If you're having your party at the actual beach, decorating is a snap; Mother Nature has already done all the work!; Just bring lots of sand toys, beach balls, maybe a volleyball set, and a portable sound system to play some cool beach music.
If you're hosting in your yard, you can still make the party beach-y and tons of fun.
If you have a sand box, use it! Build a sandcastle in one corner, and have plenty of sand toys scattered around for your guests to play with.
If you don't own a sandbox, make your own with a baby pool. Fill it with clean play sand and lots of sand toys for an instant sea shore!
Toss a bunch of beach balls throughout the yard.
Hang extra bathing suits and towels on the fence or clothesline.
Make a beach scene on your garage door, or the back of the house. Cut out palm trees, the ocean, sand and other things you would find in a typical beach scene, and attach them to the door or wall. For an added touch, cut out a surf board and lean it against the door.
Make a sign post for the front yard that says "Beach this way" with an arrow pointing to the back yard.
Scatter beach chairs, umbrellas, and beach towels throughout the yard.
Play beach music. Jan and Dean or the Beach Boys are both good choices.
Make some signs that say things like "Keep off the Dunes" and "Beach closes at dusk" and hang them around the yard.
Fill a sand bucket with sunscreen and put it on a table, or near the sandbox.
A barbeque menu works well for a beach party. Hot dogs, hamburgers, and corn on the grill are perfect.
A picnic is also a good menu for a beach themed party. Serve sandwiches, potato salad and chips.
Smoothies are a great choice for a hot day, it will cool the children off, and get some extra fluids in them as well.
Make a beach ball out of cut up vegetables. Red peppers and cherry tomatoes for the red stripe, cucumber slices for the green, cauliflower for the white, orange bell peppers for the orange stripe.
To go along with the cake, serve cups of sand. Spoon a layer of vanilla pudding into clear cups, and top with smushed vanilla wafers for the sand. Put in a gumball for the beach ball, and add a drink umbrella with a teddy graham cookie lounging under it to complete the look.
Have an ice cream cart in the backyard. Using several coolers on a table, set up your cart. Buy a few different verities of ice cream bars and popsicles, and let the children choose.
To make a cake that looks like a beach scene, read on. Bake a 9x13 inch cake. Once it's cool, frost half the cake with blue frosting and the other half with white. Make a wavy line in the icing to denote the shoreline. Sprinkle crushed graham crackers over the white half for the sand. Put a toy boat in the blue icing, and use decorator icing to make shells, crabs and fish. Scatter a few gumballs to be beach balls, and add a few drink umbrellas.