Beach Fun
Throw a beach party when warm weather arrives, but keep it simple. Have plenty of ice-filled coolers, sunscreen and towels for guests. Gather pails and shovels and pack a few beach balls and Frisbees. The day before the party, prepare food and pack the car with decorations, folding tables and anything else you'll need. On the morning of the party, place all refrigerated food and drinks in the coolers with enough ice. Does this Spark an idea?
Decorations
Pick tableware and decorations such as "Under the Sea" to suggest the ocean. Choose deep blues and sea greens. Add iridescent color for accents. Decorate a table with sea blue table cloth and wavy ribbons to give the impression of seaweed. Trim table sides in iridescent fringe garland. Arrange starfish and shells along with iridescent star confetti for the tabletop.
Games
Amuse younger guests with crab walk races. Have participants race from the upper part of the beach to the water's edge. The first one to the water wins. For older kids, rally an assembly line bucket race. Put together two teams, spacing players at the water's edge to higher ground. Give the closest player to the water a bucket and place a blow-up pool at the other end. Players must fill a bucket with water to pass up the assembly line. Players must fill the pool. The first team to fill their pool wins. Adults can have a beach race. Place two chairs opposite one another, fill two beach bags with flippers, snorkel, large swimming trunks and a beach ball. Seat players in the chairs and with "Go!" players must dress in their beach attire, blow up the beach ball, race to the water and dive in. The first player to dive in wins.
Menu
Fill plastic starfish dishes with goldfish to snack on. For appetizers, prepare mock sushi (see "Resources" below). Make a "shell" pasta salad the day before. For kids, prepare the wraps with jelly"fish" and any type of nut butter. Prepare tortilla wrapped sandwiches filled with turkey, herbed mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato and avocado. For vegetarians, use Tofurky® brand deli. Cut them width wide and place them on a tray. Have a fresh fruit tray. Bake sugar cookies using beach-themed cookie cutters. Decorate them to resemble beach balls and starfish. For the birthday cake, make a snorkel cake with two baked 9-inch-round cakes (see "Resources" below). Have plenty of water on hand. For kids, make a "deep blue sea" punch made with Hawaiian Punch. For adults, offer mint iced tea along with sodas and water.
Favors
Keep party favors in a small, hand-decorated "sea chest." Fill mini favor pails with mini beach balls, flip-flop lollypops, small sailboats, small sunblock and goggles. For adults, fill iridescent and sea blue organza bags with items such as seashell guest soap, personalized sea shells with the date of the celebration, beach themed luggage tags, small sunblock and dolphin bottle openers.
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