Our youngest son (Milo) wanted another animal party when he turned six (surprise, surprise).
This year was unique for his birthday. We came home from a vacation two days before his birthday, and stayed with my brother in the twin cities. Ever since our trip to the Omaha Zoo, our little animal lover has been obsessed with aquariums. I thought it would be perfect to bring him to the local aquarium near to his cousins home to celebrate together.
Disclaimer: Another unique aspect of this birthday for Milo was my husband was out with Covid. He was in bed the entire weekend. Therefore, handling a birthday party, coming home from a vacation, and solo parenting, I unfortunately don’t have a many photos.
Nonetheless, I loved all the details I was able to pull together for this party! I would highly recommend this if you have access to an aquarium near you.
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Table of contents
For this party, I relied heavily on easy planning and supplies. With the aquarium visit being the main focus, it tied in perfect to be the theme. From there the details came together in a snap. Invites to set the tone, followed by decor and tableware, plus activities, favors, and treats!
If you are looking for a fun and easy party, with a wild destination, follow these tips and have swimmingly awesome AQUARIUM BIRTHDAY PARTY!
Invitations
As a small business creator, I love making pieces for my kids’ birthdays when I have the ability. I wanted to try my hand at invites this time around. I knew with the party not at our home, plus coming back from a vacation, I wouldn’t be able to do a lot of DIY decor and supplies. I have to say, I LOVE how these invites turned out. So much so I added them to my Etsy shop and Zazzle for others to use 🙂
I have grown to love digital download invites. They provide the freedom to print at home, or through a photo printing center, or just email/ text as a digital file. You can make them as elaborate or simple as you have time and budget for.
Cake/ Cupcakes
We celebrated Milo twice for his aquarium birthday. Once at my brother’s house, and once at home on his actual birthday. So he got cake twice!
For his party with family we did cupcakes. Simple blue frosting cupcakes like the ocean. I used the sea party animal graphics from the invites and created cupcake toppers to go on top. An easy win!
For his actual birthday we were back home. He wanted to try something new, a DQ ice cream cake! We used an ocean blue candle and the same toppers from invite graphic to make it festive and fun. I love to use these sturdy cake pop sticks for toppers.
I always love the challenge of tableware to go with the cake/cupcakes. I had fun finding a variety of tableware to use between two “parties”. Bonus, all products were available for Target/Walmart pick up or Amazon Prime delivery which, like I said, was much needed for this nontraditional party planning. Like what you see? Click on the photos to order!
Decorations
This might have been the first birthday ever that I didn’t make a banner or any decor.
I didn’t want to bring/ set up decor at my brothers home. The tableware and cupcake toppers served as the only “decor”.
For his actual birthday at home we hung Happy Birthday Balloons found at Walmart in colors of the ocean to jazz up the dining room. Totally not my typical party vibe, but we worked with our circumstances at the time and made the most of what was available. One way I loved displaying the theme however was his shirt, see more below!
Games + Thank you Bags
With a love language of “Gift Giving”, I get way too much enjoyment out of the thank you bags for my kids’ parties. I like to find things that kids will use again and can be used for more than just the favor bags. With that said, favor bags are 1000% not necessary and can totally be skipped! Every aspect of any celebration is customizable and adaptable to your personal wants and abilities. I personally just love creating them 🙂
Water bottles are usually my first thing I love to include! During parties kids are always thirsty. Personalized and/or themed water bottles are the perfect solution. Then, after the party, they make an amazing thank you gift. We love CamelBak brand for a variety of prints/themes and they are great size for kids to reuse.
Milo is a HUGE stuffie lover. It’s the only way he gets to have (read: collect) animals, so he has a ton! These adorable mini plush toys had all his favorite sea creatures to give in his bags (and keep some himself). In addition, every kid loves pop its right? These mini ocean animal pop its are a great addition to the bags.
Finally, I try and either search for a themed snack/treat or have my kid pick his favorite to add to the bags. It was too perfect not to include goldfish as the snack. I don’t know if I’ve met a kid who doesn’t love goldfish!
Sometimes I keep the favor bags small knowing the activities at the party will provide additional “goodies”. For example, if a piñata is going to happen I will not include any snacks or treats knowing they will get their share from that.
With Milo’s party being family only, and a little out of our normal, I let myself go a little extra. Even though the aquarium provided the bulk of the entertainment, I wanted something to do back at my brothers home too. Another dual purpose activity.
I don’t know about your boys/kids, but mine loves to dig! They cannot get enough of gem, treasure, dinosaur dig kits. So when I saw these ocean animal dig kids I knew they would be perfect for Milo, his siblings, and cousins to enjoy. And with that the favor bags and actives were set.
Party Outfit
My kids love a good birthday shirt/ outfit. They go so far as to dressing up on theme for each other’s birthdays too! Sometimes their idea consist of themed attire, other times it’s a more obvious birthday outfit with their age and theme like what Milo chose for this party.
I cannot stress enough how much this simple part of the party planning means to the kids. It is arguably the cheapest part but getting them involved and making their vision come to life puts the biggest smile on their face!
Milo wants a “six” shirt for his party. Since he is a December baby, a simple ($5.00) white long sleeve shirt from Target was our base. From there I designed on canvas a bold 6 and added the same graphics from his invite. This process took all of 10 minutes!
Using my trusted printable heat transfer paper, I printed the design (make sure it is mirrored!), and ironed it onto the shirt following the papers instructions. He was happy, it didn’t break the bank, and it was a great finishing touch to his party day.
It may not have been our usual party format and supplies, but Milo’s sixth birthday will continue to be one to remember. He loved going to the aquarium and having a party to reflect his love of ocean life. Everything was easily attainable for our busy schedule. It was also affordable while still making an impact. Thank you for reading, I hope your party makes a splash!
Shop the Party
Miss a link within the text? Looking for a supply for your DIY? I have set them all up for easy party planning!
Invites from Etsy
Invites from Zazzle
Cupcake Topper Sticks
Additional Cupcake Topper Idea
Hexagon Party Plates
Shark Party Plates
Ocean Party Napkins
Water Bottle Favors
Plushie Favors
Pop it Favors
Piñata Option
Ocean Animal Dig Kit
Transfer Paper
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