Rainbow Birthday Party

We had an absolutely incredible September day celebrating my very special four year old! Blue skies, low humidity, and rainbow colors…what more could you ask for? I seriously love the simplicity of hosting birthday parties at my home. I know one day the kids will want to go to a jungle-gym, playplace, ice rink, whatever, for their birthday. But for right now, backyard parties are where it’s it. Literally. (Well, unless it’s 2020 and in that case, the party was out front for a drive-by Popsicle Party! You can read about that by clicking here.)

I set up a craft station, I set out balls and the basketball hoop, and the kids had the swing set to play on. All of this plus food, a game, and dessert? Everyone had a great time! As always, I’ve linked products and materials for you throughout the post and at the end. Happy Reading!

I absolutely loved our invitations and birthday sign from Emelbe Design. Merissa was so wonderful to work with…I stumbled upon her blog (gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous), and saw she had also hosted a rainbow party for her daughter. I finally felt like I had found the right aesthetic for the party I was going for after searching Etsy and Pinterest for rainbow inspiration. She graciously worked with me on colors: You would be VERY surprised at how hard it is to make a rainbow party come alive because there are MANY different color schemes: boho, ROYGBIV, pastel, unicorn, Trolls, CareBears…UGH. It was really hard to find just what I was looking for and Merissa made it work!

It’s pretty easy planning food when you’re catering for kids! We had a nugget tray, veggies, cheese sticks, prosciutto roll ups, chips/pretzels/hummus, rainbow Goldfish, and this beautiful fruit rainbow my step-mother in law made. The party was from 11:00-1, so the food satisfied a light lunch. It was tempting to make every food option we had coincide with the party theme, but let’s be real, my days are pretty busy, and no one went hungry with what was served 😉

To make the table feel decorated and fuller, I used streamers, trim from the sewing department at Hobby Lobby, flowers color-blocked (no mixing), and some small piñatas I found at Target.

Knowing that I could have a planned activity this year made my heart go pitter-patter! We didn’t have a big crowd, but most of the kids were 3+ years old which is a really good age to have a project set out for them. I set up a rainbow making station on one part of our deck. I had cardboard cut-out rainbow shapes prepped and glue ready for the kids to create! I cut up pieces of scrap paper and tissue paper that I had on hand and color sorted them into bowls throughout the table. I even added some sequins for some extra sparkle! The only thing I purchased for this activity was the plastic table cloth used to cover the table!

Some kids wanted to work WITH a parent and some completed their rainbow independently. Having this out as a “station” really helped give the kids something else to do if they weren’t feeling like they wanted to play on the swing set or in the yard-not every child wants to run wild on a sugar high! ha! But in all seriousness, the craft table was a great place to direct families when they arrived as it gave the kids a place to “get their bearings” in someone else’s home. And then when they were feeling comfortable, they could join in on the games in the yard.

I think the rainbows turned out so beautifully! I have thought about framing my daughter’s for her bedroom. Add that to the #projectlist.

For a party game, I created my trusty-ol Punch Piñata. This is my most favorite game for kids parties! You can see how it is made by clicking here to read the post. We also played this at my daughter’s second birthday… it was still fun a second time around, and you can spend a lot or hardly anything on prizes-totally up to you. For prizes this year, I did a mix of rainbow stickers, rainbow playdough, push pops, stick on earrings, and light-up rings-ouu lala!

The cake was incredible. It was made by a local baker, and I gave her free reign to create whatever she wanted! I told her I only cared if the colors matched, ha!! The cake was a masterpiece and a big conversation piece at the party. The top was decorated with cookies, gum balls, sprinkles, and candy pieces. Each bite was a discovery…oh, it was so much fun!

I seriously debated on doing any kind of party favor. Can I be honest? I HATE favor bags! They’re always full of junk, and I’m left picking up said junk in my car, in the stroller, or in the playroom. When I ran into Dollar General to get balloons inflated with helium though, I saw these favor bags, and well, they got me. They were cute, and the perfect size. The colors didn’t match, but they were cute! I filled them with Skittles and big marshmallows (clouds). #easy

We were so thankful for a beautiful day and the opportunity to celebrate with our family and friends who could make it! I love celebrating and hosting (especially for my precious girl), and I *think* everyone could feel it.

If you like birthday party and activity posts like this, be sure to check out how to make a Punch Piñata here, a drive-by Popsicle Party here, my Twins’ Party Animal Party here, and our family’s Happy Birthday, Jesus! kids party here.