How do you make pin the tail?

This is how you can make and play the classic favourite at your next party!

Table of Contents Show

What you'll need
9 steps to play the game
What can I use as a pin for pin the tail on a donkey?
What does pin the tail mean slang?

Sep 01, 2020 7:15am

It can be difficult to feel inspired when it comes to a kid's birthday party. Sometimes, smaller, more intimate events, scaling down the hoopla and focusing on the party essentials lets you focus on the elements that matter most to you, and the best way to do this is by playing some good old-fashioned classic party games - like pin the tail on the donkey.

Perfect as a winter indoors game or summer alfresco party, it's great to get together with your children to do craft projects and getting them to pitch in to help prepare everything for a party, and this is an easy task for them. Read on to find out how to make and play pin the tail on the donkey, and turn your kid's birthday party into a roaringly success!

What you'll need

Download and print the Pin the Tail on Donkey Game from My Party Games
Glue
Scissors
Blu-tack
Textas
Blindfold (or scarf)

9 steps to play the game

1. Print out the templates for the donkey and tails. You will need to print the donkey as 4xA4 at least, and depending how many players you'll have at the party, enough copies of the tails for everyone.

2. Cut out the individual tail pictures.

3. Glue the donkey image to a wall, at a height that will suit the majority of players - eye level is best.

4. Place a small 5 cent-sized piece of glue tack on the back of each tail.

5. Hand out the tails to everyone playing and get them to write in large letters their name on their own.

6. Line everyone up and place a blind-fold on the first in line.

7. Once the first in line has the blind fold on, turn them around 5 times so they'll be slightly dizzy and need instructions to find the donkey.

8. Take turns to pin your tail on the donkey (with the blu tacked side sticking to the donkey)!!

9. Once everyone has had a turn, the closest tail to the accurate placement wins.

Hello! I’m Amy the blogger ‘wearing the heels’ at While Wearing Heels. I’m a stay at home mom to a sweet and sassy 5 year old little girl, who is honestly the one ‘wearing the {dress up} heels’, while I chase after her. I’m an avid DIYer that dabbles in home improvement projects, crafts, self portraits, creative ways to preserve memories and party planning all while on a limited budget.

I’m so excited to be joining One Artsy Mama and look forward to sharing some fun and frugal sewing projects with all of you each month. If sewing isn’t your thing (yet), I plan to offer up no sew options to most of my projects as well.

So, without further ado.

For my daughter’s 5th birthday, we threw her a bunny themed birthday party all DIY. I’ve learned, it’s best to have lots of activities to keep a group of 5 year olds entertained so one of the party games, a take on the traditional pin the tail on the donkey, was pin the tail on the bunny.

Pin the tail is a great game that can be customized easily to fit just about any party theme.

To get started, you’ll need about a half a yard of felt (depending on how big or wide a shape you are making). Using some chalk, draw out your design. You can either draw it free hand, or select a design you like and print it off from Block Poster, a free online resource for enlarging images or pictures, and use that image as a traceable pattern.

Cut your shape out of felt and pin to a fabric backing. I knew I would hang my pin the tail game in a door frame so I measured enough fabric to cover the width of the door. A frugal option, if you don’t have an excess of fabric, use an old bed sheet.

Secure your shape into place by sewing along the perimeter. The view from the back illustrates how I did exactly that.

To finish, sew a hem around the length and width of your fabric background. *If hanging from a door frame, create a pocket to slide an adjustable curtain rod into by folding the top over approximately an inch and a half and sewing that edge down.

Decide on a tail. I used a large white pom pom and double sided tape.

When it’s done, hang it up, give your party goers a spin and watch as they try and pin the tail on the bunny.

As promised, for those of you who don’t sew (yet), there is a no sew version as well.

Cut your details out of felt and glue them into place. Both the backing and the design, for the pin the fez hat on the elephant, were made out of felt.

*Ok, so I did sew the curtain rod pocket on the top but you could just pin it up and omit sewing altogether.

For the fez hat, I cut fez hat shapes out of brightly colored felt. I cut a small slit in the top of the hat and knotted the end of some yard through the hat. To make the hats stick, I applied some no sew velcro, the hook side or scratchy side, to the back of the fez hats which then will stick wherever placed onto the felt.

Sew or no sew, the options are endless. You can customize the pin the tail party game to fit any party theme.

Just off the top of my head, here are a few: Princess theme, try pin the tiara on the princess. Pirate party, pin the pirate flag onto the pirate ship. Hello Kitty party, pin the bow onto Hello Kitty. Superhero party, pin the superhero mask onto the superhero.

What version of ‘pin the tail’ would you make?

Until we sew again next month.

Amy of While Wearing Heels

What can I use as a pin for pin the tail on a donkey?

One at a time, each child is blindfolded and handed a paper "tail" with a push pin or thumbtack poked through it. The blindfolded child is then spun around until disoriented. The child gropes around and tries to pin the tail on the donkey. The player who pins their tail closest to the target, the donkey's rear, wins.