Son't let your kids' friends be bored at your next summer party! Get great ideas for summer-themed activites!
Summertime birthday parties for kids are so much fun because all kids love summer activities and you can fill your party time full of beach themed, tropical themed, water themed and other summer themed party activities, games and crafts. If you are throwing a beach party, swimming party or Hawaiian luau this summer for your child's birthday party bash, you should definitely include these great games and fun activities into your party's schedule.
Musical towels:
Musical chairs is a fun game that almost all kids know how to play. The problem is that too many kids loose and are unhappy, and that's not the kind of atmosphere you want to have at a birthday party. So try a new variation on this classic game and play musical towels, where everyone wins! Here's how it works. Lay out one beach towel (or any old towel really it doesn't matter, as long as you have one beach towel left at the end) for every child at the party. Put on a CD or tape that has great Hawaiian tropical sounding music and let it play for at least 30 seconds. When the music starts, have the children get up and hula around the towels in a circle. While they do, send in an adult to take away one towel. Then stop the music. The child without a towel has to sit on someone else's towel. By the end all of the kids are trying to fit onto one towel (this is why you need the beach towel, its big enough to fit lots of kids).
Lei Making:
Set up a craft table and lay out pre-cut long pieces of string, twine, raffia, or fishing line, long-tube pasta, and fresh, plastic or fabric tropical flowers. The kids can string together the flowers and pasta to make a cute and fun to wear lei necklace.
Water Play:
If you are having a party for very small children, you can simply inflate or buy a plastic kiddie pool and fill it with water, put some aquatic life toys inside and let the kids play. (Be sure to include in the invitation that the kids will need to bring swimwear and a towel.) For older kids, hold the party at a larger pool and set up a water volleyball game with a pool net and inflatable beach volley ball. If a pool of any size is not an option: consider handing out cheap plastic water guns (they can be found for around one dollar each in kids toy aisles) and have the kids play a water gun fight. If anything containing the word "fight" is not an option, just turn on the sprinkler, roll out a slip-n-slide, or just get out a plain old garden hose and let the kids play in the water and make up their own water games. Sometimes there doesn't have to be a game, kids just like to get wet.
Boat making:
If you are going to have a kiddie pool, it would be fun to sponsor a craft activity where kids can make toys to bring with them to the water. Kids can make sail boats out of almost anything that will float and even some things that won't. Boats can be made out of Styrofoam cups or egg cartons, bottle caps, or foil cupcake wrappers. Sails can be easily constructed out of a tooth pick and some construction paper.
