one log out of the jam without making any other log move. 4. A log lifted cleanly is kept. If the pile moves, the log goes back and the turn passes. 5. When the jam is cleared, count logs, then build the next jam together. Ages 5 and up. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: twelve pool noodle halves or cardboard tubes.
  • Log Roll Down the Lawn 1. A rolling race: the children are the logs. Walk the lawn first and clear away sticks and stones. 2. Children lie down side by side at one end, arms stretched above their heads. 3. On "roll the logs", everyone rolls sideways to a rope laid across the grass. 4. Run it again in pairs holding hands, as one long log that has to stay joined. Ages 3 and up. Leave a body length between rollers. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: a rope or ribbon for the finish.
  • Roll the Log to the Sawmill With a Broom 1. A relay race, with a log to roll. Paint a cardboard mailing tube brown, one for each team. 2. Mark a start line and stand a box on its side ten steps away as the sawmill. 3. The first lumberjack sweeps the log along the grass with a broom, into the sawmill and back out again. 4. They sweep it home and hand the broom to the next in line. 5. Hands never touch the log. Every team finishes, and each gets a cheer of "Timber!" Ages 4 and up. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 10 min. Props: a cardboard tube and a broom for each team, and a large box.
Show all 30 games (27 more)

Log games, continued

  • Timber! Trees Fall and Lie Still 1. Musical statues, with a fall at the end. While the music plays, the children are trees swaying in the wind, arms up as branches. 2. When the music stops, the caller shouts "Timber!" 3. Every tree sinks slowly to the grass and lies as still as a log. 4. The caller walks through the forest and names the stillest log, who calls "Timber!" next time. 5. Nobody is out. Ages 3 and up. Trees sink down slowly: no flops. Players: 3 to 20. Time: 8 min. Props: music.
  • Two to a Log, Around the Stump 1. A partner relay. Each pair carries one long cardboard tube or pool noodle on their shoulders, one child at each end. 2. Set a bucket upside down as the stump, twelve steps from the start. 3. Pairs walk fast around the stump and back with the log on their shoulders, each holding it with one hand. 4. A dropped log is set back on both shoulders before the pair moves on. 5. Pass the log to the next pair. Pair a tall child with a tall child. Ages 5 and up. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 10 min. Props: a long cardboard tube or pool noodle for each team and a bucket.
  • Under the Fallen Tree 1. Limbo, with a fallen tree in place of the bar. Two adults hold a pool noodle or a cardboard tube level at shoulder height. 2. Children line up and walk under the tree one by one, bending forward or back as they like. 3. After each full round the tree drops by a hand width. 4. A child who bumps the tree becomes a forest animal and crawls under on every later round, so nobody sits out. Ages 4 and up. Players: 3 to 16. Time: 10 min. Props: a pool noodle or a long cardboard tube.

Forest animal games 6

  • Beavers Bridge the Towel River, a Stick at a Time 1. A building relay. Lay a blue towel on the grass as the river, one for each team, and pile twigs or craft sticks at the start line. 2. One at a time, each beaver carries a single stick to the river and lays it across. 3. The next beaver goes when the first is back. 4. The dam is finished when sticks touch all the way from one bank of the towel to the other. 5. Both teams then count their sticks aloud together. Ages 4 and up. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 10 min. Props: a blue towel for each team and a pile of twigs or craft sticks.
  • Bushy Tails: Squirrels Pull Scarves 1. A kind of tag: a scarf is pulled in place of a touch. Each child tucks one end of a scarf or a strip of cloth into the back of their waistband, leaving most of it hanging. 2. Mark the edges of the forest with cones. 3. On "go", every squirrel tries to pull other tails while keeping their own. 4. A squirrel who loses a tail takes it back from the taker, tucks it in at the tree stump and joins in again. 5. Stop after three minutes, rest, and play once more. Ages 5 and up. Pull tails only, never clothes. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 8 min. Props: a scarf or cloth strip each and cones.
  • Clothespin Quills on the Flannel Porcupine 1. Clothespin tag, with one grown-up as the porcupine. The grown-up wears a big flannel shirt with the tail hanging out. 2. Each child gets four clothespins of one color. 3. The porcupine walks around the yard, never runs, and the children try to clip their quills onto the hem and sleeves of the shirt. 4. When every quill is on, the porcupine stands still and each color is counted. 5. Play again with a new porcupine. Ages 4 and up. Quills go on the shirt only. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: an adult-sized flannel shirt and four clothespins a child.
  • Do Not Wake the Bear 1. A creeping game. One child is the bear, curled up with eyes closed beside a lunch pail. 2. The others stand ten steps away. The host points to one child, who creeps up to take the pail. 3. If the bear hears a sound, the bear points toward it without looking. 4. A point in the right direction sends the creeper back, and another child tries. 5. Whoever carries the pail back to the group is the next bear. Ages 4 and up. Players: 4 to 12. Time: 10 min. Props: a lunch pail or a small bucket.
  • Who Is in the Hollow Log? 1. A guess-the-voice game. Drape a blanket over a table or use a play tunnel as the hollow log. 2. One child, the ranger, turns away and covers their eyes. 3. The host points to a child, who crawls into the log and makes one forest animal sound: an owl, a wolf, a woodpecker knocking. 4. The ranger turns around and has two guesses at who is inside. 5. The child in the log is the next ranger. Ages 4 and up. Players: 4 to 12. Time: 10 min. Props: a blanket over a table or a play tunnel.
  • Woodpecker Knock, Knock Back 1. An echo game. The leader is the woodpecker and holds an empty cardboard box, the tree. 2. The woodpecker knocks a short pattern on the box with their knuckles: knock, knock, pause, knock. 3. Everyone knocks the same pattern back on the floor or on their own knees. 4. After three patterns, the woodpecker passes the tree to another child. 5. Older children make the pattern one knock longer each time. Ages 3 and up. Players: 3 to 15. Time: 5 min. Props: an empty cardboard box.

Camp and flannel games 6

  • Beanbag Pine Cones at the Dinner Tin 1. A target toss, at a target that rings. Hang a metal pie tin from a branch or a clothesline at child height. 2. Sew or tie brown cloth around beanbags to make pine cones, or use plain beanbags. 3. Each child stands behind a rope and throws three pine cones underarm at the tin. 4. Every ring is cheered with "Come and get it!" 5. Move the rope a step back for children over six. Ages 4 and up. Nobody stands behind the tin. Players: 2 to 16. Time: 10 min. Props: a metal pie tin, string and three beanbags.
  • Bedroll for Two 1. A rolling-up race for pairs. Lay one blanket flat on the grass for each pair, with a length of soft rope beside it. 2. On "lights out", each pair rolls the blanket into a tight bedroll, starting from one short end. 3. One child holds the roll while the other winds the rope around it twice. An adult ties the bow for younger pairs. 4. Pairs carry the bedroll to the bunkhouse, a rug by the door. 5. Unroll them all and swap partners. Ages 5 and up. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 10 min. Props: a blanket and a length of soft rope for each pair.
  • Giant Boot Shuffle to the Stump 1. A big-shoes race. Each team has one pair of adult rain boots or work boots. 2. The first lumberjack steps into the boots with their own shoes on. 3. They shuffle to a bucket turned upside down as the stump, walk around it and shuffle back. 4. They step out and the next child steps in. 5. Walking only: a boot that comes off is put back on where it fell. Ages 4 and up. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 10 min. Props: a pair of adult boots for each team and a bucket.
  • Lunch-Pail Relay 1. A packing relay. Each team has a lunch pail at the start and, on a blanket ten steps away, a toy sandwich, an apple, a napkin and a flask. 2. The first runner carries the pail to the blanket, packs one thing and runs back. 3. Each runner after that packs one more thing. 4. The last runner brings the full pail home, and the team sits down to show it is packed. 5. Then run it backward, unpacking one thing each. Ages 4 and up. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 10 min. Props: for each team: a lunch pail or small bucket and four toy or real picnic things.
  • Peg the Plaid Socks on the Camp Line 1. A clothesline relay. String a line between two chairs at child height. 2. Each team has a basket of thick socks or paper socks colored in plaid, and a cup of clothespins. 3. One at a time, runners carry one sock and one pin to the line and peg the sock up. 4. When the basket is empty, the team runs the relay again to take the washing down. 5. Pair up socks at the end. Ages 4 and up. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 10 min. Props: a clothesline, clothespins and a basket of socks for each team.
  • Plaid Patch Hunt 1. A scavenger hunt with one shared goal. Draw a big shirt on poster paper and cut ten holes in it. 2. Cut ten patches of red plaid paper or cloth, each as big as a hand, and hide them around the yard. 3. Children hunt for patches and bring each one back to the shirt. 4. An adult helps tape each patch over a hole. 5. The hunt ends when the shirt has no holes left, and everyone signs it. Ages 3 and up. Players: 3 to 16. Time: 12 min. Props: poster paper, ten plaid patches, tape and a marker.

Pancake games 6

  • Flapjack Hat Walk From Griddle to Plate 1. A balancing walk. Each child puts one felt pancake flat on their head. 2. Walk from the griddle, a dark rug, to the breakfast table without touching the pancake. 3. A pancake that slides off goes back on where it fell. 4. Second round: two pancakes. Third round: walk backward for the last three steps with an adult beside you. Ages 4 and up. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: a felt pancake or two each.
  • Flapjack Stack by Spatula 1. A stacking relay. Cut twelve pancakes from corrugated cardboard for each team. 2. Put the pancakes on a tray at the start and a plate on a stool ten steps away. 3. Each cook carries one pancake on a spatula, slides it onto the stack and walks back. 4. A dropped pancake is scooped up with the spatula, not with fingers. 5. When the tray is empty, the team adds a yellow sponge on top as butter. Ages 4 and up. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 10 min. Props: for each team: twelve cardboard pancakes, a spatula, a tray and a plate.
  • Flip the Flapjack, Count the Catches 1. A flip-and-catch game. Cut pancakes from brown felt, as big as a saucer. 2. Each child holds a small frying pan or a paper plate with one pancake on it. 3. On "flip", they toss the pancake up from the pan and catch it in the pan. 4. Count catches for thirty seconds. Then everyone tries to beat their own number. 5. Small children flip with two hands on the pan. Ages 4 and up. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: felt pancakes, and a small frying pan or paper plate each.
  • Order Up: The Cook Remembers the Breakfast 1. A memory game. Lay out felt or paper breakfast pieces on a table: pancakes, butter pats, strawberries, blueberries. 2. The host calls an order once: "Two pancakes, one butter, three blueberries." 3. The cook walks to the table, builds the plate from memory and carries it back. 4. The group checks the plate against the order. 5. Orders grow by one piece for each right plate. Younger cooks get orders of two things. Ages 4 and up. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: felt or paper breakfast pieces and a paper plate.
  • Slide the Butter Onto the Pancake 1. Table shuffleboard, with butter. Draw a pancake as big as a dinner plate at the far end of a smooth table, or cut one from paper and tape it down. 2. Cut a yellow kitchen sponge into squares as pats of butter. 3. Each child slides three pats along the table with one push. 4. A pat that stops on the pancake scores one. A pat that stops on the small circle in the middle scores three. 5. Add up after three turns each. Ages 5 and up. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: a smooth table, a paper pancake and a yellow sponge cut into squares.
  • Spatula to Plate, One Step Back 1. Catch with a partner, played with kitchen things. One child holds a felt pancake on a spatula and the other holds a paper plate. 2. Start one step apart. The flipper tosses the pancake and the partner catches it on the plate. 3. After a catch, both take one step back. After a miss, both take one step forward. 4. Swap the spatula and the plate every three throws. 5. After five minutes, see which pair stands farthest apart. Ages 5 and up. Players: 2 to 16. Time: 8 min. Props: for each pair: a felt pancake, a spatula and a paper plate.

Calm games for the smallest 6

  • Bear, Owl or Fox Under the Plaid Cloth? 1. A hide-and-find game. Put a teddy bear, a toy owl and a toy fox in a row. 2. Cover each with a small plaid cloth while the children watch. 3. Ask "Where is the bear?" A child lifts one cloth to look. 4. When every animal has been found, cover them again and slowly swap two of the bundles. 5. For the youngest, leave an ear poking out. Ages 2 and up. Players: 1 to 6. Time: 5 min. Props: three soft toys and three small cloths.
  • Line Up the Logs, Shortest to Tallest 1. A sorting game. Cut cardboard tubes to six different lengths and stand them on the floor in a muddle. 2. A child picks any two logs and stands them side by side to see which is taller. 3. Together, the children build a row from the shortest log to the tallest. 4. A grown-up takes one log out while the children cover their eyes. They point to the gap where it belongs. Ages 2 and up. Players: 1 to 6. Time: 8 min. Props: six cardboard tubes cut to different lengths.
  • Log Across the Circle, Say a Name 1. Roll the ball, with a log. Children sit in a circle on the floor with their legs apart, a grown-up behind each of the smallest. 2. One child rolls a cardboard tube across the circle and says the name of the child it is going to. 3. That child stops the log with two hands and rolls it to someone new. 4. Keep going until every child has had the log twice. Ages 2 and up. Players: 3 to 10. Time: 5 min. Props: a cardboard tube.
  • Paper Squares on the Big Shirt 1. A sticking game with no winner. Draw the outline of a shirt on a large sheet of paper and tape it low on a wall. 2. Cut red and black paper into squares as big as a child's hand and put a loop of tape on the back of each. 3. Children press squares onto the shirt wherever they like. 4. When the shirt is full, the grown-ups call it finished plaid and everyone claps. Ages 2 and up. Players: 1 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: a large sheet of paper, red and black paper squares and tape.
  • Tall Tree, Small Stump 1. A listening game. Everyone stands in a space of their own. 2. When the leader says "tall tree", stretch up on tiptoe with your arms high. 3. When the leader says "small stump", crouch down and hug your knees. 4. The leader says them slowly, then quickly, then says the same one twice in a row. 5. Nobody is out. The smallest children can play in a grown-up's arms, lifted up and lowered. Ages 2 and up. Players: 2 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Tree-Ring Stumps Cut in Two 1. A matching puzzle. Cut six circles from cardboard and draw tree rings on each: one ring on the first, two on the second, up to six. 2. Cut each circle in half with a different wavy line. 3. Mix the twelve halves on a blanket. 4. Children fit the halves back together, on their own or with a grown-up. 5. Older cousins count the rings on each finished stump aloud. Ages 2 and up. Players: 1 to 6. Time: 8 min. Props: six cardboard circles cut in half.

How this list was compiled: Our suggestions for a child's lumberjack party, from a first birthday with older cousins to ages 4 to 9. The wording is ours, and the player counts, times and ages are our estimates. Each game is a classic with a lumberjack prop or rule, and its first step says which. There is no axe or saw, real or toy, in any game, nobody is blindfolded and nothing is eaten. Rules of the classics were checked against Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) on 2026-10-03, after the stem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/: Limbo (dance), Pick-up sticks, Musical statues, Tag (game), Shuffleboard. Licence: own work