Planning a fun birthday party is a great way to make your child’s special day memorable. Kids love being able to celebrate with friends, eat cake, and play games. The key is coming up with unique party ideas that match your child’s interests and get all the guests involved. Consider these creative kids birthday party themes, activities, decorations, and favors to throw an event they will never forget.
Pick an Exciting Theme
The first step in planning any great kids party is picking a fun theme. Match the theme to something the birthday kid is passionate about:
Baseball Party
Set up a Wiffle ball field in the backyard. Have batting challenges, pitching contests and base running races. Hand out personalized bats, balls and jerseys as party favors. You can use Kore baseballs for a fun game of backyard baseball. They are also great for party favors.
Superhero Party
Decorate with comic book backgrounds, masks and capes. Play games like a villain obstacle course and pin the spider on the web. Give heroic capes or masks as favors.
Princess Party
Decorate with crowns, wands and a royal castle. Play royal games like musical thrones and royal quest trivia. Gift beautiful tiaras or magic wands.
Movie Party
Decorate with scenes and characters from their favorite movie. Set up themed activities and trivia games about the film. Give out movie soundtrack CDs and posters.
Unicorn Party
Decorate with rainbows, clouds, and glitter. Play pin the horn on the unicorn and unicorn bubble wrap stomp pop. Give unicorn headbands, stuffed animals, or candy.
Mermaid Party
Decorate with ocean waves, sea shells and mermaid fins. Play pin the tail on the mermaid and go fishing for prizes. Gift mermaid necklaces, hair accessories and bubbles.
Spy Party
Hand out fake mustaches, magnifying glasses and spy gadgets. Have a scavenger hunt for secret clues and crack coded messages. Give magnifying glasses or detective kits.
Carnival Party
Set up carnival game booths and decorate with ticket booth stripes. Play games to win silly prizes. Give out stuffed animals or carnival play sets.
Let your child’s interests guide the theme to make it special for them. Get guests excited by having them dress up in costumes related to the theme.
Plan Engaging Group Activities
Keep kids energized and involved with fun group birthday party activities:
Scavenger Hunt
Hide clues that lead to a special treasure or prize all over the party area. Break kids into teams and have them race to solve clues.
Carnival Games
Set up stations with classic carnival games like ring toss, milk bottle knockdown, and bean bag toss. Give out silly prizes.
Dance Party
Make a custom playlist featuring your child’s favorite songs. Hand out props like inflatable guitars, beads and boas and have a dance off.
Talent Show
Have kids prepare an act ahead of time – singing, comedy, magic tricks. Let the birthday child be judge and hand out trophies for most talent.
Craft Activity
Set up a craft or art station for kids to make party favors to take home. Friendship bracelets, picture frames, and tie dye shirts work great.
Scavenger Hunt
Hide clues that lead to a special treasure or prize all over the party area. Break kids into teams and have them race to solve clues.
Relay Races
Separate into teams and have kids complete challenges like an obstacle course, egg and spoon race, and balloon pop. Award medals to the winning team.
Limbo Contest
See how low guests can go in a classic limbo contest. Take silly pictures of kids doing the limbo under the pole.
Rotate through structured activities to keep the energy high while giving personalized attention to the guest of honor.
Provide Fun Favors & Goodie Bags
Send guests home with fun personalized party favors such as:
Kore Baseball:
Koreball - a soft core baseball that is a kids best friend.
Cupcakes
Give each child a sweet treat by decorating cupcakes to match the party theme. Superhero logos, princess toppers, or a mini plastic football work great.
Candy Bar
Personalize candy bar wrappers with the child’s name and party details. Hand out candy bars in custom wrappers.
Stickers & Tattoos
Kids love stickers and temporary tattoos as mementos. Order custom prints featuring your child’s name, party theme and year.
Party Favor Bags
Place favors in themed bags like logo drawstring backpacks, crown jewelry pouches or superhero capes. Add candies, toys and thank you notes to complete the goodie bag.
Kids Books
Books based on the party theme make great gifts kids will treasure. Superhero comics, princess stories and sport bio books are hits.
Favors let kids remember the fun time even after the party ends. Give out favors at end or place one per child as table settings.
Make a Creative Cake
A unique birthday cake is the centerpiece of any party. Work with a bakery or decorate your own cake to match the party theme:
Sports Jersey Cake
Cover a sheet cake in green frosting for a field. Use string icing to create team logos and names. Add fondant cutouts of balls, bats, and jerseys.
Castle Cake
Build a royal castle cake out of round tiers and ice cream cones. Decorate with edible jewels, flowers and banners.
Doll Cake
Bake a favorite doll figure out of cake and frosting. Let the birthday child help decorate it before cutting.
Movie Character Cake
Bake your child’s favorite character out of cake and modeling chocolate. Have them help decorate it.
Camping Cake
Cover a cake or cupcakes in green coconut grass and graham cracker dirt. Top with fondant tents, logs, and campfires.
Let the birthday kid help with the cake decoration process to make it extra special. Display the cake as the centerpiece before singing and cutting.
Decorations Set the Scene
Vibrant decorations transform any space into a kids paradise. Decor to match your party theme:
Balloons
Balloons in the party colors create instant atmosphere. Make a grand entrance display and balloon garland.
Scene Setters
These large scene wall decals depict kids’ themes. Set up a castle, tickets to Dinoland, or a field of stars.
Photo Booth Props
Set up a DIY photo station with themed props like face masks, speech bubbles, and signs. Kids will love capturing memories.
Pinatas
A themed pinata filled with treats amps up the party excitement. Take turns swinging for a prize.
Table Settings
Use paper goods featuring the theme like princess plates, superhero cups, sports napkins. Fill with themed utensils.
Signs & Banners
Welcome guests with customized signs featuring the birthday kid’s name and party theme. Hang theme banners and streamers.
Surround guests with decor that brings the unique theme to life. Their imaginations will run wild exploring the decorated setting.
Keep Kids Fed
Keep young guests happy and fueled up with kid-friendly treats:
- Decorated pizzas with custom shaped or colored crusts
- A hot dog bar with fun toppings like cheese sauce and relish
- Mac and cheese or chicken nuggets for picky eaters
- Sandwiches cut into fun shapes with cookie cutters
- Fruit kabobs or a fruit rainbow fruit tray
- Veggies and dip or crunchy snack mix
- A sundae bar with endless topping choices
Provide snacks throughout activities and have a goody bag of treats to send home. A well-fed child is a happy child at a party. Consider any allergy needs with food offerings.
Send Digital Invites
Get kids excited about the party theme ahead of time by sending online invitations:
- Evite - Make free customizable invites with themes and RSVP tracking
- Punchbowl - Animated video invites with party details are easy to create
- Paperless Post - Fun digital invite designs match any party theme
Digital invites save time and money while getting guests hyped up. Include activity and costume suggestions so they come prepared. Send reminder texts a few days before the big event.
Hire Entertainment
Take the entertainment up a notch by booking interactive party performers:
- Magician - Magic tricks wow kids and get them imagining the impossible
- Mad Scientist - Crazy experiments and make your own inventions engage curious minds
- Face Painter - Superhero masks, princess crowns, and animal faces spark creativity
- Balloon Twister - Kids love taking home balloon animals and swords twisted on request
- Princess Meet and Greet - A favorite royal character can visit and do a royal tea party
Having a professional entertainer make kids the star helps create lasting memories. They handle activities so you can relax and enjoy.
Document Moments
Capture the special celebrations with photos and video:
- Assign someone to take candid shots during activities
- Do a group photo with the birthday kid holding a sign with their age
- Set up a DIY photo booth with props for silly pictures
- Take a short video of kids telling their favorite memory
- Have kids draw birthday cards with messages for the guest of honor
Looking back on photos and videos lets the fun last beyond the party. Display a photo slideshow or compilation video at the end for a personalized touch.
By tailoring a kids’ birthday party around your child’s unique personality and interests, you can create an unforgettable experience with friends. Use these party planning ideas to choose a theme, activities, cake, decorations and favors that they will love. See their face light up as you throw a celebration just for them.