Indoor Beach Party for Children

Want to bring the summer indoors this year? Consider throwing an Indoor Beach Party for Children! Read our tips for how to throw the best beach party.

Whether plans for a day at the beach get rained out, or everyone wishes for some summer warmth mid-winter, these activities will summon beach-worthy fun.

Throw an indoor birthday party with fun decorations, foods, craft, and games that get kids in the mood for summer fun. Look online for beach-oriented items online if finding them at the store is unseasonable or pull out all that summer-oriented stuff stored throughout the house.

Indoor Beach Party for Children

Birthday Party Invitations

For a unique indoor birthday party, invite kids to an indoor beach party. Look for summery printed invitations or make invitations by incorporating photos of the beach, or cutting out fish or flip flop shapes and writing out essential information. Include a note for kids to dress in swimsuits or tee shirts and shorts. Encourage kids to bring a beach towel, sun hat, flip flops, and sunglasses to keep with the theme.

Sandwiches, Snacks, and Cake

Line a platter with blue tissue paper to create a lake or ocean. Set tuna boat sandwiches on the platter for a lunchtime regatta. To make the boats, slice a finger roll and fill with tuna salad. Add a cheese triangle sails that are supported with a toothpick. Include other party finger foods, if desired.

Set out plates of goldfish crackers with cream cheese, bean dip, or another dip. Tell kids to dip a pretzel stick in the dip and then try to use their fishing rod and bait to pick up a fish. Eat the fish and the rod.

Cover the birthday cake with blue frosting. Pulse granola in a food processor until it looks like beach sand. Sprinkle over the top (or part of the top) of the cake. Add gummy fish to the blue water frosting. Look for small beach-oriented toys or party favors that can decorate the sandy beach.

Summer Decorations

Decorate with colorful beach towels, beach balls (although kids will play with them, so make sure there isn’t anything breakable nearby), beach umbrellas, sand pails, and other colorful sand toys. Play Beach Boys and other beach music in the background. Hang fish-shaped garlands around the room.

Sand Painting

For sand painting, either purchase different colored sand or get white sand from a garden or aquarium shop and mix in a few drops of food color and stir well. Give each party guest a clean baby food jar or a small plastic container meant for sand painting.

You can also make this easy colored sand (using salt!)

Spoon sand into the jar and create several layers to fill the jar. Then, take a toothpick and slowly poke into the sand along the sides of the jar. This creates a wavy design without mixing the colors. Top off the jar and then screw on the lid.

Another great option is creating Sand Slime! Learn how to make sand slime – a great activity to get the kids involved with at the party!

Party Games and Activities

Give children a pile of seashells and have them arrange them by size, shape, etc. Ask kids to pick their favorite. Create beach art by making interesting patterns and images with shells and bits of driftwood.

Set out a pile of similar shells and have each child select one and notice any details that make their shell different from the other shells. Then, pile the shells together, along with a few extras. Pick up one shell and have one of the children claim it, explaining why it is their shell.

Pair children and give each group five shells. One player sits behind his partner and hands her a shell. The player feels the shell so they can identify it later. The other player mixes together the shell with the extra shells. Then, one at a time, he hands the shells to his partner, and she tries to identify which is hers. Change players.

Create a single room scavenger hunt by hiding shells, sea glass, bits of driftwood, feathers, and rocks throughout the room.

Beach Party Favors

Give each child any combination of the below items.

Add a little summer warmth and fun to a rainy or winter day with an indoor beach party full of games, crafts, and fun food.

Read How to Plan an Indoor Beach Themed Movie Day, too! This is another great addition to a beach party!