Pool Birthday Party

A pool birthday party is a great way to cool off from the summer heat and celebrate this special occasion! However, there are several things to consider before committing to a swimming pool birthday party. 

First, you'll need to figure out where to host the party. If you have a pool at your home, that's the ideal local for the event. If you don't have a pool but would still like to host a pool party to celebrate a summer birthday, explore options for pool parties in your area. Potential venues include the YMCA, area hotels, or pool clubs.

Next, set a limit on the number of guests for your swimming pool birthday party. Depending on the age of the kids, you'll have various levels of swimmers on your hands and you need to make sure safety comes first. That said, you may want to consider asking another parent to help out with supervision if you are planning to have a lot of kids at the party.

Once you've worked out the logistics for the pool birthday, you can start planning the fun stuff like the invitations, food, and activities. Here are some great pool birthday ideas for your party:

• Invitations: Design pool birthday party invitations to send out to your guests. Write a message on the invites like “Join us for Jenny’s sunsational birthday party!” or “Steve’s birthday party is going to make a splash!” Typically 3-4 weeks before the party is a good time to send the invites.  

• Food: Fresh summer fruits like watermelon and strawberries are perfect to serve at your pool birthday party. Hotdogs, hamburgers, chips, and soda are also great foods to have on the menu, especially if you are able to cookout at home or if you are at a pool club with a food stand. If you are trying to decide on a type of cake to serve at this birthday party, why not serve an ice cream cake? These are delicious to eat in the summer time and are usually a favorite treat of most kids.

• Sponge Relay: There are many fun pool birthday party games that you can play to entertain the kids. For the sponge relay, split the kids into two teams. Place two empty buckets at a set distance away from the kids. Place a bucket of water next to each team and give them a large sponge. Each team must race, one person at a time, to try to fill the empty bucket with water using just their sponge. The first team to fill up their buck wins the race!

• Water Balloon Toss: If there is an even number of guests at the party, split everyone into pairs for a water balloon toss. Have each pair toss a water balloon to their partner and back to the original person. Then have everyone take a step backwards from their partner and then toss the balloon again. Whoever doesn’t catch the balloon and it breaks is out of the game. The last pair standing with their water balloon wins the game!

• Whirlpool: Another fun game for kids to play at a swimming birthday party is the whirlpool game. The whirlpool game is ideal for parties hosted at a circular above ground pool. Have all of the kids stand along the edge of the pool an equal distance from each other. Then have them all walk for a few minutes in the same direction in a circle around the edges of the pool. Tell them to go faster and faster until the water is carrying them around the pool. Then, tell them to turn around and try to go the opposite way. This will be sure to get some laughs from the kids as they try to swim against the current!