Make a Big Splash With a Beach Theme Birthday Party!

Gather up the beach balls, slip on your suit and soak up the fun at this super-cool beach theme birthday party!

Whatever the weather, a beach party is buckets of fun!

If it's hot outside, there's no better way to beat the heat. If it's cold outside, crank up that thermostat, bust out the bathing suits and mix things up a little bit with an indoor beach party. It's always great fun to do something out of the ordinary!

Check out these fun-tastic ideas that will make your beach theme birthday party a sizzling success!

Beach Party Invitations

There are so many terrific invitation ideas for a beach theme birthday party! Use brightly colored cardstock to create:

• Beach ball invitations: Fold a large piece of cardstock in half. Trace and cut a circle shape along the fold, leaving the fold portion of the circle uncut. Glue different colored stripes on the front of the beach ball. Cut a small circle and place in the center of the ball. Write all of the party details on the inside.

• Beach umbrella invitations: Cut an umbrella shape out of cardstock. Decorate with brightly colored stripes or cut-out shapes. Glue the umbrella onto a 4" x 6" plain colored notecard or piece of folded cardstock.
• A beach bucket invitation with a shovel inside: Cut out two bucket shapes for each invitation. Cut an opening in the hole of one of the buckets. Glue edges of the two pieces together, making sure the cut piece is on top (this should create a "pocket" in the opening. Cut one shovel shape for each invitation, being sure to size the shovel so that it fits inside the pail. Write all of the party info on the shovel and slip it into the bucket. Very cute!
• Sunshine invitations: Fold a large piece of yellow cardstock in half. Trace and cut a circle shape along the fold, leaving the fold portion of the circle uncut. Glue orange "rays" around the edges of the front of the circle. Draw a fun face, and glue on a pair of cool shades. Write all of the party particulars inside.

• Beach scene invitations: Use beach stickers, die-cut shapes, sand, shells, or whatever your imagination comes up with to create a beach scene on the front of plain notecards or brightly colored cardstock.
• To add a really cool twist to your beach theme birthday party, send creative message in a bottle invitations!

  Birthday in a Box has some super cute kits that include a tropical fill-in-the-blank invitation and a plastic bottle. All you need to do is add postage and drop them in the mail! The kids will love them and they are incredibly fun!

Note: Be sure that when you're writing out all of your party particulars that you include any special instructions (like to bring a beach towel, sunblock, sunglasses, etc.).

Beach Party Decoration Ideas

This party atmosphere calls for bright, vibrant colors! Use these summertime staples to add some pizazz to your beach theme birthday party:

• Beach umbrellas
• Beach towels
• Beach balls
• Paper party lanterns
• Palm trees (use real, inflatable, or paper party trees to add a tropical feel)!
• Party lights on a string (these come in lots of great shapes and colors)
• Although it's not a decoration, beach music definitely adds to the atmosphere!

Beach Party Games and Activities

• Pass the Beach Ball Relay: Have the kids divide into two teams. Have half of each team stand on one side of the party area, and the other half stand on the other side. They must put the beach ball between their knees and "run" across the party area to their teammates, passing the beach ball by using their knees ONLY. That player then "runs" across the party area to the next teammate to pass the ball. If the ball is dropped, the player must go back and start over. Play continues until the last player makes it across. The first team to finish, wins.
• Surfin' Safari: Place a skim board or sturdy boogie board on top of a dumb-bell weight. Have the kids take turns "surfing" on the board to beach music. If you want, give prizes for the best wipeout, who surfed the longest, most creative surfer, etc.
• Beach Volleyball: Get a little volleyball game going on in classic beach fashion! If you're throwing a winter beach party, use a balloon as the volleyball!
• Water Balloon Toss: An old-fashioned way to beat the heat!

• Aquatic Obstacle Course: Use sprinklers, Slip-N-Slides, baby pools, limbo sticks and hula hoops to create an obstacle course that will cool them off!
• Build Sand Castles: Fill your sandbox with buckets and shovels, dampen the sand, and let them go at it! Be sure to take pictures of their creations! As an inside alternative, purchase clear plastic bottles and colored sand for the kids to do sand art.
• Cool Shades Contest: This is a must for a beach theme birthday party! Have each child come wearing their favorite pair of sunglasses. Give prizes for the funniest, the coolest, etc.
• Decorate Flip Flops: Have the kids decorate flip flops with fake flowers, fuzzy yarns, rhinestones, foam shapes, or anything else that your imagination can come up with! Celebrate Express sells flip flop making party kits that have everything you need for this activity, and they're reasonably priced.
• Sun pinata: This fun pinata serves double duty as a decoration and as a party activity!

Beach Theme Party Favors

Beach pails make great party favor containers for a beach theme birthday party! Fill them with fun beach goodies like:

• Sunglasses

• Gummy fish
• "Go Fish" cards
• Paddle ball sets
• Frisbees
• Water balloon kits: These come in a bag with about 50 balloons and a little gadget that attaches to your faucet to fill them up.
• Goggles
• Bubbles

Beach Theme Snacks and Party Food

• Submarine sandwiches (cut into party serving size pieces)
• Goldfish crackers
• Fresh fruit kabobs with Hawaiian Fruit Dip

To stay with the theme, use coolers or ice buckets to serve the drinks from.

You can even take it a step further and serve the food from frisbees lined with paper plates! The frisbees could then be used for another party activity, then taken home as a party favor!

Beach Party Cake and Cupcakes

Beach Theme Birthday Party Cake

What would be more appropriate for a beach theme birthday party than a sand castle cake?

Nordic Ware has an awesome cake pan that turns an ordinary cake mix into sand castle masterpiece!

The pan can sometimes be hard to find, and is also a bit pricey if you only intend to use it once. My recommendation is to buy it from eBay, where you can get it for a lesser price. If you want to, you can even return to eBay to sell the pan when your done with it, and get your money back!

Here are some listings for the pan that are currently on eBay right now:

Beach Party Cupcakes

Instead of a birthday cake, try beach party cupcakes! They are incredibly cute and super easy to eat while sitting on a beach towel!

Here are a few cute ideas to try for your beach theme birthday party:

Sunshine Cupcakes:

Tint buttercream frosting golden yellow or orange; coat cupcakes with frosting.

Use brown mini M & Ms for eyes, then pipe a smile with black frosting. Stick Bugles snacks all around the sides of the cupcakes for rays. These little cupcakes are just adorable!!!

Fish Cupcakes:

Tint buttercream frosting royal blue; coat cupcakes with frosting.

Place a few goldfish snack crackers (the rainbow goldfish look best) onto the cupcakes. Pipe an eye on each fish with black frosting, and little white dots (bubbles) coming from the mouths of each fish.

Snorkeler Cupcakes:

Tint buttercream frosting royal blue; coat cupcakes with frosting. If desired, dip them into blue sugar crystals.

Pipe white frosting into an oval shape to form the diver's mask. Attach green M & Ms for eyes. Pipe black frosting beads around the border of the mask, in the center of each green eye, and add a couple of eyelashes.

Trim a mini candy cane to use as the snorkeling tube. Pipe white frosting bead "bubbles."

To finish it off, add a Goldfish cracker at the bottom for the snorkeler to see! Use a dot of black frosting to give the fish an eye, and you're all done!