It’s summertime, and the parties are easy—especially birthday parties! With great weather, water, and a little creativity, you can have plenty of fun in the sun. We’ve gathered the best outdoor birthday party ideas for your summer kiddo, from messy art parties to twists on water play. Sit down, grab a popsicle, and prepare to take your party to the next level with the inspiration we found from the best party planning pros out there.
If you need more outdoor birthday party ideas, check out 2024’s top trending birthday party ideas here, our favorite classic birthday games, birthday party snacks, and birthday desserts that aren’t cake.
The Best Outdoor Birthday Party Ideas for Kids
Ice Cream Sundae Party
Take that drippy, messy, delicious treat outside with an ice cream sundae-themed party. This fun party kit adds a festive touch and kids can enjoy the rest of the event by playing outdoor games. Eat up the best ice cream sundae tips here.
Magic Rainbow Party
What’s waiting at the end of the rainbow? A fantastic outdoor birthday party. Rainbows make for a natural outdoor party theme that’s easy to pull off with brightly colored decor, Skittles-sprinkled desserts, and a rainbow pinata.
Picnic Lunch Party
With a few blankets, picnic snack ideas, and balloons, you can set up a perfect outdoor birthday! What we love about this is that you can find a park with a playground and keep your party activity planning to a minimum. See our other favorite picnic party ideas here.
A Circus Party
While it’s true you can have a big top-themed party any time of year, in the summertime, it’s your chance to be a little extra. Know anyone who can juggle or make balloon animals? This is their time to shine.
Field Day Fun Party
Take a cue from everyone’s favorite day in elementary school and host a field-day-themed party. Tug-of-war, relay races, and wheelbarrow races: it’s easy to put together fun activities for this party. It practically plans itself! If you need more ideas and want to add to the classic field day events, check out our favorite classic yard games that are easy to repurpose for a field day birthday party.
Related: 17 Summer Birthday Party Ideas That Never Go Out of Style
Outdoor Art Party
Add an extra dose of color with an outdoor art party. Set up big canvases like the ones shown above—or just tape butcher paper to the fence—and let your guests' inner Picassos come out. Some other supplies that are perfect for throwing an artsy bash include mini canvases, paintbrushes, and lots of washable paint.
Popsicle Fun Outdoor Birthday
Buckets of frozen treats and bins of water toys in Giggles Galore’s popsicle party go a long way with the kiddos on a warm (birth)day with this simple outdoor birthday party idea.
Tea Party
With flowers blooming, summer is the perfect time for an outdoor tea party. Add a whimsical activity and turn the party into a fairy garden with a fairy house craft. Check out The Garden Spot for more fairy tale tea ideas and find our fave tea time snacks here.
Camp Out Party
Get out into the great outdoors with a summer-camp-themed birthday party complete with a delicious s'mores cake. We love the clever merit badge activities that Alison of Just Add Confetti dreamed up for her son's fifth birthday. Bonus: you can use her free printable for your party. Find out all the details at Just Add Confetti.
Soccer Party
Score loads of points with a soccer-themed birthday party. Get inspired by this soccer-themed party over at Catch My Party—jerseys double as decoration and plastic trophies are full of munchies. Plus, the activity is a total no-brainer. Up for a game of soccer, anyone?
Flower Power Party
Kori Clark transforms soft blooms in coordinating colors into a fresh, beautiful take on the standard princess party. Pick a color palette and just add (lots of) flowers, homemade and otherwise.
Related: 18 Pool Party Ideas to Help You Throw an Epic Bash
Luau Party
One of our favorite outdoor birthday party ideas is to have a luau! Not only are the colors fun, but you can serve plenty of fruit, and pulled pork sliders, do the limbo, make a tropical mocktail for kids, hand out plastic leis and sand buckets for party favors, and so much more.
A Ball Bash
Bloom Designs starts with colorful tickets as invites and adds a booth of the kiddos’ favorite game day snacks, and TBH, we can’t think of a better excuse for nachos and cheese puffs. Throw a few inflatable balls onto the lawn, and you’ve got an outdoor birthday party home run.
Mud Run Party
Under the Sycamore’s clever-themed party uses boxes, tires, string, and other obstacle-worthy props to create the ultimate outdoor birthday challenge. Bonus: parents will thank you at the end of the night (think pooped-out kids falling straight into slumber!).
Outdoor Movie Night
A family-friendly flick, munchable sides of popcorn, and a basket of blankets for when the night cools down complete the ingredient list for an awesome outdoor birthday movie night. Wondering what you’ll need? Check out our favorite outdoor movie night ideas and our favorite movie night snacks!
Bubble Mania Party
This easy homemade bubble recipe by Happy Hooligans is sure to cause some bubble mania (with the most gigantic bubbles ever!) amongst the littles. Pair the recipe with different kinds of wands, have towels on hand, and let the suds take over.
Related: How to Throw a Sensory-Inclusive Birthday Party for Neurodiverse Kids
Tie-Dye Party
This outdoor birthday party idea might just be the perfect opportunity to introduce the kiddos to your favorite '70s playlist (Bee Gees, anyone?). Plus, partygoers get to take home a fun “to dye for” party favor that lasts longer than candy or trinkets from your standard goody bag. Chaotically Creative gives inspiration for helping party-goers get their groove on.
A Farmer’s Market Party
A market full of fresh fruit in vibrant ripe colors is the perfect inspiration for your (organic) farmers-in-training to celebrate a birthday—or at least an excuse to nosh on something other than candy, as Eye Heart Pretty Things beautifully demonstrates.
A Berry Good Birthday Party
Summer is berry season, so it's natural to throw a sweet berry-themed bash. Bright red touches make this party fabulous and will put a smile on any fruit lover's face. Hello Wonderful will show you just what to pick to throw your own berry bash.
