Everyone loves a good pool party during the summer holidays. The Fourth of July, independence day in the U.S., is a particularly popular summer holiday for parties, especially themed parties. Here are a few ways to make sure your friends and your kids’ friends are talking about your pool party for the next 12 months.
Make memorable invitations: The invitations are the first thing your guests ever see, so make them memorable and find a way to incorporate both the Independence Day and the pool party themes. For example, a red, white, and blue cardboard flip flop would make a great invitation to a Fourth of July swimming party. You could also get tiny beach balls at a party store or dollar store and write the details of the party on the individual panels with permanent marker. If the party is for your kids’ friends, get them to help with picking out and making the invitations, as they’ll love this chance to be creative!
Have fun with themes: How you decorate is important, as it sets the mood for your party. The trick is to use the motifs without overusing them. Create a festive backdrop for your party by covering the tables in blue tablecloths with a neutral pattern, for example, or hang red, white, and blue streamers. Another great idea is to change out some of your pool’s underwater lights with red and blue bulbs to get a red, white, and blue effect.
Pool party games everyone will love: The focus of a pool party is, of course, the pool, so find some games that your guests will love to play in the water. Volleyball, basketball, and Marco Polo are fun swimming pool games, but are overplayed and could dull your guests’ enthusiasm. Instead, for a summer-themed game everyone is sure to remember, grease up a large watermelon with shortening or petroleum jelly and divide everyone up into two teams. Each team has to try to get the watermelon over to their side of the pool without taking it out of the water. This exciting game is sure to create a lot of laughter and fun memories!
Create placecards with pizazz: As much as the pool is the focus of any good summertime party, at some point your guests will have to take a break to eat something. If you’re having a sit-down meal at your party, make fun placecards by tying the cards to bouquets of sparklers with themed ribbons. You could even make colorful glitter “fireworks” on the cards with glue and red, white, and blue glitter. For parties with less formal meals, you can give out the bouquets of sparklers as party favors or in goody bags.
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Red, white, and blue treats: The success of every party is based at least in part on its food. There are lots of fun things you can do with food for a Fourth of July party. If you’re having a party for the kids and you want to be sure that they stay hydrated, you can make your own layered red, white, and blue popsicles by freezing each layer individually from colored sports drinks. For dessert, you can also make a great red, white, and blue trifle by layering vanilla pudding in a clear glass bowl with strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream.
While it doesn’t take much more than a pool and some good food to make most pool parties successful, you can make yours downright spectacular if you throw in a few fun little extras, like the ideas above. Have fun and make this Fourth of July one to remember!
Originally posted 6/2017.
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