Awesome Game Ideas for a Dude Perfect Style Birthday Party

Gresham turned 12 last week, and we had an amazingly fun birthday party with several of his friends. All of our boys love to watch Dude Perfect videos, and we decided a few weeks ago that it would be fun to have a Dude Perfect birthday party!

But then we had to figure out HOW to have a Dude Perfect birthday party, ha ha. We thought about trying to film various trick shots. We thought about having different challenges and filming the kids’ best attempts, but we weren’t so sure about that idea. The guys on Dude Perfect make everything look so easy… but the stuff they do is not easy at all! We were afraid that we wouldn’t actually get any good footage, and we didn’t want our party guests to be frustrated.

After lots of deliberation and testing a few games, we decided to do a series of games, award points in the form of stickers, and give out prizes at the end. This approach worked out so well!

Now, before we get any farther let me just say that this was NOT a Pinterest perfect birthday party. The cake was a box mix that I baked in a 9 x 13 pan and spread store bought icing over. We ate burgers on the grill and chips. We didn’t have any decorations. And two days before the party, the weather forecast changed to a 100% chance of rain, and we had to drastically change our game line-up! Not every game has a direct Dude Perfect connection, especially when rain became involved (since we don’t live in a gym!).

I’m writing this post, however, because the party was truly so much fun. It was the perfect thing for a group of 12 and 13 year old boys.

Scoring

When the guys arrived for the party, we had everyone make a name tag out of an index card to hang around their neck. Throughout the party, they added a sticker to their name tag for each “win.” Some games had teams and each member of the winning team got a sticker, and other games were scored on an individual basis. See notes below with each game.

Game #1: How Far Can You Blow a Pea?

This one was directly inspired by this Dude Perfect video. They broke a record with this one in one of their “Absurd Recurds!” (And I agree – it’s pretty absurd! Ha ha!)

How far can you blow a dried pea across the floor in one breath? Kids can blow all at once, or they can blow some and then scoot forward and blow some more… but they can’t inhale a second time!

Coby didn’t use a straw in the video for this record, but we decided that since we were doing this in a house and not a gym, that we would use straws to help control the direction of the pea. You can try it and do the challenge either way!

We measured each competitor’s distance and recorded it. Then we gave stickers to the first and second place winners.

Game #2: Bean Relay Race

This one does not have a Dude Perfect connection, but it was a fun indoor party game! The guys kept their straws from the previous game. For this game, they worked in teams to transfer dried beans from one bowl to another (across the room!) using only their straw.

If they dropped the bean on the way, they had to go back and start again!

We used tray tables, and we had the trays fairly far apart since these were 12 and 13 year olds. For younger kids, I would place the bowls closer together and put only a few beans in each one (maybe 8). I can’t remember how many beans we had, but it was probably 12-14. This game was challenging but not frustrating, and there was lots of cheering for the winning team! All the winners got stickers for their name tags.

Game #3: No-Look Candy Catch

This game was inspired by Dude Perfect Backwards Edition. The Dude Perfect guys do lots of no-look trick shots that are super awesome but hard to replicate without a lot of practice. We made a no-look shot a little more do-able by eliminating the stationary target. (I saw this idea on a Facebook video, but now I can’t find the video!)

For this game, we put the kids in pairs. Two pairs competed at a time, since we had to be in the middle of the street – the only dry spot! We gave each pair 5 mini candy bars. They had to toss the candy backwards – without looking! Their partner’s job was to catch the candy in an orange plastic pumpkin. (If it’s not Halloween time when you’re doing this, just use any plastic bucket.)

This game was just the right difficulty level. The guys had lots of success, but no one got all five in a row. If they had, we would have given bonus stickers! We played a couple of rounds and then gave stickers to the top two teams (four kids).

Game #4: Cardboard Box Frisbee Target

I didn’t get any photos of this one! It was just a huge cardboard box with a slit cut in it for a frisbee. We should have tested this game more ahead of time (It was raining… so we didn’t…) and our slit was a little too small and too difficult. Still a fun idea! Just make sure to test it ahead of time!

We own the Dude Perfect Nerf frisbee, and it really is a good one. My dad went out and bought to have at their house too because it’s soft and easy to catch.

Game #5: Ping Pong Basketball

We decided that these Dude Perfect Pringles can basketball goals seemed very do-able, and the boys were happy to consume some Pringles for the cause!

These Pringles can goals are in the video Ping Pong Trick Shots, and it’s one of our favorite videos. The chain reaction at the beginning is AMAZING!

We made three basketball goals and lined them up on our dining table. The goal is to bounce the ping pong ball on the table once and then into the goal. Each guy got a shot at each of the three goals, and then that was the end of their turn. We gave a sticker for every successful basket, and we played a couple rounds of this.

Super fun! And you do get better with practice, so keep trying if you don’t get it at first!

TIP: Help kids pay attention to the angle at which their ball is hitting the table because that plays a large role in where the ball is going to end up.

Game #6: LEGO Copycat Challenge

I decided that this game deserved it’s own post! It has nothing to do with Dude Perfect, but it ended up being the favorite game of the night.

Play a competitive game where team members have to communicate to build a LEGO structure that perfectly matches the model. You can see it here: LEGO Copycat Challenge.

Game #7: Ping Pong Tic-Tac-Toe

This one might be my favorite! Play tic-tac-toe by bouncing ping pong balls into plastic cups full of water.

We used three tray tables – one for each team to bounce their ping pong balls off of, and one to hold the cups. The cups need water in them to make the ping pong balls float at the top. It also makes the cups heavy so that they won’t tip.

Each team had four members. The guys took turns making shots – one side and then the other, until one team had 3 in a row.

It’s not easy to get the balls into the cups! But it’s definitely possible, and it gets easier with practice.

We put X’s on some of the ping pong balls with a black Sharpie. For the O’s, we just left the balls unmarked.

The photo below is from the actual game! X’s were winning but O’s ended up pulling out from behind to take the victory. It took several minutes for one of the teams to win, but when they did, there was TONS of cheering! So fun!

Game #8: Golf Tee Nerf Targets

We made this golf tee target for the party, but ran out of time to play it! That’s okay, though, because we’ll get plenty of use out of it.

Jordan and Aidan drilled holes for the golf tees. You want the tees to be a snug fit in the holes.

Tips for a Great Party

Prizes! We did prizes as party favors, and each participant got to choose something out of the prize bucket. I didn’t get a photo of the prize bucket before the party, but we had Nerf Jolts (top favorite item!), decks of cards, yo-yo’s, LEGO sets (the ones that come in a plastic bag in the check out lanes), and little flashlights.

Everyone counted the stickers on their name tags, and the top two kids got to choose a prize first. Then we let the two with the lowest totals take their pick. Then we gave prizes to the top team in the LEGO game (for those who hadn’t already won a prize) and then the final two kids remaining.

My other tip tip is to make sure to plan PLENTY of games! The last thing you need is a bunch of kids who are super excited to play active games, and you don’t have enough to keep them busy. Prepare more games that you think you’ll need!