If your kid has an upcoming birthday, take advantage of the warmer weather (we're getting there!) and take the party outside.
Outdoor parties allow more creativity and space that indoor activities can't offer. There's extra space to let loose, diverse environments to play in and freedom to be louder than normal.
Let’s get this party started. Here are 17 outdoor birthday party ideas to help inspire your kid’s next bash.
17 Outdoor Birthday Party Ideas
From sports to art activities and water play, these party ideas don't lack in fun.
Scavenger Hunt
Write clues on pieces of paper that lead party guests on a journey around your yard or through a local park with a surprise at the end.
Summer Camp
Break out the s’mores and hot dogs, sing songs around a campfire, tell ghost stories and make friendship bracelets.
Starry Night
Host a night of outdoor stargazing. While kids identify constellations, serve snacks like star-shaped cookies and gummy rings (to mimic planetary rings, of course!).
Reel Fun
Kids will be "hooked" on this fishing party. Kids can make and decorate their own fishing rods out of wooden dowels, eye hooks, string and metal clips. Then, fill a kiddie pool with fake fish and catch a big one.
Outdoor Movie Night
Watch a movie with the help of a projector and a bedsheet "screen." Serve classic movie snacks, like popcorn and candy.
Olympics Party
Celebrate this summer's Olympic Games with obstacle courses and relay races. Before little athletes head home, wrap cookies in gold paper and attach ribbons. Everyone gets a medal!
Lawn Games
Turn family game night into a party with oversized checkers or Twister boards or make a DIY version of skeeball with buckets and small balls.
Bubble Blast
Turn on a bubble machine and hand out wands that create bubbles of all shapes and sizes. Kids can take turns inside a kiddie pool with soapy mixture and Hula-Hoops to make jumbo bubbles.
Archaeological Dig
Pour sand into buckets with hidden “artifacts” like dinosaur figures, fossils and gold coins and pass out little shovels.
Outdoor Art Party
Fill up squirt guns with paint and use large canvases as targets, whip up batches of slime or provide clay to make little sculptures.
Water Party
Break out a sprinkler, a Slip 'N Slide or water blasters for wet and wild fun. Then send kids home with cozy beach towels.
Garden Party
Let kids try out their green thumbs by decorating their own pots in which to plant seeds, flowers or succulents. For dessert, fill mini terracotta pots with cupcakes and top with flower decorations. When the party wraps, send kids home with watering cans and seeds to start their own gardens.
Tie-Dye Party
You can supply T-shirts, socks or towels or have guests bring their own to tie-dye. Then lay out tie-dye kits and have a clothesline and clothespins ready to dry the creations.
Glow-in-the-Dark Party
Load up on glow-in-the-dark necklaces, fill baby pools with glow sticks and place colorful plastic cups over tea lights to illuminate the party.
Park Party
There's nothing more classic or low-key than hosting a party at a local park. Slides, climbing structures and swings will occupy kids while adults hang on the grass.
Sports Party
Perfect for a sizable backyard or park. Section off stations for freeze tag, soccer or softball.
Picnic Party
Red-and-white checkered blankets, lemonade, potato salad, hot dogs and hamburgers and apple pie is all you need for a classic picnic party.
