Celebrate the sunny summer days with these fun-filled ideas for your child's summer birthday party! Our summer party guide includes suggestions for summer party themes, easy summer crafts, decorations, fun food ideas, summer games and a lot more!
Planning & Invitations
Your first decision is where to hold the party. If you'd rather not have the party at home, consider using a nearby park, a local recreation center room, a community clubhouse, or your church hall. Or try one of the other locations listed in our When & Where to Have the Party article.
Selecting a Theme
Choosing a theme will make it easier to decide on decorations, partyware and activities for your summer party. Would your child like a “splash party” with kiddie pools and a sprinkler to keep the guests cool? Or perhaps your son would love a “water war” theme with squirt guns and water balloons for his party. Or consider using a baseball theme with a wiffle ball tournament in the park. Other popular summer themes are pirate, safari, ocean, jungle animals, beach, and luau. Visit our Developing a Theme page to learn more, or choose from our entire selection of party themes.
What Do I Need for the Party?
If you plan to use paper tableware and party supplies with a summer pattern, our Suggested Party Supply List may be helpful while you're shopping. Please note that you may not need everything on the list; it is intended only as a guide.
In addition to basic party supplies like plates, cups, napkins, and decorations, you may also consider purchasing or borrowing the following items:
- Extra beach chairs
- Kiddie pools
- Lawn sprinkler
- Beach balls
- Sand pails and shovels
- Hula hoops
- Suntan lotion
- Disposable cameras
Summer Party Invitations
Creative invitations are fun for guests to receive and build excitement before the party date. If you have time to make your own summer party invitations, be sure to involve your child in choosing the design and filling in the details. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Write the party invitation on an inflated beach ball. Then deflate the beach ball and send it in an envelope. Your guests will have fun blowing up the beach ball to read the invitation.
- Punch a hole in the corner of a card-style invitation, and tie it with ribbon to the stem of an artificial flower, a pair of kid’s sunglasses, or a small squirt gun. Either hand deliver these invitations, or use padded mailing envelopes.
- Seal the envelopes with summer stickers.
- For a special touch, let us print personalized invitations for you! We’ll include your child’s name and all the party details with a background design that complements your summer party theme. You can also take a look at the blank invitations we offer. These are quick to fill in and mail, which is perfect when you want to send your invitations quickly. Check out all of our summer party invitations.
Summer Party Favors
Thank your guests with fun party favors like beach balls, sand pails, squirt fish, sunglasses, and squirt guns. You can also choose from our large selection of individual summer party favors, favor bags, and favor boxes to create your own goody bags.
For a fun presentation, tuck the favor bag inside a new baseball cap, attach it to a sport water bottle, or place it inside a colorful sand bucket before handing to your guests.
And to simplify your planning, we’ve designed several complete Summer Favor Sets that include a matching bag! If you want to add candy, we offer lots of sweet treats that kids love.
For a special touch, don't forget to check out our personalized summer favors like stickers, magnets and bag tags, which can be printed with a special message or your guests' names. Just choose a design, and we’ll do the rest!
Additional Party Planning Tips
To simplify the rest of the party planning process, check out our Party Planning 101 section for our party planning timeline, a printable RSVP sheet, birthday cake ideas, and other party planning basics. Or, just read the paragraphs below for decorating and food ideas, party activities, and more for your child’s summer party.
Decorating & Food Ideas
Summer Party Decorations
Pull out all the lawn chairs, beach blankets, and beach balls you own! These make perfect decorations for your summer party. Sand pails, beach umbrellas, straw hats, flower leis, and beach music will help set the mood, too! Seashells and starfish make great table decorations, along with snorkel masks and sunglasses.
A pop-up tent is a good way to create a shaded play area for the littlest guests. Hang a colorful piñata that matches your theme as a decoration. Later it will become an activity when the kids break it open. Consider a pull-string piñata if you would rather not have small children swinging a bat. We offer a selection of both traditional and pull-string pinatas, but any traditional pinata can be converted to a pull-string using our easy instructions.
Balloons always say “party” to children! Tie groups of helium balloons together and anchor them in place with balloon weights. For greater impact, combine shaped balloons with colorful latex balloons. Tie a balloon to the back of each chair, and tie a group of five balloons to the birthday child’s chair
Make a banner that says “Welcome to the [your last name] Summer Fun Party!” and hang it near the party entrance. See our selection of summer banners and let us do the work for you!
Consider using one of our Summer Party Boxes, which come filled with partyware, streamers, balloons, and more.
Or see our summer party decorations for more quick and easy decorating choices!
Summer Party Food Ideas
Either picnic food or a barbecue menu would be perfect for a summer party. Sandwiches, hot dogs, or hamburgers are all good choices to feed your hungry guests. Serve chips or cookies in clean, new plastic sand pails. Lay picnic blankets in the yard where guests can sit and eat. Fill paper cups with fish-shaped crackers or other small treats and place an umbrella straw upright in the middle. Fruit smoothies served in tiki cups will help the children cool down and stay hydrated in the hot sun.
Try our Banana-Strawberry Smoothie recipe for a cool, tasty treat on a hot summer day. Here's what you'll need:
- 2 Bananas
- 2 Cups of Strawberries
- 1 Cup of Milk (Note: If you're using frozen strawberries instead of fresh, reduce the milk to 1/2 cup.)
- 1 Cup of Frozen Yogurt
Slice the bananas and strawberries, and put them in a blender with the milk and yogurt. Blend on high until smooth. Pour into glasses, add a fun straw, and serve! If you're looking for other refreshing summer beverages that will take less time to whip up, consider Virgin Strawberry Daiquiris and Virgin Piña Coladas made from store-bought mixes.
For sweet treats, either popsicles or an ice cream sundae bar are a sure hit with kids. You can create an Ice Cream Cart by setting up a table with cones and ice cream at one end and a variety of toppings in serving bowls at the other end. Guests can "order" their scoops of ice cream from an adult, and then add their own toppings. Don't forget the whipped cream and cherries!
Edible “sand pails” made using ice cream cones with a flat bottom are another cute treat for a summer party. Just bake brownie batter inside the cones and let them cool. Spread frosting over the top of each brownie cone and sprinkle on crushed vanilla wafer cookies to look like sand.
Game & Craft Ideas
Summer Party Games and Activities
To keep the children playing happily for a long time, you need only one thing. Squirt guns. Lots of squirt guns. And a kiddie pool full of water for quick and easy refills. Then stand back with your video camera and record the fun! For more activities, don’t forget classic summer games like horse shoes, volleyball, limbo, tug of war, a piñata, jump rope, or a good ole’ water balloon fight. These fun games continue to be popular with kids of all ages! For more ideas to keep your guests entertained, check out our list of summer crafts and games below.
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