It’s time for dragons from lands near and far to descend upon your lair for some tail-shaking, fire-breathing, wing flapping fun.

In other words, it’s time for the guests at your dragon-themed birthday bash to play some party games.

Dragon Pinata
When they’re not protecting princesses in towers, dragons can also be found guarding piles of shiny treasure. Fill a dragon pinata with candy and trinkets and then tell party guests they must slay the dragon with a pinata stick to collect his treasures.

When the dragon is opened and the prizes pour out, the dragon is considered slain and the treasure is free for kids to gather and keep as their reward.

Dragon Wing Relay Race:
Cut the shapes of two pairs of dragon wings out of cardboard. Divide players into two teams and give each team a set of wings. Racers must hold their wings on their backs (or over their heads, if on their backs is too difficult for small kids) and pretend to “fly” to the finish line and then back to their teams, where they hand the wings off to the next player in line. The relay race continues until all players have taken a turn at flying.

Teams can even decorate their dragon wings with items like colored markers, glitter and stickers before the race begins.

Catch the Dragon’s Tail:
Have party guests form a single line, with each player’s hands on the waist of the person in front of them. The front of the line is the head of the dragon, and the back is the tail. The idea is for the person at the front of the line to tag the last person in line, therefore catching “the tail.” Players must not let go of the players ahead of them during the chase.

Dragon Egg Hunt:
Hide plastic Easter eggs around the party space and send kids on a hunt for these “dragon’s eggs.” You can also fill the eggs with trinket prizes for players to keep.

Put out the Dragon’s Fire
To play this game, draw a dragon’s head, with a large mouth cut out, on a piece of poster board. Paint a few empty water bottles or can with bright orange paint. You can also tape some orange paper, cut into the shape of flames, onto the fronts of the bottles. Prop the dragon’s head up on a table and place the flame-bottles in the mouth (you may have to stand them on a shoe box or something to prop them up high enough).

Have kids stand a few feet away and try to extinguish the dragon’s breath by tossing water balloons at the flames. Score one point each time a bottle is knocked off of the table. Award prizes according to the amount of points scored.

Dragon’s Lair Tag
To play this game, one player is the dragon. The rest of the players can be the villagers, or they can be knights and princesses. Mark off a box in the play space and call it the dragon’s lair. Give the dragon a can of silly string. The dragon must try and breathe fire on the villagers by spraying them with the silly string. If a player is tagged with silly string by the dragon, he must sit in the dragon’s lair and wait to be rescued (tagged) by one of the other players. If the dragon manages to get three players in the lair at the same time, he becomes a villager and one of the captured players becomes the dragon.

Hold Your Tail
To play this game, each player will need a dragon’s tail. You can tie ribbon around each child’s waist and then tuck a sock or long piece of material into the ribbon. Set a timer and have them run around the play area. The object is for each player to steal as many tails as possible while at the same time protecting his own. If a tail is swiped, it may be replaced with one swiped from another player. When time is up, any players without a tail are out. The remaining players will count their tails and the one with the most is the crowned the dragon king or queen.

Rescue the Princess
To play this game, you will need a player to be the princess, one to be the dragon and the rest to be the knights. Stake two flags in the ground, several feet apart from one another. This is the entrance to the tower. The princess must stand a few feet behind the tower’s entrance while the dragon stands in front of it. The dragon’s job is to prevent the knights from entering the tower to rescue the princess.

Arm the dragon with a long range water gun or a bucket of orange water balloons .One at a time, the knights must try to pass the dragon and reach the princess. The dragon tries to breathe fire on them as they pass. If the dragon hits a knight with the water, the knight must retreat. If a knight makes it through without being “fired” upon, he rescues the princess, and a new player becomes the dragon.

Stick Dragon Races
Use dragon heads instead of horses to adapt this hobby horse craft and make your own stick dragons. Have kids decorate them, name them and then “ride” them through an obstacle course or traditional backyard relay race.