A pool party is an extravaganza for most children. And it gets even better when combined with one of the best days in their life- their birthday.
Of course, adequate preparation is crucial to make a pool birthday party memorable. Here are tips on how to plan for your kid’s pool birthday party and make it a splash!
Decide on a Theme
An excellent way to start planning for any party is by deciding on the theme. Although it’s possible to go without one, having a theme for your child’s pool birthday party makes it easier to plan for other elements of the party. It unifies everything else and helps not lose focus on things, such as decorations and food and drinks.
A well-thought-out theme party also sets the right mood for the party. This helps a lot in propelling the guests’ mood by motivating them to participate in the party’s activities.
Whether it’s a retirement, Halloween party or birthday party, every party has a theme that takes it to the never level. When deciding on the best pool birthday party for children, you should consider who the guests are, decor and related elements, such as attire, entertainment and catering.
Here are a few suggestions of the best and fabulously fun themes for your kid’s pool birthday if you feel stuck:
- Popular kids’ movie party themes, e.g., Lilo and Stitch, Aquaman, Moana and Little Mermaid
- Mermaid pool party theme
- Fiesta pool party theme
- Water fights pool party theme
Trimming the Guest List and Sending Invitations
When determining who to invite to your kid’s birthday, feel free to take control of the guest list if your kids are too young to make genuine selections. However, you may want to allow your older kids to choose their guests.
You’ll need to include a few family members at the party. Unless you decide to invite all of them, you may want to narrow it down to close relatives, particularly those with kids. The other percentage of guests for your kid’s pool party will comprise several friends from school, your workmates and neighbors.
After trimming down your list of guests, the next part is sending invitations. There’s no best time to do this, but the wisdom of the crowd suggests sending invitations two to three weeks before the party.
The design and wording on the invitation cards should be creative enough to knock their socks off and want to attend the party. This is an exciting opportunity to involve your child in the planning process.
There are various cool birthday invitation card designs on the internet. Whatever your choice, make sure that it reflects the event’s theme. While you can get creative with the wording, keep it simple and be sure to capture all the relevant details:
- Child’s name
- Child’s age
- Event venue and time
- The theme of the birthday party
- RSVP details
- RSVP deadline
Enhance Your Swimming Pool
Your swimming pool will be the centerpiece of your child’s birthday party, whether it’s above-ground or in-ground. So, it’s only sensible to spice it up and make it safe for the intended users.
From a safety perspective, the first thing you want to consider is whether your homeowners insurance covers your swimming pool. Typically, coverage differs depending on the type of pool.
In most cases, in-ground pool claims apply under other structures coverage in the HO3 policy. On the other hand, an above-ground pool will most likely fall under your personal coverage or other structures coverage. Either way, inquire from your homeowner insurance provider or agent whether you have enough coverage to repair or replace the above-ground pool if it’s damaged.
Besides being safe, your swimming pool also needs to be super fun. As the party’s centerpiece, ensure that you go all out with pool decorations that reflect the party’s theme. Throw several pool floats and inflatable rafts of different styles- pizza, donut, flamingo and goose- to elevate your guests’ mood. And don’t forget water wings, life vests and kickboards, speakers, and a playlist.
Think of Fun Games
What’s a pool party without fun games? It’s a fact that kids get bored quickly. As the host or event organizer, there’s a ton of work ahead to keep the guests entertained from start to finish. Ideally, you want to have several pool party games that suit the age of the guests.
The shape and size of your pool party game items should also be considered, as it takes effort and time to organize them. If you have enough space to organize several pool games. There are various options for inflatable games. Water volleyball, inflatable obstacle courses, and water tossing games are awesome ways to provide entertainment all day long. And as you can have blow up inflatables of any shape and size and with preferred design, take a chance to make a fun and unique experience and get people to talk about your party.
Luckily, the internet doesn’t run short of swimming pool summer games for kids, teenagers and adults. For children, most of these games can be adjusted in terms of complexity and duration to suit the participants. Importantly, don’t let your kids play in the swimming pool without adult supervision. Remind your kids about sunscreen.
Here are some of the best swimming pool fun games for a pool birthday party today:
- Pool volleyball game
- Giant ring toss- can be played both in the pool or on the ground. It involves throwing inflatable rings into a center cone.
- Beach ball squirt race- players compete to move a ball across the pool using water squirters.
- Follow the leader- the kids line up behind the leader and imitate what the leader does.
- Pool race- participants compete to be the first to reach the finish line on the other side of the swimming pool.
Stock on Kid-Friendly Pool Party Snacks and Drinks
Kids expend a lot of energy playing, so you can expect your guests to feel hungry and get thirsty frequently.
For the snacks, go for light items that won’t necessarily require a knife and a fork. Frozen fruit pops, mini crescent dogs, honey-sweetened strawberries, fig oatmeal bars, sandwiches and burgers. Ideally, ensure the snacks are bite-sized, and there are paper towels nearby, so your guests can dry their hands before grabbing a bite. Remember to keep your food trays or platters covered nicely to keep the bugs out. If the party is on a hot summer day, you’ll definitely want at least two coolers to keep ice-cold beverages and refreshments within reach. It may be necessary to have one cooler for adult beverages and another cooler for soda, water and other drinks. For kids, having a variety of juices, from refreshing watermelon lemonade to fruity mocktails, will be highly appreciated.
