Beach Party

Summer time is coming!  Summer birthdays are the easiest to plan and prepare parties for, in my opinion. One of the cutest and most fun that we've ever done was our "beach party".  We were living in Kentucky at the time, so obviously we couldn't go to a real beach with a real ocean or anything, but we could be creative and have lots of fun!  


Location:

Any location with sand and water would be fine.  If you don't have a location with both you can use swimming pool or a sand volley ball court. (We rented a spot with a sand volley ball court and a lake in the distance.  We couldn't get in the lake, but it added to the effect of the party.)

Decorations: 

• Colorful plates, cups, cutlery, table cloths...all primary colors.
• Beach balls hung from rafters or around the picnic tables
• Buckets with shovels on tables.  You could put sand in them to hold them down and add to the "look" but you run the risk of the wind blowing sand into eye balls and hot dogs. 
• Sea shells
• Sand molds
• Flip flops
• Sun glasses

Instructions:  (For party goers.  I always add instructions and a menu to my invitations.)

• Come prepared to get wet.
• Bring a water gun and a change of clothes if you want.

Menu:

• Hot dogs
• Watermelon
• Chips
• Corn on the cob
• Dirt Cake in a bucket and served with a shovel
• Blue jello with gummy fish inside
• McDonalds will usually give you a huge thing of their Hi C orange drink for free. 

Games:

• Swimming or water fight (provide water balloons for those who don't have or forget their water guns)
• Build sand castles with sand molds and buckets.  You can use the party decorations or you can have each child bring his own favorite beach toys.  Do whatever you think is easiest.  The less you have to keep up with (and take home!) the better off you are.
• Bubbles are fun for little kids and a bubble machine is fun for any age.  (I got mine at a yard sale for $2.50...keep your eyes peeled.  You never know what you might find!)
• Face paint
• Side walk chalk 
• Beach ball volley ball

Party favors:

• You could give away a bag of candy like every one does OR
• You could do what I did and give away the decorations!  Kids love beach balls and flip flops!  Sun glasses are fun too and that way you don't have to spend more money or take all that junk home with you!  =)
• For younger kids you could get everyone their own $1 gift certificate to McDonalds or Dairy Queen.  You would only spend $1 per kid rather than several dollars on bags and candy, not to mention all the time it takes to divide it all out.  The kids would look forward to a nice cold treat after the party or on a hot day later that summer!  It's a win-win situation!  

Tips:

• Do the easy thing.  Make it simple and don't stress over it. 
• Save money.  Dollar Tree is the way to go!  And don't forget Target's dollar section.  They have really cute things in there.
• Stretch your money buy using decorations as party favors.
• Be prepared before your guests arrive.
• For additional party tips, click here.