Give your little "Great White" an exciting underwater birthday adventure with our Shark Party Ideas! Read on for general party planning tips as well as great shark-themed decorating, food, game, and activity suggestions.
Party Planning
For peace of mind, begin planning 6 - 8 weeks in advance to allow time to purchase and mail invitations, as well as to give your guests time to RSVP and make travel plans, if needed. Don't panic if you find yourself short on time; you can still plan a great party! Planning ahead simply reduces the risk of conflicts with guests' plans and may increase attendance.
To simplify the rest of the party planning process, check out our Party Planning Timeline, take a look at our When & Where to Have the Party page, and read the paragraphs below for information on selecting decorations, supplies, activities, and more for your child's party.
What Do I Need for the Party?
If you plan to use paper tableware and themed party supplies, our Suggested Party Supply List may be helpful when placing an order. Please note that you may not need everything on the list; it is intended only as a guide.
Decorating & Food Ideas
Fun Ideas to Set the Mood
Add to the realism of your party with these decorating tips:
- Make scuba masks by cutting 1"-wide, oval-shaped borders out of heavy paper and taping clear cellophane behind them. Fasten a length of elastic string to the left and right sides of each mask so that your partygoers can wear them.
- Make a treasure chest by covering a large shoebox with brown construction paper and strips of gold foil or glitter paint. Fill it with shells, plastic necklaces, craft "jewels," and plastic gold coins.
- Purchase Styrofoam rings at a craft store, and wrap them with red ribbon to make life preservers to hang from the back of each guest's chair.
- Cover the table(s) with disposable, blue-colored table covers, and decorate the top(s) with sand, faux pearls and seashells.
- Use sea-life stuffed animals as decorations.
- Hang or float bunches of blue and green latex balloons, interspersed with fish-shaped Mylar balloons for contrast.
- Twist together blue and green streamers, and hang them along the walls and doorway(s) in the party area. For a fun touch, hang long strips of streamers in a row across the main entryway to the party area, creating a curtain for your guests to pass through as they come and go.
- Cut out shark and fish shapes from our Shark Cutout Sheet, construction paper, or a coloring book. Hang them from streamers or tape them to the walls throughout the party area.
- Cut triangle wedges of Styrofoam and spray paint them gray. Place throughout the party area to give the appearance of groups of sharks.
Shark Snacks
When it comes to food, partygoers are usually perfectly content to eat pizza or hotdogs, which is certainly much easier on the hosts! However, if you have the time and would like to serve some ocean-themed treats, consider these ideas:- Shark Cake - Bake a rectangular sheet cake and a small square cake. Cut a wedge shape from the square cake, and place it on top of the rectangular cake to form a shark fin. You may need to secure the fin with a wooden skewer if it will not stand up on its own. (Be careful to remove the skewer before serving!) Ice the sheet cake with blue frosting. Ice the fin with gray frosting. You can add gummy fish, an icing octopus and/or a small boat as decorations.
 - Make "Sea Water" by coloring pitchers of apple juice with blue food coloring. You can even add plastic plants purchased from a local aquarium- or pet-supply store to the pitchers for effect.
- Make "shark bite" sandwiches by preparing several cream cheese or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cutting jagged "shark bites" into a corner of each.
 - Use homemade or store-bought biscuit dough to make Shell Biscuits. Press your thumb into the bottom half of each circle of dough to make an indentation, then make four or five shallow cuts along the top to create a scalloped edge. After you bake the biscuits, add a dollop of your child's favorite jelly to the indented area.
- Make Octopus Ice Cream Balls by placing eight licorice strings on each child's plate, followed by a large and then a small ball of ice cream. Finish off your octopi by using icing or candy to give them faces.
- Serve shark-shaped cookies made from our Swimmingly-Swell Sugar Cookies recipe.
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