Are you looking for simple, fun, yet incredible ideas for your child’s next birthday party? Look no further than your own backyard and these amazing Backyard birthday party ideas for kids!
Summer Birthday Parties for Kids
Are you looking for some creative inspiration for a child’s next birthday party? Whether you have a summer birthday baby or are looking to keep things low-key at home for their next b-day, look no further than these great backyard birthday party ideas.
Older generations (including myself) have wonderful memories of birthday parties in the backyard or a nearby park. We didn’t have trampoline parks or extravagant gatherings, and you don’t need them either. Throwing a birthday bash in your backyard for your child’s special day, is ripe with opportunities for fun, creativity and adventure!
Planning an outdoor birthday party for your child can feel overwhelming – but with these wide range of ideas, can be a fun and exciting experience for everyone involved.
No matter your theme, child’s interests or budget, you can tailor the decorations, food, activities and invitations to match this and create a memorable birthday party.
Plus, outdoor backyard birthday parties are in fresh air, sunshine and nature which lend themselves to any bday!
As a child, planning a birthday party in our backyard or a park and being involved in the decision-making process of invitations, theme, activities and what my cake would look like was my favorite part. Be sure to get your children involved in the planning process and coming up with their favorite outdoor water games and activities, too!
Things to Consider When Hosting a Backyard Birthday Party
1) Weather
If the birthday party is going to take place entirely outdoors, it’s best to plan around seasonal weather. For example, in the month of June in Colorado, we get a lot of afternoon thunderstorms so planning for a morning birthday party before they start rolling in in the afternoon would be best.
If the heat is too extreme in the middle of the day, consider an early morning breakfast themed party or a late afternoon or evening birthday celebration.
2) Space & Backup Party Space
Make sure you have enough space to host the activities and additional space for guests if you’re hosting in your backyard. Space is definitely a consideration, but also consider the weather element and if you need to move indoors, can everyone be easily accommodated? This can also influence the number of guests invited to the birthday.
3) Party Time & Serving Food
If you plan a birthday over a general meal time (breakfast, lunch of dinner), it’s proper etiquette to make sure the kids who attend the birthday party get enough food to fill them up.
If you have a celebration over in-between times such as mid-afternoon or after dinner hours, snacks and drinks are suitable for this time of party.
Additional Resource: 15 Tips for Throwing a Birthday Party on a Budget
Best Backyard Birthday Party Ideas for Kid’s Birthdays in the Summer and Early Fall
1 – Backyard Movie with Lounge Seating for Movie Watching
It’s quite simple to transform your backyard into a movie viewing set-up with a projector, screen, snacks and various seating. You can choose an age-appropriate movie and set up blankets, chairs, bean bags and outdoor seating for a cozy night outside under the stars.
I’ve even seen movie nights with individual inflatable pools for the kids to put their blankets and pillows in and have their own space – genius! Movie idea from Oh Happy Play.
You can buy, rent or borrow a friend’s outdoor movie screen and projector for a special outdoor screening. You can also make your own screen by hanging up a white sheet.
Backyard Movie Party Supplies:
- Movie screen (I love this inflatable giant big-screen!)
- Projector
- Popcorn
- Candy
- Drinks (juice boxes, bubbly water, lemonade or their favorite drink!)
Additional Ideas to Add to a Backyard Movie Birthday:
- Make it a pizza party and order or make pizza for dinner.
- BBQ before the movie begins and it gets dark.
- Turn it into a camp-out and set up a tent or multiple tents for kids to sleep over in after the movie is finished.
2- Backyard Mini Olympics Games
- Swimming relay races or individual races (you can also do inner tube races if you have a pool)
- Gymnastics
- Track race or a running race
- Football toss (into hanging or held-up hoola hoops)
- Basketball game
- Volleyball or Badminton Game
- Soccer game
- Relay races with a twist – eggs on a spoon, bucket of water on the head carry, burlap sack race, legs tied together, etc.
Kids can play individually or in teams and practice their skills. Remember, it’s all in good fun!
3 – Backyard Camping Birthday Party
It’s easy to pitch a few smaller two-person tents or one large family-sized tent, roast marshmallows, hand out flashlights and hold a backyard camping adventure for your child’s next birthday party. You can pair this with an outdoor movie or sit around the fire put to tell spooky stories. It’s a good chance to also dust off your telescope to stargaze!
If you don’t want to tent camp, throw a few sleeping bags on the back porch or trampoline camp if you have one, for a memorable night outdoors.
Let the kids play in the dark with flashlights in the dark for flashlight tag and listen to the giggles all night long.
Make sure you have space inside to move indoors in case of bad weather or the kids get scared or change their minds about camping outside. I can’t tell you how many times my kids have “heard something” or wanted to go sleep indoors after a few hours.
4 – Outdoor Nature Scavenger Hunt
You’re outside already, but now it’s time to use your senses to find all the items on the printable Nature Scavenger Hunt whether in your backyard or a nearby park. You can hunt for birds feathers, butterfly, worms, pinecones, flowers, bumble bee, rocks and more!
Tip: If you don’t have something on the scavenger hunt, you can gather online or elsewhere and make sure you set them out before the hunt begins.
Provide each participant with a bag or basket to carry their items, offer binoculars, magnifying glasses and nature journals to document their exploration!
5 – Host a Giant Nerf Gun Battle
We went to a nerf gun battle a few years ago at a local recreation center and my daughter had so much fun, that’s exactly what she asked for, for her own birthday the next year!
You can do this in your backyard, a park. You can choose to supply all the nerf guns or children can bring their own to battle it out in the backyard.
Set up places for the players to hide scattered about with items like cardboard boxes, hay bale stacks, trash bins, tents or large areas.
You might want to stock up on thousands of nerf bullets and protective eyewear so the fun last a long time and no one gets hurt. You can also set up targets (make your own by painting cardboard) and nail to trees or fence posts.
You can have the kids play as individuals or form teams. If you have teams, make sure you have some kind of color designation such as vests or colored bandanas so teams can distinguish each other.
6 – Backyard Water Balloon or Water Gun Battle
If it’s a super hot time of year when you’re hosting this birthday party, you can beat the heat with water games! Think about having a giant water balloon fight and fill up hundreds of balloons (the self-sealing water balloons from bunch-o-balloons that fill up in seconds by the 100s are so much better than what we had as kids going one by one!) in coolers or buckets.
Dividing into teams and let the fun (and water pelting) begin!
You can have the kids design a balloon launcher so they can launch the water balloons, too!
Add water guns and water super soakers in the mix for extra drenched fun! If you want, you can add a sprinkler to a trampoline or set up a slip n’ slide.
Don’t forget to tell guests to bring their swim suits, towels and change of clothes for afterwards.
7 – Backyard Foam Party
If you can find a foam party vendor in your area who does all the set-up, clean-up and foam making, you’ll have the most memorable backyard birthday party ever!
We went to a foam party last summer and my kids still talk about it all the time! What happens is a foam party supplier will make the foam and blast it from a foam cannon alongside music (or you can supply this yourself.)
Best of all, clean up is minimal and the foam is safe and biodegradable, disappearing right into the grass without any chemicals or yucky ingredients that are harmful for the children, your pets or yard.
8 – Obstacle Course Challenge
You can also create a competitive environment by timing participants and awarding prizes for the fastest obstacle course time, slowest, most times completed in 5 minutes, etc.
Learn how to set up your own course with this sample obstacle course found here. Here are additional ideas for making your own backyard obstacle course.
Pool Noodle Obstacle Course idea and directions from Friday We’re in Love.
9 – Rent a Bounce House
We had a bounce house in our backyard for our twins’ fourth birthday and it was a huge hit! We rented a bounce house which was in our backyard for two days and was constantly being used even when there wasn’t a party!
Bounce all day long with a bounce house rental (or any inflatable obstacle course or station.) There are so many options for all ages from princess castle to sports courts, obstacle courses, water slides and standard bounce houses. Most companies will rent for a full day rental and will come set-up, stake everything so it’s safe and secure, and return to take it back down.
This is a memorable birthday party and great way to burn energy all day long!
Tip: If your kids are under 5, having a smaller inflatable bounce house at home is a great energy expeller, especially in cold winter months if you have space to blow up in your basement or house. This was a lifesaver for our family somedays!
10 – Art / Painting Party Themed Birthday
Setting up an art or painting themed birthday party in your backyard is simple and really fun! Set out a canvas at each place setting with individual of paints and a master painting idea to follow or let the kids freestyle paint on their own! Hang up artwork to dry while you do food or cake with the kids so they have a beautiful item to take home with them afterwards.
A bundled set with easels, paint and brushes like this one works perfectly! All you need to add are a set of canvases, maybe some colorful kid’s painting smock aprons and you’re good to go!
You can also make it a jewelry making party, clay painting party where you’ll have these items on hand for painting and take them to be fired in a kiln and delivered to the kids later, or any kind of art party your little one is interested in.
Painting kindness rocks is another great art idea!
Art backyard birthday photo from Amazing Backyard Ideas.
11 – Tea Party
Get dressed up and host a pretty princess tea party or a themed tea party with teas of all flavors and types! Children ones love the elaborate setup of fancy teacups with saucers, tiered trays of mini bite-sized sandwiches, scones, and a variety of mini desserts! They can try different flavors, can add milk and honey to their teacups and even experiment with new teas like Boba.
Tea parties are a popular backyard birthday party idea, especially for little girls and sending each person home with their own tea cup and saucer is a great party favor, too!
12 – Bumper Ball Party
These giant, inflatable bumper balls that child or adult can squeeze into and wrap their body in a large cushion with only legs, arms and head sticking out, let’s participants bump, roll, smash and crash into one another. Your child may feel like a sumo wrestling (with more clothes) and protective gear.
You can create a large mat for bumper bouncing with a gymnastics mat or temporarily taping a large square on the ground to indicate boundaries.
Add some more movement into the mix with a soccer game, obstacle course, game of flag football with bumper suits on!
These will last for more than just a birthday party – they’re year-round fun!
6 More Awesome Backyard Kid’s Birthday Party Ideas
13) Dance Party: Set up speakers, create a fun playlist, and organize dance games for an outdoor dance party. Kids can show off their moves, learn new dances if you have an instructor or someone who can teach a dance routine, and have a giggle fest and blast.
14) Sports Day: Arrange various sports stations or one focal point game such as soccer, basketball, volleyball, and baseball for an active day. Kids can play individually or in teams.
15) BBQ/Picnic Party: Pack a basket with sandwiches, fruits, chips, and drinks for a classic picnic. You can also decorate with balloons, tablecloths, and flowers for a festive atmosphere.
16) BackYard Games: Set up giant games like Jenga, Connect Four, cornhole, tic tac toe and ladder toss for a fun day of outdoor gaming.
17) Animal Encounter: Hire a local animal expert to bring in some furry, scaly, or feathered friends for kids to meet and learn about. They can pet, feed, or hold the animals and ask questions. This might be a pony, farm animals, or working with a local sanctuary or zoo to bring the animals to you.
18) DIY Ice Cream Bar: Create a flavorful DIY ice cream bar with various flavors, toppings, and cones for a sweet and customizable birthday treat. My youngest had a make-your-own ice cream dessert station at her birthday party and the kids loved it!
More Simple Ideas to Add to any Kid’s Birthday Party
Add any of these sweet and simple ideas to a BBQ or birthday party at home for an extra fun element.
- String up a themed piñata from a tree or swing set.
- Turn on the sprinklers for a quick escape from the heath.
- Set up a small wading pool or sprinkler system for kids to cool off and beat the heat.
- Toss in a few large balls, inflatable beach balls or exercise balls and watch the kids make up games, strike up some competition and fun all on their own!
- Make a kid-approved playlist for the party.
- Hire a face painter for an hour or magician to entertain everyone at the party.
More Birthday Resources
- 15 Birthday Breakfast Ideas Kids Will Go Crazy For
- 21 Of The Most Amazing Birthday Gift Ideas (For Every Age)
- 20 Ways to Make Birthdays Special (No Big Birthday Party Required)
- 24 Unforgettable Birthday Traditions to Start With Your Kids at Any Age
- 8 Birthday Traditions Kids Love (No Big Party Required)
- 15 Tips for Throwing a Birthday Party on a Budget
- The Modern Parent’s Etiquette Guide to Kid Birthday Parties
- 20 Easy & Fun Minute to Win it Family Games for Kids
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