The time has officially come when your baby is no longer a sweet, cuddly little child…your baby is now a teenager. You’ve been informed that there will be no lame birthday party this year. So, what can you do? Give your teen a “Wet and Wild” beach party in your own backyard. You’ll be sure to win cool-points with your teenager for this “Spring Break” theme (minus the alcohol and mischief, of course).
Idea for Teen Birthday Party Invitations:
Invite your guests to the teen beach party with a fun flair by creating Frisbee invitations. You can purchase Frisbees at your local dollar store. Be sure to buy light colored Frisbees so that your writing will be legible. Using a permanent marker, list the necessary party details on the underside of each Frisbee. Underneath this information print (BYOBS) Bring Your Own Bathing Suit! Hand deliver, or toss, these invitations to all the teen guests.
Ideas for Teen Birthday Party Decorations:
When decorating for a teen birthday party, use bright colors like turquoise, orange, hot pink, and lime green. These are always favorite colors and will work well for the beach theme too. To create a “Wild and Wet” beach party atmosphere spread out lawn chairs, beach towels, and other beach accessories you can find or borrow. To add a humorous touch to the décor, purchase some bright pink plastic flamingos and place them around the party area. Lay down thick plastic sheeting and add sand to the area to make the beach setting more authentic. Another option is to bring in a couple of children’s sandboxes. Set up a radio with Beach Boys’ music or steel drum music playing in the background. Throw some beach balls and Frisbees into the yard and your beach is complete.
1. Get the teens moving and laughing with a Beach Relay Race. Make sure to have your camera ready for this one!
Supplies needed for this game: 2 pairs of Bermuda shorts, 2 Hawaiian shirts, 2 pairs of sunglasses, 2 straw hats (or sun visors), 2 lei necklaces, 2 beach bags, and 2 beach chairs.
Divide the teenagers into two teams. Have each team line up single file. Set up the beach chairs a practical running distance from the teams. Give the first players on each team a beach bag filled with all the listed items. When the game begins, the first players on each team must put on all the items in the bag, run down to the beach chair, return to their team, remove the items and place them back into the bag, and then hand the beach bag to the next player in line. The relay continues until the whole team has participated.
2. No beach party is complete without a volleyball game. Set up the volleyball net and get ready for a “Wet and Wild” version of this game.
Supplies needed for this game: A volleyball net, plenty of filled water balloons, 2 large bed sheets.
Divide the teenagers into two teams. Line the teams up on either side of the volleyball court with a bed sheet. All the members of the team must continue holding a section of the sheet at all times. Place a water balloon in the middle of one team’s sheet and stand back! The teens must work together to toss the water balloon over the net. The other team must then catch the water balloon in their sheet. The teams continue to volley until all the water balloons are gone and all the teens are wet!
3. To continue the “Wet and Wild” theme, provide a Slip and Slide for the teens to use. An inexpensive and larger scale option of this is to purchase a large, thick sheet of plastic from the hardware store. Lay it out on a hill and add the water hose. This activity alone will provide hours of entertainment and laughs.
The menu for a teen beach party should consist of barbecue items such as hotdogs and hamburgers. Add some sides of potato or macaroni salad, sliced fruit, chips and other snack foods.
For drinks, set up a blender and let the each teen make his or her own tropical drink. Provide ingredients like pineapple juice, orange juice, bananas, strawberries, mangos, pineapples, oranges, papaya, and coconut. Add the ingredients and ice to the blender and mix. Finish the drink off with whipped cream, a cherry, and a small paper umbrella.
If your teen doesn’t regard having a birthday cake as “totally embarrassing,” try creating a beach ball cake. Bake two round cakes and stack them, securing them with frosting. To turn the birthday cake into a beach ball, simply decorate it with multiple sections of red, blue, yellow, and white frosting.
To create beach party favors for teenagers, use small beach pails or beach bags. For filler items, add natural shell leis, flip-flops, sunglasses, water bottles, or mini battery-operated. These things are available at the local dollar stores or at Oriental Trading Company for inexpensive prices.
Your teen may believe he or she is all grown up but there’s still a part in every teenager (and adult) that wants to just be silly and have fun. Throwing a birthday party like this “Wet and Wild” beach party is one worry-free way you can help your teenager let loose with friends. Who knows, you may even enjoy yourself too!
