Party themes that really get the party started
Here is a list in alphabetical order of the 47 BEST kids’ birthday party themes for kids of all ages, from toddlers to tweens and teens to ensure their special day is one to remember.
I’ve included all the current popular, classic, trending and eternally reliable party themes into one giant listicle to help you find the perfect theme.
Want party themes for adults? 390 party theme ideas for adult parties.
How to choose a theme that works best for your party
Deciding on a party theme is a good starting point for planning a brilliant kids’ birthday party.
That said, it can be hard to make that decision, especially if you have a picky child or one who finds it hard to decide.
In my experience it’s a good idea to draw up a shortlist of ideas and then offer your child a choice between two, that way, they feel involved, but you get to stay in control!
It is a good idea to consider the following things when deciding on a theme:
- How much time do you have to prepare?
- How easy will it be to source decorations and party supplies?
- How much money do you have in your party budget?
- How suitable is the theme for the age of the guests?
Ultimately, the best theme is going to be the one that works for all these considerations and that you know your child and their friends will love.
47 Best kids’ birthday party themes
So here is the list of all the birthday themes you will ever need to find the perfect theme for your child’s birthday celebration.
ART PARTY
An art party is great for kids of all ages, you just need to tailor the art to the age group.
For example, a finger painting session works brilliantly for toddlers, a pottery decorating party is great for school-aged kids and tie-dying or bejazzling T-shirts work for tweens and teens.
AFTERNOON TEA PARTY
An afternoon tea party sounds awfully grown up and it can be, but it works as well for little kids as it does for tweens and teens.
Tea parties are a lovely idea for 1st and 2nd birthday celebrations, where parents are involved as much as the toddlers.
We hosted a tea party as part of our daughter’s 13th birthday celebrations, you can see how I went about it in my guide to hosting a wonderful tea party
I’ve also put together a roundup of the best tea party food ideas, from fancy sandwiches to cute cupcakes.
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
Talking of tea parties, how about an Alice in Wonderland theme? It lends itself beautifully to a (Mad Hatter’s) tea party or stands up on its own as a really fun theme involving lots of mischief and games.
ANIMAL PETTING PARTY
We hosted an animal petting party for my daughter’s 8th birthday and it went down a storm.
We found a local party entertainer who had a menagerie of beautifully cared-for cute and cuddly animals, which she brought along for the kids to handle and pet.
BAKING PARTY
Baking parties are great for small groups of kids, there are some great baking party kits around and it’s always fun for kids to eat what they’ve just made, especially if it’s sweet (though pizza baking is always a winner too!).
If baking is a stretch too far, you could provide the baked goods and have the kids focus on icing and decorating. Craft and Crumb are the absolute go-tos for baking kits for kids’ parties in the UK.
BALLET PARTY
Ballet is an absolutely classic party theme for dance-loving kids. There is so much fun to be had with tulle and satin decorations, ballet-influenced party games and of course a birthday cake with a prima ballerina on top.
BARBIE THEME PARTY
Thanks to the 2023 blockbuster hit movie starring Margo Robbie and Ryan Gosling, Barbie parties are a real thing for kids of all ages.
It’s a licence to go as kitsch and pink as you like with the party theme. There’s certainly no shortage of merch out there, both official and unofficial.
Don’t forget to include a photo booth for selfie-taking Barbie style.
BEACH PARTY
Now you don’t need to go to a beach to have a beach party, this is a super fun theme to recreate in your backyard/garden or even indoors. Think sunglasses, visors, palm trees, jugs of fruit punch, beach balls and deck chairs.
BLUEY PARTY
The cute blue Australian K9 puppy is as popular in the USA and UK as he is in Australia.
And here’s the thing, teens love him in a kind of ‘nostalgic for their childhood’ way. So you might find yourself with a five-year-old who wants a Bluey-themed party or a 15-year-old!!
The only downside is that the awful song ‘Barbie Girl’ by Aqua has snuck its way back onto playlists. Stick to Dua Lipa and Billy Eilish on the playlist for cooler teen parties.
BOWLING PARTY
Bowling parties are a perennial favourite. We had the first swathe of them when the kids were aged around 8 to 10 years old. But now we’re at the teen stage, there’s suddenly a flood of invites to bowling parties all over again.
Of course, one of the great things about a bowling party is that they’re self-contained. The kids go bowling, they have some food, and they’re done!
BUNNY BIRTHDAY PARTY
Bunny-themed parties as utterly adorable and a classic theme for first and second birthday celebrations.
There’s so much fun to be had adding bunny ears and bunny tails to everything, from party decor to headbands and party favours.
BUBBLE PARTY
Bubble parties are wonderful for toddler parties. There is something super magical about watching little kids mesmerised by bubbles.
Alongside bubble-themed decorations, you can also play bubble games, like catch the bubble or pop the bubbles. This bubble machine is really popular.
Related: How to host a wonderful birthday party for your toddler
CIRCUS THEMED PARTY
Circus-themed parties are another classic. You can have so much fun putting a circus ring slant on party games – sleeping lions, clown nose toss, juggling contest, clown dress-up relay race.
How about making candy floss (cotton candy) to delight the kids and serve it alongside popcorn and corndogs?
CONSTRUCTION PARTY
Think construction party and you’ll likely see yellow and black as the party theme colours. There’s plenty of great party decor for a construction theme and Frugal Coupon Living has a great list of construction party games.
DANCE PARTY
How about hosting a dance party where kids can either have a dance-off competition or follow the lead of a dance entertainer teaching them some new moves?
Go one step further and turn it into a roller dance party!
DINOSAUR THEME PARTY
Dinosaurs are hugely popular with little boys, I’m all for gender-neutral wherever possible for kids, but it is fascinating to see how the different genders gravitate towards certain themes.
Get the kids to make their dinosaur masks, play some dinosaur-inspired party games, like a dinosaur egg hunt or pin the tail on the dinosaur.
You can also have lots of fun with dinosaur-themed party food, with dinosaur egg nests, dino-shaped sugar cookies and a dinosaur head birthday cake.
DONUT THEMED PARTY
The donut aesthetic trend seems to know no bounds, it’s amazing how a humble glazed ring of dough has become iconic.
A donut theme goes down particularly well with tweens and teens, throw a donut-themed sleepover and the kids will think they’re in paradise!!
It seems you can buy literally anything with a donut aesthetic, from T-shirts and fun jewellery to party decorations. Plus, it’s easy to decide on a party food menu!
ENCANTO
Even in 2024, it seems there is still ‘Something About Bruno’ and kids are loving Encanto as a party theme. Challenge party guests to dress up as characters from the film, and maybe do a singalong screening of the movie itself (available on Disney+)
ESCAPE ROOM PARTY
Escape room parties are huge at the moment, with adults and kids alike. I’d suggest they are best for tweens and teens. Book an escape room venue or you use a DIY escape room kit to make your own party.
FARM PARTY
A farm party theme works well for little kids, pump up some animal-shaped balloons (or have a balloon artist come and create some as entertainment), bring in some bales of hay if it’s outdoors, and ask all the kids to come dressed up as farmers or farm animals.
GYMNASTICS PARTY
A gymnastics party works well for elementary/primary school-aged kids. You could hold a mini gymnastics competition, or have the party at a local gymnastics centre where the party guests are given a special workshop.
GAMING THEMED PARTY
Now, there’s a difference between having a gaming party, which might for for teens and a gaming-themed party, where you have gaming-themed decor and gaming-inspired party games and food. Take a look at this gaming control-shaped piñata for instance.
HARRY POTTER PARTY
Harry Potter is fast becoming a classic kids’ party theme. We took our daughter to the Harry Potter Studio Tour for her sixth birthday.
A Harry Potter theme doesn’t have to involve a tour, it can be brought to life with themed decor, magic-themed party games and of course, wands make great party favours.
ICE CREAM BAR PARTY
The best thing about hosting an ice cream bar party is creating the ice cream bar itself. Fill it with fancy toppings from sprinkles and marshmallows to squirty cream. You could even do ice cream float drinks.
Give prizes to the party guest who can create the fanciest ice cream from the bar. Play Pin The Cherry On The Ice Cream Sundae and give out fancy ice cream toppings kits as party favours.
JUNGLE THEME PARTY
The jungle theme is another classic, it’s a great gender-neutral party theme and it lends itself to more traditional parties with a few party games, followed by food and birthday cake, or a trip to a local zoo or having a party entertainer come with some exotic creatures.
JEWELLERY MAKING PARTY
Craft activities like jewellery-making are great for smaller gatherings. There are some lovely kits around, including this one from Galt. There’s also the bonus that the craft becomes the party favour.
Oh, and I have to mention these wonderful Sweetie Jewellery Making Kits from Craft & Crumb.
LITTLE MERMAID PARTY
With the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid in 2023, this theme has become super popular.
Have fun with mermaid-themed party games, like a mermaid tail race, where you substitute sacks for mermaid tail blankets. Or get the party guests to make mermaid potions with glitter, food colouring and little bottles.
MUSIC FESTIVAL
Creating a mini music festival is a great way to celebrate a teen’s birthday. You don’t have to go as far as booking bands – though you might well find that your teen has friends who are in bands and keen to play.
You can recreate a festival atmosphere with festival food, festoon lights, a great playlist and some bespoke signage.
MAD SCIENTIST PARTY
Go it alone and put together some experiments with a kit, like these from Sublime Science or hire in a science entertainer (it’s a LOT more fun than it sounds!) to do some experiments that wow the party guests.
Serve up some mad scientist-themed food, you could have an ice cream laboratory or use food colouring to make the food look zany. And don’t forget a signature formula drink in a crazy colour.
MOVIE NIGHT
Movie nights tend to work best for older kids, both tweens and teens. Turn your living room or den into a movie theatre for the night, you could even provide enough cushions and pillows for a giant sleepover.
Snack boards always go down a storm at movie night parties. Plus you can provide some movie-themed party games. Oh and don’t forget the popcorn!
MAGICIAN PARTY
Tailor the magician to the age of the kids at the party. Close-up magic works well for teens, whereas a magic show with a slapstick element works well for younger kids.
Alternatively, get some magic kits and challenge the kids to learn the tricks themselves for a more DIY magician party.
NEON PARTY
Neon parties are hugely popular at the moment, they’re perfect for tweens and teens. See my guide to hosting a neon party.
PADDINGTON BEAR THEMED PARTY
Paddington Bear is a theme that works well for toddlers and younger kids. It also makes a lovely first birthday party theme.
Of course, you can serve marmalade sandwiches and a lovely afternoon tea, you could also do a Paddington-themed craft activity with preschoolers.
PRINCESS PARTY
A princess party is sort of a rite of passage for little girls, no matter how much we parents try to stick to gender-neutral.
I remember when my daughter and her friends were all turning three and four, there were a LOT of princess-themed parties that all involved the party girl and pals turning up in their finest regal fancy dress.
I’ve put together a guide to hosting a princess party.
PETER RABBIT PARTY
There’s something about this cute little furry little rabbit that lends itself to first birthday parties.
There’s all manner of Peter Rabbit and Peter Rabbit-style party decor and take a look at all these wonderful Peter Rabbit birthday cakes for inspiration.
PIRATE PARTY
Pirate parties are another absolute modern classic theme. Keep it simple with some pirate-themed party food (think skull and crossbones cupcake flags, chicken nuggets as golden nugget treasure in a chest, and some gold chocolate coins scattered across the table.
RAINBOW PARTY
What I love about having a rainbow-themed party is that it is an unrestrictive party theme that you can do as much or as little with as you fancy. Go for rainbow-themed party decor and even rainbow-themed party food (fruit skewer anyone?!)
ROBLOX PARTY
There are loads of Roblox party decorations and favours out there. Get the party guests to come dressed as Roblox characters and feed them some Roblox-themed party food.
SLIME PARTY
Slime is pretty much guaranteed gooey fun for kids. It’s also a surprisingly good way to spark creativity amongst party guests.
Follow the lead of Modern Glam to create a wonderful slime party the kids will never forget.
SPA PAMPER PARTY
Spa parties go down very well with tweens and teens. I’ve put together a whole list of ideas for hosting a fabulously fun Spa pamper party.
STRANGER THINGS PARTY
The cult TV series makes a brilliant theme for older tweens and teens. You will of course need to incorporate some 80s multicolour party lights into the decor and include lots of 80s food on the menu.
Oh and don’t forget to make a dish of Demogorgon Chocolate Strawberries!
STAR WARS PARTY
I remember back in the day when my best friend got a light sabre for her birthday, I reckon she’d still love a Star Wars-themed party today, along with millions of other kids. There are some brilliant Star Wars party ideas over on Pinterest, from food and decor to games.
SPACE THEMED PARTY
If you have a child who is fascinated by outer space, this is the perfect theme for them. It’s also a theme you can have lots of fun with. Think rocket ship building out of cardboard boxes, planet and star decorations and out-of-this-world party food.
SUPERHERO PARTY
There are so many superheroes, from Marvel to DC Comics, all of them with movies and video games and merchandise galore, so why be restrictive by focusing on a single superhero?!
Invite party guests to come as their favourite superhero, or provide masks and dress-up so that they can be transformed into superheroes on arrival.
TAYLOR SWIFT-THEMED PARTY
Taylor Swift is the woman of the hour, the year, the decade, as her Eras tour ploughs on around the globe and her relationship with Travis Kelce even means she’s in line for sports personality of the year (!).
So, I’m going to hazard a guess that a Tay-Tay-themed party would be happily had by many a tween and teen Taylor Swift fan.
The playlist is going to be an easy one to put together, in fact, I’m going to put it out there and suggest a Swiftie karaoke session would be a good party activity.
You could challenge teens to come dressed in their favourite Taylor-style outfit and play a Taylor Swift trivia game.
TEDDY BEAR’S PICNIC
Teddy bear picnics work well for toddlers and younger kids. Invite every child to bring along their favourite teddy to join in the party celebrations.
Go to town with bear-shaped cookies and gummy bears as cupcake toppers. Play some bear-themed party games – you simply have to go on a bear hunt! – and look at these wonderful teddy bear birthday cakes for inspiration.
TIKTOK PARTY
TikTok-themed parties continue to be popular this year. Play some TikTok Challenge-style games, TikTok dance routines and do a TikTok brand colour party decor theme.
UNICORN PARTY
Unicorns are still one of the most popular kids’ party themes, despite having been a huge trend during the 2010s. I’ve put a bunch of unicorn party theme posts to help you plan a brilliant birthday party: 50+ Unicorn party ideas, Free Unicorn Colouring Pages, Unicorn Party Games Printables
