I’m excited to have Whitney Hollingshead guest blogging again for me! Whitney Hollingshead is an optimist, a dreamer, and a professional writer. She loves learning and sharing tips, tricks, and fun facts with others. In her spare time she thrives on coming up with fun and creative solutions for everyday opportunities, especially when the solutions enable her to spend more time with family and friends.
The end of summer is the perfect time to throw a party. Hopefully your summer has already been full of barbecues, days at the swimming pool, and fun family reunions. You can always throw a backyard party and invite friends over for hamburgers and s’mores, but if you are looking for some fresh ideas, check out this list. After all, you really should take advantage of the nice weather needed to pull off these parties:
Summer Olympics
2014 was a World Cup and Winter Olympics year, but you can capture the magic of the summer Olympic games in your own backyard. Here are the keys to planning a really successful summer games:
- Think of any summer games event, and make it applicable to your guests. For example, instead of archery, set up a Nerf bow and arrow contest. Instead of synchronized swimming, have synchronized dance offs in side by side wading pools. Instead of softball, play wiffle ball, etc. Get creative!
- Consider dividing up your guests into several different teams. Designate each team as a foreign country. If you are inviting families, you can notify them of their country ahead of time and encourage them to wear their team colors to the party.
- Have plastic medals on hand for the winners and build a makeshift podium for handing out awards after each event. Don’t forget to set up a system for judging!
Tea Party
Most of us have a desire, either obvious or deeply hidden, to get a little fancy at times. For this reason, it can be a lot of fun to throw a fancier party. While tea parties may often be reserved for females only, consider inviting the gentleman and little gentleman to join the affair as well. Here are some tips for throwing a backyard tea party:
- It’s all about the dress code. Make sure your guests know that this is a dress up occasion. If you don’t think your guests will have hats, frilly dresses, and seersucker suits, modify the code a little. For example, encourage summer dresses for the females and polo shirts and slacks for the males.
- Set up tables and chairs in the shade. Requiring guests to dress up and then sit in the hot sun for a few hours is anything but a party.
- You don’t need to actually serve tea. Instead of the traditional tea and crumpets, consider serving fresh lemonade (or flavored lemonade) and an assortment of dessert bars or cookies.
- Give your guests something to do other than sip around the table. Start some fun card games, set up croquet, or even play some great music and encourage guests to slow dance.
Outdoor Movie Night
Everyone loves watching a great movie and watching a movie on a large screen outside in the comfortable evening hours is even more enjoyable. Here are the keys to planning a successful outdoor movie event:
- According to Performance Audio, if you don’t have a video projector, you can rent one for about $50 a day. Make sure you have a laptop to connect to the projector and some speakers as well. You can hang up an old sheet for the screen or even use the side of your home or garage. Test everything out in advance!
- Pick a really great film that’s appropriate for your guests. If you narrow it down and can’t decide, ask guests to vote for their top choice by sending a text message to your number.
- Plan ahead for comfortable seating options. If you want guests to bring their own seating, make sure you list that on the invites.
- Serve finger foods in easy to carry individual serving dishes (like paper boat trays and small plastic cups).
Cook Off
Plan an event that allows your guests to showcase their skills and be a little competitive. Cook offs are not just for chili. Check out these fun tips for hosting an end of summer cook off:
- Choose a theme, but don’t be afraid to mix it up. Have guests bring blenders and ingredients to compete in a smoothie contest. Or get inspiration for ideas to spice up your fall lunches by hosting a sandwich making contest. Even a salad or dessert contest can turn out to be very tasty and quite competitive.
- Make sure your guests are notified of the rules and what they need to bring well in advance. Have a plan in motion for how the judging will work and try to make it as fair and unbiased as possible.
- Don’t forget to have prizes on hand for the winners!
Mural Madness
Give your guests a chance to get artistic and a little messy, without making a huge mess. This party theme is great for kids and adults alike! Here are the keys to planning a mural making art party:
- Get large rolls of paper and spread long mural size pieces all over your lawn or driveway. Have finger paint in an assortment of colors available. Set your guests loose and let them create their own mural size masterpieces.
- Notify your guests ahead of time to come in clothes that can be stained, etc. Have hoses available to rinse everyone off and set out a stack of old towels for use too.
- If you want to make things extra crazy, give your guests foods to use as paint instead of using finger paint. For example, put out chocolate pudding, ketchup, mustard, and mix various food coloring shades with vanilla pudding. Although you won’t want to keep these somewhat edible masterpieces, your guests will have a blast. Be prepared for the impending food fight!
Any one of these five ideas can be adapted for your guest list. Pick your favorite party theme, follow the tips above, and get ready to host the best event of the summer.
Thank you for your great ideas Whitney! If you end up doing the Summer Movie Night. Whitney wrote a guest post here for us last month that had some great ideas for that. I think I am going to be doing the End of Summer Olympics idea for National Fit Made Fun Day next week on the 6th!
