With the sun shining and the children on the summer school holiday, why not create a beach-themed party? Great for outdoor settings, you can create a beachy feel in your garden with props, activities, and snacks. Dive into some of our top ideas below.
Dress for the beach
Bring the seaside to your home by having guests come in swimwear to get in the mood. Swimming costumes, trunks, sandals, sunglasses, cover-ups and hats are all welcome – and remind them not to forget their SPF! You could also ask everyone to bring their own towel but have some spare for those who forget.
Hire a sandpit and paddling pool
Great for bringing the beach to your backyard; the kids will love making a splash and building sandcastles. You can add mini deck chairs, beach balls, shells, buckets and spades. To finish, play some music – you could have a playlist of crashing waves and beach-themed songs.
Beach-themed snacks and drinks
Here are some simple but fun ideas:
- Cupcakes or biscuits with sea animal faces – to save time, you could buy plain cupcakes and simply add your own icing decorations
- Rock cakes
- Fish and chips – fish fingers or fish cakes and oven chips are quick and easy
- Sticks of rock
- Ice cream
- Slush puppy – hire a machine
- Tropical juice “punch”
- Coconut water/milk
Water pistols and bubbles
Kids love play fighting with water pistols, and bubbles are great for all ages, especially younger children. It all adds up for more fun in the sun!
Beach-themed games
Let the kids burn off some energy with these fun games in the garden:
- Volleyball – a high net and ball is all you need
- Limbo – make it more beach-themed by adding some hanging shells to the bar, and everyone needs to wear a hula necklace while they limbo
- Tug of war
- Water bucket relay – split into groups, the kids will have to run with two full buckets of water around an obstacle trying not to spill a drop!
- Beach treasure hunt – the kids can act as pirates and search the garden for chocolate coins
Hire a face painter
Children could pick from a beach-themed list, including different types of fish, mermaid/merman, shark, whale, pirate, etc.
Hang some beach-themed bunting and balloons
If you really wanted to push the boat out, you could hire a photographer to capture all the best bits from the day and have them printed into a keepsake album. You could hang up some starfish bunting or seashells to really bring the setting to life. A balloon garland in beachy colours would also make a great backdrop for photos.
We hope you find these ideas useful and have a whale of a time at your own beach-themed party. The kids will surely enjoy making a splash and soaking up all the fun in the sun.