4 Kids 'n Us! Backyard Beach Party

Kidstuff Menu Parties! Games! Kids' Corner Teen Corner Family Night Kids Web Pages Emergency Preparedness Search	Invitations Shark Attack Beach Party! You will need: White, blue and gray construction paper Black fine point marker 1. Make a card with a blue piece of paper folded in half. Create a big water splash and several drops from the white paper and glue these to the inside of the blue card. 2. Fold a piece of gray paper in half and cut out the outline of a shark head. Allow about 1/3 inch at the bottom for tabs. Add eyes, teeth, and gills with white paper and marker. 3. Glue or tape tabs at an angle on shark to inside center of the blue card. Make sure the card will open and close properly. Flip-Flop Invitations Purchase inexpensive flip-flops and write party info. on the inside of the shoe. This would also work on the inside of plastic sand shovels. The Games: Water Balloon Target Practice: With a red permanent marker, draw a large dart board on a white vinyl table cloth. Duct tape this to your back fence or other hard surface. Each child throws 3 water balloons at the board and their scores are recorded. The winner gets a prize. Wet Toe Marbles Place about 20 marbles in a bucket full of water. Each child gets one minute to pick up as many marbles as she can with her toes and place them in another empty bucket. The child with the most marbles wins a prize (maybe the marbles). For large groups, set up multiple buckets with marbles. Water Gun Shoot Line up two rows of Styrofoam cups along a tabletop. Divide the partiers into two teams. Give the first child in each team a water gun and have her fire at the cups until she knocks one over. Each team member takes a turn until one team finishes. Be sure to give each team a bucket full of water to refill their gun. Water Volley ball Set up a volleyball net or make your own by tying a piece of rope between two tall objects at least 12 feet apart. Water balloons will be used as your balls. Divide the group into teams and have each team member pair up. Each pair will hold a beach towel by the corners and catch and toss the balloon to the other side. The team with the fewest broken balloons wins. Fire! Fire! Divide the group into two or three teams and have each team line up single-file. Place a large bucket full of water at one end of each team. Give the first person in each line a plastic drinking glass that he must fill with water from the bucket and pass down to the end of the line. The last team member dumps whatever is left of the water into a bowl. The cup is sent back to the front of the line to be filled again. This continues until one team’s bowl is full and that team wins. Water Balloon and Spoon Race Okay, this one is just like the old egg and spoon race only with water balloons. Partiers are divided into teams and each team member runs an allotted distance while carrying a water balloon balanced on a spoon. If the balloon falls off the spoon, the child must start the race over again. The team to finish first wins the game. Other Amusements: Oobleck (there is a site to this) Slime Fill a very small plastic swimming pool with about 2 parts corn starch to 1 part water. Add deco-page paint to the water for color. (We used green.) Provide a variety or paint brushes for body art, sand shovels and pails for collecting samples, and cookie cutters for quickly dissolving creations. Kids will literally sit and play in this goopy mess for hours. Afterwards, just hose them off and they’re ready to go! Note: For those grass conscious party planners-this didn’t damage the turf! Water Wars Convert empty 2-liter plastic soda bottles into water shooters by making holes in the plastic caps and filling the bottles with water. Have a classic water gun fight. Food: As guests arrive, give them each a cool kid-cocktail. They will feel oh sooo special!! Our favorite kid friendly concoction is a BEACH SUNSET You will need: Lemon-lime soda Tropical fruit juice Grenadine Syrup Pineapple chunks Maraschino cherries Toothpicks Half-fill a clear glass with soda. Gentle poor in a little grenadine syrup without stirring. Tip the glass and carefully pour the fruit juice down the side. Serve with a pineapple chunk and cherry speared on a toothpick. Other easy backyard friendly treats are: Individual bags of chips, goldfish, pretzels, fruit snacks, etc. Fruit and veggie platters with dip Chicken wings ice cream sandwiches popscicles hotdogs The cake: The beach scene is made with a 9 x 13 cake. About half the cake is covered in a brown frosting sprinkled with brown sugar. The other side is hollowed out about 1 inch deep leaving the edges of the cake in tact. The edges and sides are covered with blue icing. The middle is filled with the blue Jello using the following recipe: Combine: 3 oz. blue Jello with 1 cup boiling water until dissolved. Then add ½ cup cold water and chill until set. Scoop this into the water side of the cake just before serving. A variety of decorations can be used including: gummi octipus, sharks, fish cocktail umbrellas little people (we used Polly Pockets) Rubber balls toy boats Plastic greenery Party Favors Shells Colored sunblock Sand pail Soap bubbles Sunglasses Squirt guns And check out the forums too! 4 Kids 'n Us also has forums for you to submit your ideas and comment on ours. Click here.

Invitations

Shark Attack Beach Party!

You will need:
*White, blue and gray construction paper
*Black fine point marker

1. Make a card with a blue piece of paper folded in half. Create a big water splash and several drops from the white paper and glue these to the inside of the blue card.

2. Fold a piece of gray paper in half and cut out the outline of a shark head. Allow about 1/3 inch at the bottom for tabs. Add eyes, teeth, and gills with white paper and marker.

3. Glue or tape tabs at an angle on shark to inside center of the blue card. Make sure the card will open and close properly.

Flip-Flop Invitations

Purchase inexpensive flip-flops and write party info. on the inside of the shoe. This would also work on the inside of plastic sand shovels.

The Games:

Water Balloon Target Practice:

With a red permanent marker, draw a large dart board on a white vinyl table cloth. Duct tape this to your back fence or other hard surface. Each child throws 3 water balloons at the board and their scores are recorded. The winner gets a prize.

Wet Toe Marbles

Place about 20 marbles in a bucket full of water. Each child gets one minute to pick up as many marbles as she can with her toes and place them in another empty bucket. The child with the most marbles wins a prize (maybe the marbles). For large groups, set up multiple buckets with marbles.

Water Gun Shoot

Line up two rows of Styrofoam cups along a tabletop. Divide the partiers into two teams. Give the first child in each team a water gun and have her fire at the cups until she knocks one over. Each team member takes a turn until one team finishes. Be sure to give each team a bucket full of water to refill their gun.

Water Volley ball

Set up a volleyball net or make your own by tying a piece of rope between two tall objects at least 12 feet apart. Water balloons will be used as your balls. Divide the group into teams and have each team member pair up. Each pair will hold a beach towel by the corners and catch and toss the balloon to the other side. The team with the fewest broken balloons wins.

Fire! Fire!

Divide the group into two or three teams and have each team line up single-file. Place a large bucket full of water at one end of each team. Give the first person in each line a plastic drinking glass that he must fill with water from the bucket and pass down to the end of the line. The last team member dumps whatever is left of the water into a bowl. The cup is sent back to the front of the line to be filled again. This continues until one team’s bowl is full and that team wins.

Water Balloon and Spoon Race

Okay, this one is just like the old egg and spoon race only with water balloons. Partiers are divided into teams and each team member runs an allotted distance while carrying a water balloon balanced on a spoon. If the balloon falls off the spoon, the child must start the race over again. The team to finish first wins the game.

Other Amusements:

Oobleck (there is a site to this) Slime

Fill a very small plastic swimming pool with about 2 parts corn starch to 1 part water. Add deco-page paint to the water for color. (We used green.) Provide a variety or paint brushes for body art, sand shovels and pails for collecting samples, and cookie cutters for quickly dissolving creations. Kids will literally sit and play in this goopy mess for hours. Afterwards, just hose them off and they’re ready to go! Note: For those grass conscious party planners-this didn’t damage the turf!

Water Wars

Convert empty 2-liter plastic soda bottles into water shooters by making holes in the plastic caps and filling the bottles with water. Have a classic water gun fight.

Food:

As guests arrive, give them each a cool kid-cocktail. They will feel oh sooo special!!

Our favorite kid friendly concoction is a BEACH SUNSET

You will need:
*Lemon-lime soda
*Tropical fruit juice
*Grenadine Syrup
*Pineapple chunks
*Maraschino cherries
*Toothpicks

Half-fill a clear glass with soda. Gentle poor in a little grenadine syrup without stirring. Tip the glass and carefully pour the fruit juice down the side. Serve with a pineapple chunk and cherry speared on a toothpick.

Other easy backyard friendly treats are:

Individual bags of chips, goldfish, pretzels, fruit snacks, etc.
Fruit and veggie platters with dip
Chicken wings
ice cream sandwiches
popscicles
hotdogs

The cake:

The beach scene is made with a 9 x 13 cake. About half the cake is covered in a brown frosting sprinkled with brown sugar. The other side is hollowed out about 1 inch deep leaving the edges of the cake in tact. The edges and sides are covered with blue icing. The middle is filled with the blue Jello using the following recipe:

Combine:
3 oz. blue Jello with 1 cup boiling water until dissolved. Then add ½ cup cold water and chill until set. Scoop this into the water side of the cake just before serving.

A variety of decorations can be used including:
gummi octipus, sharks, fish
cocktail umbrellas
little people (we used Polly Pockets)
Rubber balls
toy boats
Plastic greenery

Party Favors

Shells
Colored sunblock
Sand pail
Soap bubbles
Sunglasses
Squirt guns

And check out the forums too!

4 Kids 'n Us also has forums for you to submit your ideas and comment on ours. Click here.

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