Beat the summer heat with an outdoor summer birthday party.
There's really no better way to celebrate a summer birthday than by planning an outdoor party. Incorporate the main themes of summer--sun, water and the great outdoors--to create a memorable birthday party for your child. Does this Spark an idea?
Circus Party
Bring the circus to your own backyard.
Bring the circus to your own backyard. Hand-make circus party invitations with your child. Use cardstock and scrapbooking pens to create pretend circus tickets that include the date, time, and party location information. Make them colorful.
Decorate your yard with balloons and streamers. Create carnival booths for games or food by covering tables with cloths. Cut plastic pipes and duct-tape the pipes together to form a booth-like structure. Attach colorful signs to the pipes, describing what the booth is.
Play carnival and circus games--like ring toss, hula hoops, obstacle course and water balloon toss. Hand out prizes--such as candy and small toys--to the winners.
Incorporate crafts and activities with circus themes. Have the children design brown paper bags to hold party favors and game prizes. Give them construction paper, colored tissue paper, and markers to create clown faces on the bags. Face painting is another fun activity for children. Have your adult friends or family help paint the children's faces; do it free hand or purchase stencils at a craft store.
Serve foods and treats that would be at a circus or festival like corn dogs, popcorn, cotton candy and ice cream.
Pool Party
A pool party is a perfect way to celebrate a summer birthday.
Pool parties are always popular with kids. They're a lot of fun, but also great way to cool off in the summer sun. Pick a theme for your party, such as "Beach Party," "Surf Party" or "Hawaiian Luau."
Get creative with your pool party invitations by matching them to your theme. Use cardstock to cut out flip flops, swim shorts, or tropical flowers. Another idea is to blow up beach balls and write all the party information on them. Deflate the balls and put them in envelopes. Include directions to blow up the ball for party information. Remind kids to bring swimsuits and towels.
Fill the pool with beach balls, inner tubes and other floating toys. Spread out beach chairs and umbrellas.
Play traditional water games like Marco Polo, shark, and water basketball. A water balloon toss and limbo are also relevant games to play at a pool party.
Hand out party favors, such as a squirt gun, sand shovels, sun block and sunglasses. Put them in a small plastic bucket.
Serve cold food and treats like fresh fruit, mini-sandwiches, Popsicles and ice cream.
Olympic Party
Plan an Olympic-themed birthday party in your backyard for an athletic child.
Plan an Olympic-themed birthday party in your backyard for your child if she is into sports.
Make simple flags from different countries for the invitations. Each guest will receive a flag from a different country. The invitations would read: "You have the honor of representing (name of country), for the Birthday Olympics!" Remind kids to wear athletic shoes.
Before the party, buy T-shirts in different colors to represent the "countries." As each guest arrives, give them their shirt.
Decorate your yard with balloons and streamers in primary colors to represent the colors of the Olympics.
Plan challenges for the kids, including a long jump, obstacle course, egg toss and balloon volleyball. Award homemade medals for winners, along with other prizes, such as candy and small toys.
Serve picnic-type foods like sandwiches, hot dogs and chips. A cake with the five-rings Olympic emblem makes for a perfect centerpiece.
Ladybug Party
A ladybug party is fun for young girls.
Make lady bug invitations out of red and black cardstock. Use a metal brad to hold the wings on, so that they can open and close. Write the party information on the body of the bug and close the wings before mailing. Black pipe cleaners make perfect antennae.
Decorate your backyard with red and black balloons and steamers. Cover the party table with a red table cloth and place Oreo's around the table to make spots. Decorate the table with artificial flowers.
Give each guest ladybug antennae to wear. Make antennae ahead of time with a headband, pipe cleaners and foam balls.
Serve chocolate lady bug cupcakes. Frost the cupcakes with dyed red frosting. Use brown mini-M&M's for spots and cut pieces of black licorice rope for the antennae. Assemble the cupcakes on a platter or cupcake stand to use as a table centerpiece.
Play games with a lady bug theme, such as "Pin the Ladybug on the Leaf." Play this the way you would play "Pin the Tail on the Donkey." Draw a green leaf on a sheet of poster board. Cut red paper ladybugs for each child. Use double-sided tape at game time.
Another game to play is "How Many Bugs in the Jar?" Decorate and paint a ladybug on the lid of a large glass jar and fill the jar with black and red jelly beans. Take turns guessing how many beans are in the jar. The guest who guesses closest wins a prize.
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