Home Parties & Activities
Fun ideas for every age, budget, and occasion
Pointers for Home Parties
Choose a Theme
Select a theme for your party. Choose something your child is interested in — a favorite character, book, or TV show. Tie decorations and menu into the theme and get your child involved by asking what activities and games they'd like to play.
Be Organized
Plan your activities and decide how long the party should be. Pick an appropriate time based on ages and schedules. Allow time for gift opening, games, activities, and cake. Make sure parents know what time pick-up is.
Make it Easy
If your party is geared to younger children, consider hiring a babysitter to help. If children are different ages or haven't met before, start with quieter games to let everyone get comfortable.
Keep Everyone Occupied
Have lots of activities planned to keep everyone busy. Make sure outdoor activities can be moved indoors in case the weather doesn't cooperate.
Live and Learn
Don't be disappointed if one of your activities isn't a hit — you can't be prepared for everything. Have lots of things planned so you can move on if one isn't popular with the crowd.
Have Fun!!
If you are relaxed and having fun, your guests will pick up on it and follow your lead. Take lots of photos for keepsakes and maybe a group shot to use for thank you cards.
Creative Parties
Fashion Show
Invite friends and ask everyone to bring two favorite outfits (or design outfits using toilet paper!). Create a runway with a roll of carpet and chairs lined up along either side. For loot bags, load a video of the show onto a USB and place it in a fashionable gift bag.
Spa Day
Invite friends over to paint nails, do facials, and style each other's hair. Hand out cute loot bags — makeup bags filled with nail polish, facial packs, and spa accessories. Or let everyone design their own bag and choose three spa items to take home.
Craft Party
Make your own picture frame, fridge magnet, necklace, hair accessories, or flower pot. Search online for age-appropriate crafts. Send everyone home with their handmade craft wrapped in a personalized gift bag they create themselves.
Hair Accessory Party
Make hair accessories out of flowers, combs, pins, and various other hair items. Everyone takes home what they've made in a cute hair accessory pouch.
Photo Booth Party
Invite everyone to bring a crazy outfit or two and create your own photo booth with props. Purchase an empty frame at a thrift store and have groups hold it up for photos. Buy an instamatic camera and send everyone home with a framed group photo.
Musical Instrument Party
Search online for musical instruments you can create as a craft. Invite everyone over to build their own instrument, then have the group play a song together and video it. Send everyone home with a loot bag full of treats and a USB drive with the video.
Tie Dye Party
Create tie-dye invitations and ask everyone to bring a white t-shirt (or purchase them from a craft store). A great outdoor event. Have everyone decorate and create their own designer bag to bring their t-shirt home in.
Jewellery Making Party
Visit your local crafts store and stock up on age-appropriate jewellery making supplies. Pick up small wooden jewellery boxes at the dollar store. Have everyone create their jewellery, paint their box, and take it all home.
Flower Planting Party
Purchase seed packages, small pots, and planting soil. Have everyone paint and decorate three pots, then choose three kinds of flowers to plant. Hand out loot bags made of flower pots with seeds and gummy worms inside.
Create a Kite Party
Search online for instructions on creating a simple kite and purchase the necessary items. Have everyone paint and decorate their kite, then visit a nearby area to fly them. For loot bags, hand out toy kites and candies in colorful sand buckets.
"You Rock" Party
Collect or purchase appropriate paperweight-sized rocks. Invite everyone over to choose 2–3 rocks to paint — a great idea around Mother's Day or Father's Day. Loot bags consist of small wooden boxes that everyone decorates.
Active & Outdoor Parties
Back Yard Fun
Blow bubbles, paint the sidewalks with chalk, make a hopscotch game, and run in the sprinkler. Send everyone home with a bottle of bubbles and a package of sidewalk chalk in a cute beach bucket.
Bug Hunting Expedition
Hand out bug catchers and head into the back yard to see what everyone can find. Decorate using a bug theme and search online for creepy bug menu items. For loot bags, everyone takes home their bug catcher and a bag of gummy bug treats.
Back Yard Carnival
Search online for DIY carnival games. Send out carnival invitations and set up backyard games — guess the number of jelly beans, ball toss, knock-down targets. Everyone leaves with a bright carnival loot bag full of small toys and treats.
Back Yard Campout
Pitch a tent in the back yard and invite a few friends over. Make pizza and s'mores, watch movies or tell ghost stories. Hand out loot bags with glow-in-the-dark rocks, glo sticks, and glow-in-the-dark toys.
Back Yard Circus
Create your own circus activities and games in your back yard. If budget allows, hire a children's entertainer. Have a candy bar — a brightly decorated table filled with different containers of candies for guests to fill their own treat bags.
Scavenger Hunt
Hide a series of items around the house or yard. Use cards to drop hints or make everyone complete a challenge to receive the next clue. Send everyone home with a loot bag filled with word puzzles and a small game or puzzle.
Rubber Duck Race
Have a pool? Give everyone a numbered rubber duck and a squirt gun. Have everyone squirt their duck to the other side first. Do a best-of-3 or semi-finals and finals. Hand out a cute rubber duck and bath toys in the loot bag.
Bike Decorating Party
Invite neighborhood friends to bring their bikes and helmets and let everyone decorate them. Supply waterproof streamers and pre-cut colorful straws for spokes. Set up sprinklers and have guests ride through them.
Pirate Party
Hand out picture maps and have a treasure hunt in the back yard. Fill black balloons with water for a water cannon balloon toss. Have guests walk the plank over a small pool. Serve cupcakes with chocolate coins and hand out loot bags from a treasure chest.
Summer Fun
Head to the park and pack a picnic. Make it extra special by handing out invitations and loot bags filled with treats and pre-filled water toys to play with at the park.
Water Fun Party
Set up a sprinkler, wading pool, and slip-and-slide, and finish with a water balloon catching contest. After everyone dries off, send them home with a loot bag full of summer candy treats.
Leaf Collecting Party
Invite young ones to go for a walk, play at the park, and collect leaves. Back home, lay leaves in wax paper and iron them. Send everyone home with a fall-themed loot bag or have everyone decorate a picture frame with fall stickers.
Hockey Team Party
Find a local outdoor rink and rent it for an hour. Invite your hockey team friends for a game of shinny. Afterwards, head home for hot chocolate and games. Everyone gets a loot bag in the shape of a zamboni.
Winter Skating Afternoon
Meet up at the nearest outdoor rink or indoor arena. After a fun skate, go back home for hot chocolate and snacks. Hand out loot bags with festive mittens stuffed with hot chocolate and marshmallow packets.
Food & Baking Parties
Baking Party
Invite everyone over to make cookies and cupcakes. For that added touch, give out personalized aprons. After you've finished, watch funny movies and enjoy your hard work. Make loot bags using baking tins filled with cookie mix, festive cookie cutters, and sprinkles.
Movie Night
Invite friends to watch movies and sleep over. Have everyone bring a sleeping bag and pillow, make popcorn, play games, and in the morning hand out popcorn buckets full of candy treats.
Pizza and Games Night
Does your child and her friends have a favourite TV show? Invite them over. Everyone creates their own pizza and plays games while they cook. Sit and binge-watch your favorite show all night. Give out loot bags that go with the theme of the show.
Cookie and Cupcake Decorating Contest
Supply undecorated cupcakes and cookies with icing, sprinkles, and festive decorations. Have everyone decorate and take photos of their creations. Send everyone home with a loot bag filled with cake mix and store-bought icing.
Cupcake Competition
Purchase icing, food coloring, and cupcake toppings. Have everyone create and bake their own cupcake flavor. Hand out personalized aprons and have everyone decorate a treat box. For loot bags, send everyone home with cake mix, icing, and sprinkles.
Games & Activities
Minute to Win It Games
Go online to find fun games you can easily make yourself at home using everyday items. Games are timed and are sure to provide lots of laughs. Loot bags can be filled with a small game and candy treats.
Board Game Night
Collect your favorite board games or hit your local thrift store for classics. Invite friends over and everyone picks out of a hat to see what game they play. Make loot bags that include a small game and treats.
Twister Party
Hit your local thrift store and stock up on a few Twister games. Tape four of them together and everyone plays on one giant mat. Send everyone home with a picture frame with 'a twisted photo to follow' written in it.
Egg Hunt Party
Stock up on plastic Easter eggs after Easter ends. Send out invites folded inside plastic eggs. Have everyone decorate paper bags to store their finds. Hide small items like erasers, candy, coins, and raffle tickets. Loot bags consist of a basket of eggs filled with extra special treats.
Puzzle Relay
Visit your local thrift store and stock up on a few puzzles. Everyone works in pairs on each puzzle for a set time — a bell rings and pairs move to the next puzzle. The pair who solves the first puzzle wins. Hand out loot bags with a small puzzle and candy treats.
Would You Rather Party
Google age-appropriate 'Would You Rather' questions. Print them and place them in a large jar. Have everyone take a turn choosing and asking questions. Follow up with Twister and then a movie. Send everyone home with a loot bag and their own set of questions.
Lego Birthday Party
Research online and create Lego invitations. Set up colorful bowls of Lego for everyone to play with. For loot bags, have colorful paper bags decorated like Lego with Lego toys and Lego-shaped candy inside.
Mad Scientist Party
Create ID badge invites. Make simple experiments — tornado in a jar, homemade volcano, salt and ice, homemade slime. Hand out loot bags full of homemade slime in test tubes, tornado-in-a-jar funnels, and candy.
DIY Magician Party
Research homemade magic tricks online and purchase necessary supplies. Guests pick a card and perform the magic trick written on it. Hand out loot bags filled with magician's wands and a take-home magic trick.
Princess Party
Buy tiaras from the dollar or local craft store. Supply jewels, sparkles, and rhinestones and have everyone decorate their own tiara. Take photos of everyone wearing their tiaras. Provide supplies to decorate personalized tiara holder gift bags.
First Day of School Party
Have a party the weekend before kids go back to school. Invite friends and other children who go to the same school. Plan interactive games that help everyone compete together. For loot bags, hand out bags filled with fun school supplies.
After Dark & Themed Parties
Star Gazing Sleep Over
Pitch a tent in the back yard and invite a few friends over. Download a star gazing app and see how many constellations you can find. Make s'mores and snacks and sit outside. Hand out loot bags with glow-in-the-dark rocks and other glow-in-the-dark toys.
In the Dark Party
Have an entire party in the dark. Play glow-in-the-dark Twister and serve dinner and cake on a table filled with glo sticks.
Glamping Night
Invite everyone over and set up pop-up tents indoors or make forts out of blankets and furniture. Watch movies, have snacks, tell ghost stories, and sleep over.
Ghost Walk
Go on a ghost walk with your friends and come back home to tell ghost stories and watch scary movies. Hand out loot bags with worry dolls and stone bracelets or collectible chakra stones in organza mesh bags.
Drive In Party
Live close to a local drive-in? Bring a few friends and catch a movie. For younger kids, make your own! Grab large empty boxes from a grocery store, decorate them as cars, have a snack bar, and let everyone watch their favorite movie.
Reptile Party
If you are brave enough, hire a company that brings reptiles to your home for children to see first-hand (and hold!). Afterwards, hand out loot bags with assorted toy bugs and reptiles and their favorite treats.
Adult Party Themes
Casino Night
Host a Casino Night in your home or arrange for a limo to take you to a nearby casino. Create unique gift bags that tie in to your special celebration.
Milestones and Anniversaries
Create special gift bags for all your guests to take home after the big celebration. Let us create a personalized poem to commemorate the milestone.
At Home Painting Party
A fun way to keep everyone entertained for the evening. Hand out loot bags as people arrive filled with paintbrushes and paints. Supply a model photo and everyone paints their own version of it.
Games Night
Host a pub or games night in your home. Play cards and send everyone home with a deck of personalized cards to remember the night. Let us help you create adult loot bags for your event.
Celebration Weekend
Have a weekend celebration planned? Let us create loot bags filled with appropriate items that tie into the theme of wherever you are visiting — hand them out before departure to set the mood for the weekend.
Pool Party
Have a pool? Invite everyone over in their favorite beach attire. Have everyone make a special drink and award a prize to the most popular cocktail. Hand out pails with fun items for the kids to take home.
Don't Forget the Loot Bags!
Every great home party ends with a memorable loot bag. Let Loot Loft create something unique and fun for your guests — for any budget.
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