Teddy bears picnic
Perfect for little ones, make sure to remember to include teddies on the invite, but you can always have a few spares on hand in case anyone forgets theirs. Any garden, park or green space is perfect for this party.
You can keep the picnic food simple, lots of little sandwiches, slices of pizza, nibbly fruit and vegetables and mini muffins, cartons of drink are perfect to avoid having to pack lots of cups.
You can decorate easily with a pretty picnic blanket, some bunting strung in a nearby tree and themed napkins and plates.
For games a traditional round of pass the parcel is always fun (take an iPod ready loaded with music). You could play hide and seek with the teddies and sing some simple action songs like ring a ring of roses.
Gruffalo Party
A Gruffalo inspired woodland party is great for younger children and is perfect if you can host it in the woods, who knows you might even find a real gruffalo!
You could make this a fancy dress party and ask the guests to come dressed as their favourite woodland creature. How about starting the party by reading the story to get everyone in the mood. The you could look for tracks to follow and see what treasure hides at the end. You can adapt playground games like "what's the time Mr Wolf" and "Duck, duck , goose" to suit the Gruffalo theme.
Food has to be based on the story of course - owl ice cream, gruffalo crumble, roasted fox and scrambled snake!
Vintage Tea Party
An old fashioned vintage tea party is perfect for a warm summer's day and works for both children and adults alike. Pick a nice shady spot under some trees and set up your table using your prettiest tablecloths, vintage style plates and napkins, jars filled with wild flowers are beautiful, some bunting and honeycomb decorations in the trees and tie ribbons to the backs of chairs.
For food serve delicate sandwiches and petit desserts, think afternoon tea at the ritz! Little children will probably love having their drinks poured from a teapot into teacups even if it's only squash.
To keep party games fitting with the theme, you could have a Maypole to dance around, make some daisy chains (real or fabric) and decorate a teacup to take home.
Beach Party
Even if you don't have any real beaches nearby, but that's no reason not to attempt a beach inspired tropical party in your back garden. If you have a sandpit, that's a great start but you could always fill a tray with play sand to make mini sandcastles in, you could even set up the paddling pool as long as you warn the guests to bring their costumes. You could hide treasure in the sand to discover, make shell jewellery or decorations, have a water balloon fight, make sand art or have a tug o war.
A BBQ is a great way to serve food and don't forget ice creams and lollies for pudding! You can even make a jelly in a clean sandcastle bucket.
Decorating is easy, sand and water will take up a lot of space and you can add fun inflatables and beach balls for extra decoration.
Why not send the guests home with a small bucket, filled with a stick of rock, some shells and other beach themed goodies.
Nature Party
We're very fortunate in Bath to be surrounded by some beautiful woodland areas. So why not take advantage of this and hold your party in the woods. You can tailor the activities to suit the ages of your guests.
You could start with a nature treasure hunt. Then use the collected treasures to make some fun sculptures. You can make pretty crowns or bracelets from leaves and flowers.
There are no limits to the kind of food you can serve, you can keep it simple with a picnic or if you're feeling adventurous you could take a little camping stove and cook some hot food, we even know one lucky boy whose mum arranged for a pizza delivery to his party in the woods!
Movie Night
Older children will love the idea of a later outdoors party. Time the party for dusk, and hang a white sheet outside which you can project a film onto.
Food is simple, hotdogs and popcorn of course, and maybe individual bottles of drinks. You could even set up a little pick n mix sweetie bar.
You can decorate your garden with glow sticks and fairy lights to set the scene, add some chairs, cushions or a camping mattress to sit on.
The film is the main event and should take up most of the time, but if you want a few more activities why not have a round of charades after the film, such to get everyone giggle. Another fun night time game is to play a game of skittles using fizzy drink bottles with a glow stick in so they light up.
Adventure
An adventure party is great for getting children outdoors exploring and playing. You can plan activities that suit your location, if you're in the woods or park you can use the things around you like trees for climbing, or in your own garden you could set up an obstacle course. If you want a few traditional games too why not try pass the parcel with challenges in between each of the layers. You could base the whole party on a special "quest" and give the guests a map when they arrive, then they have to complete several challenges through the party to win the prize at the end.
Keep the decorations bright and fun, lots of coloured balloons and streamers. To keep in with an adventure theme, why not serve food on metal plates, you could even have a campfire, and dirt and worm puddings in little cups are great for dessert.
Fairy Party
Little girls always love a fairy party, so why not make it a little more magical by holding your fairy party outdoors in a special woodland area. You can set up beforehand and decorate with ribbons and garlands, keep the decorations low key for a natural magical feel. Tree stumps and a picnic rug make a perfect area for a pretty tea party.
Ask the guests to wear their prettiest dresses and present them with their own pair of fairy wings as they arrive. You can send the guests hunting for twigs to make a magic wand with, make leaf crowns, maybe have a treasure hunt and do some fairy dances.
Sports Party
A sports party is great if you have a lot of outdoor space or you could always hire a venue that has outdoor space attached. You can base the party around one particular sport like football or have a range of different sporting activities and team games. Don't forget to serve lots of cold drinks if it's a hot day.
Farm Party
A local is a great place to hold a party if you have a little one who loves animals, you might be able to hire a community room to hold your party, spend time exploring the farm and even arrange to feed the animals. There are chickens, pigs, goats, sheep and ponies so plenty to see and enjoy.
Parties at venues always take a little thought and preparation beforehand, so a good idea is to serve food in individual party food boxes at home to avoid having to transport and serve up lots of different plates of food. Guests can also take their boxes home with any leftovers too.
Don't forget to look at our party shop for all your party supplies - tableware, decorations & party bags.