Bubbles, Bubbles Everywhere

All of my children’s birthdays are special, but I always feel especially motivated to make my daughter’s summer birthday something out of the ordinary. Summer birthday parties can be harder to arrange with the kids out of school and families on vacation, so I’m inclined to go the extra mile to make the party stand out. So what is a fun, summery theme for a party that’s appropriate for all ages? The answer is simple and beautiful: bubbles! Kids (and adults) of all ages love bubbles, and it’s such a simple theme that it leaves tons of room for creativity. Here are some ideas for invitations, decorations, food, and activities.

• Invitations. There are several options here. You could use a picture of your child blowing bubbles, and make that into an invitation. You could cut the invitations into circles, so that they’re bubble shaped. But my favorite bubble invitation idea is this: blow up some balloons, write the invitation in marker on the blown up balloon, then deflate the balloon and put it an envelope. Invitees will have to blow up the balloon in order to read the invitation.
• Decorations. I can’t think of a better way to decorate for a bubble themed party than with bubble wrap. It’s fun, it’s inexpensive, it comes in several colors, and it’s useful. Cut it into placemats or tape it to the floor to make a bubbly walkway. Round napkins fit with the bubble theme, and it should be easy to find disposable plates and cups printed with polka dots or bubbles. Balloons are always a welcome sight at parties, and fit in nicely with the theme. You also might consider getting an electronic bubble machine or renting a commercial one. The more bubbles, the better.
• Food. Bubble-shaped food is easier to create than you’d think. Use a melon-baller to make bubble shaped balls of watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew. Blueberries are a natural choice. Use round ice cube molds to make bubble shaped Jell-O. You can use round cookie cutters to make bubble shaped sandwiches. Cookies, round pretzels and crackers, lollipops, and grapes also work well with the bubble theme.
• Activities. This one is as easy as it comes: play with bubbles. This is one of the reasons that this theme is so nice for even small children: Everyone can play with bubbles. Compete to see who can blow the biggest bubble, or who can blow the most bubbles at once. You can buy special bubble wands that allow you to make huge bubbles, or several different sizes at once. You can also help the kids make “bubble art” by adding food coloring to bubble solution. Aside from the fun of multi-colored bubbles, you can have them blow the colored bubbles at white pieces of paper to create works of art to take home.

There are so many things that you can do with this theme that you really can’t go wrong. Bubbles have always been a fun summer day activity, so why not turn that into a party?