Summer birthdays have their advantages. While you may miss out on bringing class treats to school, you have lots of fun outdoor options for your celebration. Enter: the kids pool party.
Pool parties have built-in entertainment that makes hosting fairly simple. For the most part, the kids will create their own fun in the water. Throw in a structured game or two, snacks, cake, and presents and you have yourself a birthday party!
My oldest daughter’s 9th birthday party was at our local community pool. Looking back over the years at all the many themes we’ve used, this is probably my top favorite because it was easy to host and everyone had a great time. On an effort to fun ratio – this is a winning combo!
In this post, I’ll share how we organized my daughter’s party so you can get inspiration on how to throw your own epic event the kids will talk about all summer long!
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This post is all about kids pool party.
How to Throw a Kids Pool Party
Choose a Splashy Kids Pool Party Theme
Give your party decor something to rally around by choosing a theme. Popular pool party themes are: flamingos, luau, beach, mermaids, under the sea, and pirate. All of these are adorable choices that would be SO fun to incorporate into the details of your event.
However, it’s perfectly fine if don’t want to choose something “theme-y”. Instead, you can simply pick a color palette, such as boho pink and yellow. Then, choose decorations and pool-inspired details that pull the color palette throughout the venue.
Use Pool Toys and Accessories as Decor
Cute towels, floats, beach balls, and other water toys make excellent decorations for your summer soiree. Get creative with where you place the items and what you use them for.
For example, fill a float that has a bottom with ice and use it as your beverage holder.
Or, how about using beach towels in lieu of tablecloths?
Or, fill beach buckets with pre-packaged snacks instead of using baskets or bowls.
The options are nearly endless! (Just be sure you’re using caution when putting food on or near things that may not be food safe.)
Give Pool Floats as Party Favors at the Beginning
When we hosted my daughter’s pool birthday, we gave guests pool floats at the beginning of the event. This was their party favor, but they were able to use it during the event. We ended up with the cutest picture of all the kiddos in the pool with their matching floats!
Target makes some darling floats that are very affordable – like around $5! For summer 2022, I’m loving this daisy print ring tube in particular!
Create a Themed Snack and Hydration Station
I don’t know about your kids, but mine get SUPER hungry when they swim. To keep everyone fed and hydrated, you might want to consider a “help yourself” snack table and beverage station.
Go easy on on yourself and keep it casual with pre-packaged snacks that are “on theme.” For instance, goldfish crackers. Additionally, you can get creative with labels to turn basic food into themed treats. As an example, cut white cheddar cheese into triangles and label them shark teeth. Fun, right!?
Also, hot days call for cool drinks. Serve iced water in big dispensers. You might also want to consider offering sports beverages in lieu of juice or lemonade.
Organize Games
The beauty of a pool party is the kids will mostly entertain themselves in the water. However, when they need a break from swimming, you might want to have a few games planned to fill the time.
If space allows, classic “field day” games are a great option. Think throw-backs that require only a few supplies like a water balloon toss, limbo, and hula-hoop contests. Depending on how many players you have, you could even break this up into stations and run multiple games at the same time. Then, have the kids rotate.
If you’d rather orchestrate water activities, Marco Polo, treasure dive, or sharks & minnows are games that can be played with a crowd.
Either way, don’t forget the prizes! Beach balls and diving toys are a natural fit.
Make a Dive-Worthy Playlist
Speaking of diving, have a dive-worthy playlist as background music for your shindig. Amazon Music is my go-to for pre-made playlists. For instance, this Beach Party playlist has nearly two hours of fun-in-the-sun songs. You can also customize your own playlist, if you prefer.
Amazon Music has a free 30 day trial so you can test it out for yourself. My family honestly uses the service every single day. It’s totally worth the low monthly fee. We run it through our Alexas and even my 5 year old knows how to request her favorite songs!
Anyway, in the spirit of simplifying hosting, it’s is a great way to save time. 🙂
Keep Pool-Side Desserts Cool
Lastly, birthday parties usually call for cake. However, a pool birthday party might just need something a bit cooler, like ice cream sandwiches or snow cones.
In fact, snow cones could make an excellent party activity in and of itself. Using a snow cone maker, set up a DIY station so the kids can add their own syrup flavors!
Boho Pool Party Styling Ideas
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If you enjoyed these kids pool party ideas, you might also like these posts:
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THE BEST BIRTHDAY PARTY SUPPLIES ONLINE FROM AMAZON AND ETSY
I hope you got lots of ideas and inspiration from this post to throw your own fun-in-the-sun event this summer. If you have comments or questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Would love to hear from you! sarah@hostessology.com.
Until next time, cheers!
