Beach Pool Party Ideas

Gather your friends for a fun themed beach pool party.  This is a colorful and fun pool party theme for kids and adults.  You can have fun with the pool party invites, pool party decorations, swimming pool games and even the food.

Colorful beach balls, swim rings, striped towels, and straw beach bags all make for a great summer beach themed pool party.

Beach Themed Pool Party Invitations

Beach party invitations can be store bought, custom ordered or uniquely your own.

Don't under estimate the importance of the invite - they set the theme for your get-together, make people feel special, and build anticipation.

There are several options of buying or making your own beach party invitations. You can of course order custom invitations from companies like Vista print or on line.

Real beach balls make the perfect beach party invitations. I found these fun pool party invites on line at Amazon.

Inflate them and then write the details of the party with a fine tip permanent pen. Deflate them and send them off in a white, larger size envelope. Seal the envelope with beach ball or pool themed stickers.

These mini-beach ball invitations came from Oriental Trading. Each invite includes the mini-beach ball, the plastic container and a label to put on the container for the guest's address

Beach Themed Pool Party Floats

Your guests will enjoy relaxing on this flip flop float and catching up with friends. 

---

Some links in the following sections are eBay or Amazon affiliate links, which means that if you purchase a product through them I receive a small commission. There is no extra cost to you. Find more details on this page.

---

Or in colorful swim rings ....

Beach Themed Pool Party Ideas for Decorations

What I love about beach pool party decorations are the bright colors like orange, yellow and lime green.

Let your guests know that they are entering the "beach party zone" by decorating the pool gate area or path.

Hang a colorful beach towel and pool float on the gate. 

Use inflatables like beach ball and a flip flop floats for beach party decor.

Greet guests with a giant beach ball sprinkler as they arrive to your pool.

With water shooting out in every direction, place it near your pool entrance to greet your beach party guests:

Beach Ball Sprinklers

Beach party decorations are fun and easy to find (in the summer). Items like beach towels, beach pails and sand toys make the perfect party decorations for a themed pool party.

Decide on a color scheme and then stick to it starting with the invitations to the beach party decorations.

Beach party decorations need to include the swimming pool! Inflatable pool toys come in so many different styles and colors. You can simply have several inexpensive large beach balls floating in the pool. 

It's best to get at least 12" size balls and for large pools, get 24" size.  Beach balls range in size from 6" to 48".

Not only do they make great pool party decorations, but are fun to play with no matter what age your guests are.

Turn off the pump so that the balls don't all bunch together.  

Get out any beach gear you have at home like your beach chairs or umbrellas and set them out by the pool.

Beach Pool Party Table

Treat your guests to a pool party table with a beach theme. 

Start with a colorful, easy to clean polyester tablecloth, plastic chargers and white melamine dishes.

Then decorate with colorful napkins, outdoor drink ware and beach toys found at your local dollar store. 

Outdoor Paper Lanterns Made of Nylon

Outdoor paper lanterns are a great way to provide color and a festive feel inexpensively. I always get ones made out of nylon, not paper.  If it's drizzling outside or even raining they hold up well and unlike paper lanterns these can be reused and are much more durable.

Decide on a color scheme for your beach party and then buy hanging paper lanterns in those same colors.

They are easy to hang on the ribs of your patio umbrellas or tree branches.

We also place them from vines growing on our garden arbor so that the guests are greeted with a party feel right at the start.

Outdoor parties require bigger ones than indoor parties - so be sure to get at least 14" lanterns or larger.

Beach Themed Pool Party Ideas for Food and Drinks

Any food becomes beach party food when served in a new bright colored beach pail or sand toy.  Line a sand pail with a colorful napkin to serve crackers or chips.

Add beach themed stickers to water or wine glass stems to help guests keep track of their drink.

Tasty wraps take on a new look when served in this new orange beach pail.  Make turkey roll-ups using thin slices of turkey, fresh lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, strips of red pepper, and mayonnaise.

Other good ingredients to use are slices of avocado, tomatoes, cucumbers or onion.

Give some extra flavor by using flavored mustard, like Dijon or our favorite is Pale Ale Honey Spice Mustard. Cream cheese sprinkled with some dill can be used as a spread as well.  Serve the wraps in a new brightly colored orange sand bucket.

Use a (new) sand shovel to serve the chicken salad.

We often serve cold salads at our pool parties and one of our favorites is chicken salad. 

If I am in a rush, I buy it from our local grocery store. 

Made with red grapes and celery it is really tasty. Serve it with a slice of cantaloupe and a bunch of green grapes.

Buy premade hummus or make your own.

Serve fun "beachy" cupcakes for your beach party food. 

Wrap a colorful cupcake wrapper around the cupcake and top it with a bright pink flamingo.

If you decide to make your own cupcakes, I found that store bought frosting works better than homemade frosting on a hot day, as homemade frosting melts and the store bought frosting stays in place and holds better.

Place the cupcakes in a cupcake stand and use the stand as a centerpiece. 

Beach Themed Pool Party Favors

Rather than hand out party bags to everyone as they leave give them out during the party - make it more interactive and fun.

We came up with different questions to help us get to know each other as neighbors and whoever fits a description gets a party bag.

Who has lived in the neighborhood the longest

Which neighbor moved in most recently

Which neighbor moved from the farthest place

Which neighbor went on a beach vacation and saw a shark

Who built a sand castle on this year's beach vacation

Who traveled the farthest to get to their beach vacation

Who swam in the ocean this year?

Who saw a crab?

Who has seen Annette Funicello in one of her Beach Party Movies

Who has watched the Disney Teen Beach Movie?

Who has gone to a Beach Boys concert?

Who has owned a Beach Boys album?

Beach Pool Party Favors

From water bottles to Koozie coolers send your guests home with a fun reminder of a special time together.

Fill new sand buckets lined with tissue paper with sunglasses, sunscreen and moisturizing lotion. 

Or for a truly special reminder, provide each guest with a take-home beach towel. Set of 6 XL Turkish Cotton Beach Towels

Other ideas for teens or adults are: 

Fun coasters, insulated water bottles, fun sunglasses or cheap sun visors.

Beach Pool Party Games

What's a pool beach party without a beach ball game?  Here are some pool party games that work for many different ages.

Another alternative would be to see how many times two people can tap the ball to each other before it drops.

The person or team that keeps it in the air the most amount of times wins.

Here are some more beach party games that work for many different ages.

1. Beach Ball Hot Potato

Just like hot potato get everyone in the pool to create a large circle. Toss the beach ball to anyone - it can be the person next to you or the person across from you. Play your favorite music or beach type music. 

Whoever is in possession of the ball when the music stops is out. Keep playing until there is a winner.

2. Beach Ball Pool Relay

Divide the guests into two teams. Provide some fun, goofy sunglasses and a beach ball for each team. Each player takes a turn swimming across the pool with the beach ball placed under them and wearing the pair of sunglasses. If the ball pops up, the player has to start over. Hand over the sunglasses and the beach ball to the next team member. The team that finishes first wins.

3.  Keep the Beach Ball in the Air

Divide the guests into teams of two. See how many times two people can tap the beach ball to each other before it drops. The person or team that keeps it in the air the longest wins.

The person or team that keeps it in the air the most amount of times wins.

Or give each guest a large blown up beach ball and see how many times that person can tap the ball and keep it the air before it hits the ground (or the water if the game is in the pool).

4.  Hoola Hoop Contest with a Light Up hoola hoop.

Get the beach party music going and see who can hula hoop the longest. For daytime parties you can find these fun hoops at stores like Target or K-mart. Get two. Have two contestants start at the same time and see who can keep their hoop going the longest. 

For an evening or night time party, you can't beat a an LED lighted Hula Hoop.

5. Swimming Pool Volleyball Beach party games for the pool can be as simple as water volleyball, using a beach ball instead.

Get everyone in the pool and having fun with a beach volleyball game.  Use a light up volleyball for evening pool parties. 

pool volleyball

Indoor Beach Party Ideas

Looking for some indoor beach party ideas? Twice we have had plans for an outdoor beach party and twice we've had to go indoors. But that doesn't mean the rain can put a damper on your fun. Let me show you what we did for our suppose to be outdoor pool parties that turned into fun indoor ones.

Decorate with colorful nylon lanterns, set out swimming pool floats in the corner of the room, and use sand buckets and sand shovels to serve the food.

Purchase a vinyl flannel back outdoor tablecloth in the color scheme you have selected. Use outdoor umbrella tablecloths, plastic plates and glasses and set the table as if it was outside.

Other indoor beach party ideas include hanging colorful nylon lanterns from the light fixtures and placing beach themed items in different places, starting at the front door.

Guest love a beach themed pool party whether it's for kids, teens, or adults. 

Go from Beach Pool Party Ideas to Pool Party Themes

Go from Beach Pool Party Ideas to Pool Fun Home Page