AWESOME Under the Sea Party | Kid’s Birthday Ideas
Hey there! I’m Zoe, and I’m super excited that you’ve found my page. I’m here to help you create an amazing and unforgettable celebration for your little ocean-lovers!
I’ve added free printables and activity templates that will save you time and effort. For those who already juggle a million things at once, party planning shouldn’t stress you out even more.
With my party-planning experience and love for all things creative, I’m here to make your life easier and ensure your child has an extra fun day filled with special memories.
Alright, let’s dive into this exciting adventure of creating a magical-sea themed extravaganza! I’ve got everything you need, from games and activities to music, decorations, and yummy treats….
Top 5 Tips for the ultimate sea-themed party
Before we dive in, let me share my top tips for throwing the ultimate sea-themed birthday party:
- Let the music work its magic: Set the enchanting mood with some whimsical tunes that transport everyone to a magical world.
- Embark on an adventure: Use our free adventure story to take kids on an exciting journey filled with wonder and imagination.
- Bold and simple decorations: Keep the decorations eye-catching yet easy to set up. You don’t need to go overboard to create a magical atmosphere.
- Get active with games: Keep the little ones entertained with fun and physical games that cater to different concentration levels. It’s all about having a blast together!
- Magic on a budget: Remember, you don’t have to break the bank to create a sense of magic and adventure. There are plenty of affordable ways to make your kiddos’ day super special!
In this guide, I’ll walk you through suggested music playlists, a DIY adventure story, and budget-friendly decoration ideas. Plus, I’ll suggest a range of active games that will keep the kids engaged and ensure everyone has a fantastic time.
And here’s the best part: you don’t need to spend a fortune to create an atmosphere of magic and adventure for your little ones’ special day!
We also have posts about epic Mermaid Parties and Pirate Parties! You might love checking them out too!
Game Ideas for an Under-The-Sea Party
We have 4 great sea-themes games for you to try- that the kids will love. They are classics for a reason.
1. Frozen sea horses
This game is like musical statues- children dance to music and when the music stops they have to freeze!
Encourage them to do the craziest dancing they can manage- this is also a good strategy to get them burning as much energy as possible. You can either reward the most frozen statues or call out the funniest frozen positions.
2. Busy day at sea
In this game, the facilitator shouts out the actions below and children must follow the instructions for each action. The last ones to follow the actions are out and the game continues!
- To the beach– Run to one side of the room
- Swim with the dolphins – Run to another side
- Shark attack – Bend over with hand in a triangle above head like a shark fin
- Pirates ahoy – Search for pirate ship by pretending to look at horizon through binoculars
- Crab party – Scuttle sideways like a crab all around the room
This is a fun, high concentration and physical game- you can always take out one of two of these actions to simplify it for younger children, or reward the fastest child to avoid having to send people ‘out’.
Pro tip: If you don’t want to upset children by sending them ‘out’ you can send them over to jump into the massive imaginary pile of jello! Squelch!!! Children will enjoy making a big squelching sound and dramatic jump- it makes everyone else laugh too.
3. Fish Fish Shark
This game is similar to duck duck goose but with a theme. It’s a great one to play as children arrive (or as children might get tired of lunchtime at different rates) as new players can easily join and it’s fun and familiar to them. Children sit in a circle facing inwards. Child A walks around the outside of the circle and gently taps the group one by one on the head as they pass saying Fish, Fish, Fish…..then, they choose one child (child B) to say Shark! Child B jumps up and chases Child A around the circle. Child A has to run around the whole group and sit back in Child B’s space. If they manage, Child B becomes Child A in the next round. Otherwise, Child A has to play again until they succeed.
4. Merman’s Footsteps
Adventurers line up along one side of the room and at the other one child is designated merman. (The game is like Grandmother’s Footsteps). This merman faces the wall- not looking at the adventurers.
While the merman is turned away, the adventurers tiptoe forwards and as soon as the merman turns around they have to freeze. If the merman catches anyone moving, they can be sent out or back to the start line. The child who manages to tap the shoulder of the merman first, wins.
Best Activity Ideas for an Under-The-Sea Party
1. Under the Sea Adventure Story
We’ve written an under-the-sea adventure story about a group of fish who go on a quest to find a specail pearl that can grant them magical powers! On their way they get get help from a bunch of other sea creates.
The story is attached as a free PDF download below.
You can read this aloud and even encourage the children to act it out at the party. This is a really fun activity- children will use their imaginations and feel like they’ve entered into the enchanted land!
Suggestions:
Pro tip: for older children you can ‘take’ them to the magical story world by going on an imaginary roller coaster ride or sprinkling them with flying dust and flying there!
To kids who love adventure, check out our Explorer Adventure Theme Party, our Jungle Explorer Party or our Outer Space Party!
2. Under-the-sea Craft Activity
Sea creature headband!
In spired by this idea from the everyday simple mum blog, we think you could make any sea creature headband. give the children A5 pieces of paper where they can draw and cut out their own sea creature. then have some headband paper strips, pre-cut, and stable the headband to the cut out.
A craft activity is a really nice thing to do for a bit of downtime during a party. I often suggest it as children arrive. That way they can get involved straight away and having something to do can make integrating easier for children who are a bit shy at first. It’s also a cute take-home gift.
3. Puffer-fish Pinata
I LOVE this puffer fish pinata idea that I’ve seen on Crayons and Spice blog! See their post for full instructions for a super cute DIY pinata that you can take on as a craft project with your kids to help create excitement for the party day!
Music & Soundtrack Ideas for a Sea-Creature Party
Under-the sea lends itself to some epic, Disney and other beloved kid songs! Our favourites are ‘under the sea’ from the little mermaid- an absolute classic! The newer live action version has a really great soundtrack so you might enjoy that too.
There are lots of times in a party where it’s nice to have ambient imagination music, such as when the kids go on their adventure story. For this, we suggest this fairy playlist on Spotify- perfect for creating atmosphere! Fairy Magic by Derek Fletcher
If you don’t have paid spotify you can also look for playlists on youtube or just pay for a trial subscription of spotify on their birthday party day.
Under the Sea Party Decoration Ideas
Giant sea animal balloons instantly transform the feel of a space and this selection on amazon is very affordable. They can be filled with helium or just air(which we would choose to keep things simple!)
If not giant fish balloons we suggest these eco friendly balloons that can be hung in bunches of glossy blues whites and turquoise, all around a room.
Large wall hanging around a central table (for instance where the speakers are or where you do the storytelling) can be really fun. One great option for this is disposable-themed tablecloths! It’s a cheap way to add color or themes and you can stick them up with blue tack or press pins because they tend to be light weight. For example: This ocean ripple design!
Food tables are also a great part of the decoration- if this is in the same room as the games, having it set up with a table cloth and themed cups and plates adds to the atmosphere and it also very functional. For example, you can buy these relatively inexpensive sets- we love this cute one!
It is inexpensive to get bespoke banners printed and this would make the decoration really special and personalized! You can even use it as a backdrop for taking photos of the guests with the birthday child as a special memento.
Music! It sounds weird but music really creates an atmosphere and adds to the feeling of the space. Movie scores can be great to have on in the background. We recommend The little mermaid songs as a soundtrack for when the kids arrive.
Cute Food Ideas for an Under the Sea Party
The best tip for food ideas is to keep it simple and keep it to food that children will love. To get the most out of the food experience, here are our ideas for adding some sparkle and creativity to the snack table!
1. ‘Color’ themed platters
This is a really fun way to make a food table loop spectacular!
- Blue and Purple – blueberries, blackberries, dark red grapes, blackberry jam sandwiches, you can use natural food coloring to dye any dips like hummus or cream cheese, for crackers. It also looks really pretty to make light purple icing or purple melted white chocolate and drizzle over wafer biscuits or any white sugary deserts like white chocolate coated pretzels, marshmallows, and finger biscuits.
- For silver accents- drizzle melted white chocolate over any biscuits, wafers or fruits and cover in silver sprinkle balls or edible glitter- this will go down a treat!
- For rainbow accents- drizzle melted white chocolate over any biscuits, wafers or fruits and cover in rainbow sprinkles- this will go down a treat!
2. ‘Imagination’ themed Jello
A really fun thing to do for a party is make a huge bowl of jello and fill it with themed sweets inside! For a sea-themed party, you could make a light blue jello (using a little bit of natural food dye) and fill it with these dolphin jellies, and some edible silver glitter!
You can also get little plastic figures online and put one of two inside the jello – just be sure not to accidentally serve up on the day!
3. Sea-cocktail juice jugs
Make jugs of your child’s favourite juice but put on fun labels like:
- Rainbow Fish Tonic
- Orange Octopus Oasis
- Mango Sea Refresher
- Apple Reef Reviver
4. Cute individual veggie cups
Individual little holders for veggies and or fruit or popcorn are a really fun way to serve food. For a mermaid party, you could use gorgeous little blue and white cases, each with a couple of carrot/celery sticks, some grapes and some cucumber- check out this page on amazon for inspiration.
5. Popcorn lucky dip
Popcorn is a really fun party food that children love and can be easily customised to fit a theme. See this recipe here for pink popcorn- you can make this any colour by adding different colored food colourings and once you’ve poured the syrup onto the popcorn you can also sprinkle with multicoloured or silver and gold sprinkles.
You can also make a popcorn lucky dip (a total hit with all my nieces and nephews at parties) where you mix popcorn with themed party sweets. For example these dolphin jellies, or fish jellies.
Good Luck!
Get ready for an awesome time with these budget-friendly ideas! Remember your kids loves you and will have a blast, whatever level of detail goes into the big day, so try and enjoy it and snap heaps of photos and videos to remember the super special occasion!
