Mermaid Birthday Party – Part 1

With the release of the Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia movie, it’s all about mermaids this summer. If you know a little one who wants a magical mermaid birthday party, here’s a fun and inexpensive idea.

The challenge of a mermaid birthday party is that mermaids can’t walk! So if you want guests to really feel like mermaids, you’ll need to plan for this handicap.

So that each guest feels like a true mermaid, we will carefully wrap her legs with colored fabrics. The easiest way to do this is to gather several bright, colorful fabrics, each at least a yard or so. Blankets and sheets can also work, and the thrift store has a good selection of fabrics. But the best you will find in the fabric store. Check the authorization section first.

Before the guests arrive, choose a nice area or room to lavishly decorate. Since the mermaids will party here, make it look beautiful. Is your theme an underwater cave or a palace? Cover the furniture with dark colored blankets or fabrics to make it look like rocks. Hang different shades of blue crepe paper from the ceiling and walls. Put paper fish and seaweed on the walls and windows (or hang them from the ceiling). Try to make the room look as blue as possible, maybe hang a blue sheet over a sunny window. Scatter real or paper starfish and seashells. Place an old trunk in the room and fill it with costume jewelry, gold candy coins, maybe some sand and seashells, craft jewelry, glass pebbles, and anything else you can find in a treasure chest. Each of your guests will be able to choose multiple items from the chest before they leave, instead of a goodie bag. (You decide how many items they can choose, or maybe each child gets a handful.)

Another room theme could be an ocean beach. For this idea, you’ll want the room to be as sunny as possible. Cover the ground with sand-colored blankets; pillows can be rocks. Cover furniture with dark sea lava rock blankets. Scatter seashells, green crepe paper seaweed, driftwood, and starfish around the room. You could even put on an ocean wave sound effect if you have a noise generator! Again, place a treasure chest somewhere in the room as well.

As each guest arrives, let them choose which fabric will be their very own mermaid tail. Then escort them to the party room and carefully wrap the fabric around their legs. You can simply tuck the end in to hold it in place, or use a safety pin, fabric strap, or ribbon to tie it in place. Leave the feet free at the end and make sure there is plenty of extra fabric hanging down to cover your feet. I would advise you to make each guest go to the bathroom before putting on your tail! And be sure to tell each guest to ask for help if he needs to go somewhere. It’s a good idea to make the tail tight enough to look like a mermaid’s tail, but loose enough that a person can carefully walk to the couch if he needs to. Just make sure someone is always watching and helping anyone who wants to move! Otherwise, it’s best if each guest stays in one place for the party.

If it’s hot enough, guests can arrive in their swim tops and really look like mermaids. There should be plenty of comfortable pillows and blankets around, so that each mermaid can rest comfortably.

After all the guests are transformed into mermaids, it’s time for the fun to begin. Look out for Mermaid Birthday Party: Part 2!