Imaginative Little Mermaid Games
To Entertain Your Princess Guests

Plan two or three Little Mermaid games for your Ariel-themed party. Here are a few of our favorite suggestions.

Little Mermaid Games With Water

Sea Shell Bucket Brigade

Preparation: Each team will need two buckets and a large nonporous sea shell. Fill one bucket up with water. Mark a line at the midpoint on the second bucket.

Directions: The object of the game is to fill the second bucket with water up to the line you have marked. Water can only be carried in the sea shell. Line each team up between their full bucket and their empty bucket.

When the game begins, the first player fills the sea shell with water from the first bucket. Then she passes the sea shell down the line of team players. The last person in line dumps the water from the sea shell into the empty bucket. She then races to front of the line as everyone scoots down a spot. Repeat until the first team fills their bucket up to the designated line.


Little Mermaid Water Relay Race

Preparation: Divide the group into teams. The teams are on one side of the pool and Ariel’s "treasures” are on the other side of the pool. Use lightweight objects Ariel might have collected in her treasure cave.

Examples include a spoon, comb, cup, bowl and candle. Be creative in what you choose. However, be cautious that the objects are non-breakable and they will not be harmed if wet.

Directions: Each team member must swim across the pool, retrieve an object, swim back and deposit the treasure into the team box. When the first person returns, the next person swims for the treasure. Repeat until all the objects are collected. The first team to collect all the treasures is the winning team.

This Little Mermaid game is suited for slightly older groups that know how to swim. However it can be adapted to younger groups as well by shortening the swimming distance.


Mermaid Treasures

Preparation: Gather diving rings and other pool toys that will sink. Scatter them throughout the pool.

Directions: Instruct the players to gather as many treasures from the bottom of the pool as they can. The guest who has the most objects is the winner.

If you are concerned about people swimming in to each other during this Little Mermaid game, let each guest swim separately to collect the treasures. If you want a winner, time each guest to see who can gather the toys the fastest.


Mermaid Dives

Directions: Find an area of the pool that is deep enough to dive or jump in. Let each "mermaid" guest have a turn diving (or jumping) into the pool in her best mermaid style. Let the guests choose who had the best mermaid dive. This is a Little Mermaid game that the girls will want to repeat over and over, as they perfect their mermaid dive.

Little Mermaid Games on Land

Name That Treasure

Preparation: Gather several human objects from around the house such as a blow dryer, cup, curling iron, nail polish, etc. Be creative in selecting the objects.

Directions: Either individually or in groups, assign the girls one of the human objects. Tell them that they must pretend they have never seen it before. They must make up a name and make up what the object is used for. This is what Scuttle did in Disney's The Little Mermaid. The object of the game is to come up with the best mermaid name and use for the object.


Little Mermaid Memory

Preparation: For this Little Mermaid game, choose ten to twenty of your favorite Little Mermaid pictures. Size them down to 2” X 2” and make two copies of each picture. Glue the pictures onto a 3" X 3" cardstock paper. Laminate the cards (optional).

Directions: Mix the cards up and turn them all face down. Each guest takes a turn turning over two cards. The object is to match the two cards. If she gets a match, she keeps the cards. If there is no match, she turns the cards face down again. It is now the next person's turn.

When all of the cards have been matched, the game is over. Let the guests keep the cards they have matched in their party favor bag.


Flotsam and Jetsam Freeze Tag

Flotsam and Jetsam Freeze Tag takes a little coordination and a lot of room to run around. Since Flotsam and Jetsam eels were always together in The Little Mermaid movie, they will be paired up for this game.

Directions: Choose two players who will be Flotsam and Jetsam. These players link arms. They chase the other players and try to tag them. If a player gets tagged, she links arms with Flotsam and Jetsam and joins in chasing the rest of the group.

The key is to not unlink arms. It gets tricky to move as the group gets larger, but is also harder for the free players to get around the big group without getting tagged.


Ariel’s Treasure Chest

Preparation: Decorate a box to resemble a treasure chest. Fill the chest with 10-15 “human objects” that Ariel might have collected in her treasure cave. You might include a fork, spoon, cup, bowl, candle, book, remote, i-pod, etc. Spread them out in the treasure chest so that all the objects are visible. Make sure you have enough paper and pencils for each guest.

Directions: Bring the treasure chest in and open it up. Tell the guests they have 30 seconds to remember everything they can. After 30 seconds, take the treasure chest away and give the guests 5 minutes to write down all the objects from the treasure chest that they can remember.

After 5 minutes, bring back the treasure chest, open it up and pull out each object. The guest with the most correct objects is the winner.

Variation: As a variation to this Little Mermaid game, let the birthday girl display the objects in the treasure chest. After 30 seconds, the birthday girl takes the treasure chest away and leaves the room.

Instruct the guests to write down everything they remember about the birthday girl. Examples: what she was wearing (very fun if she has dressed as a mermaid), jewelry, makeup, how she did her hair, shoes, etc.

Under the Sea Parachute Game

Preparation: Get a flat blue sheet that can be used as a parachute. Gather princess colored balls and bean bags and the music to Under the Sea. You will need a couple of adults to help with this game.

Directions: With the adults holding onto the sheet, place the balls and bean bags on the floor under the parachute. Turn on the music to Under the Sea. The adults should wiggle and shake the sheet to the beat of the music.

Every time Sebastian sings the phrase “under the sea” the adults will pull the parachute into the air. The children run under and get one ball or bean bag and try to get out before the parachute comes down.

This Ariel game is a blast for little kids. Just make sure that there is sufficient room and that everyone is cautious about running into each other.

Variation: Instead of placing the balls and bean bags on the floor, place them on top of the sheet. Have all the guests and the adults hold onto the edge of the sheet. Turn on the music. Everyone should wiggle and shake the sheet to the beat of the music.

When Sebastian sings “under the sea” toss the balls and bean bags into the air with the parachute. Try to keep them from falling onto the floor. Kids love parachute Little Mermaid games.


Ursula Freeze Dance

Preparation: You will need the Little Mermaid or other princess music and an open space.

Directions: Turn on the music and let the guests dance. When you stop the music, the guests freeze so they don’t get added to Ursula’s garden.

As the guests freeze walk around between them as if you were Ursula looking for people that move. If you really get into the role of Ursula, the girls will be laughing as they try not to move. My daughter loved playing this Little Mermaid game at her Ariel party.

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