Great Birthday Themes For All Ages That You Must Experience


Great Birthday Themes For All Ages

*This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

When people think of parties with birthday themes, they often think of children: princesses, pirates, science parties, animals — and enough sugar to make a dentist wince. But themed parties aren’t just for kids. In fact, theme parties for adults are huge right now. You can go subtle or wild. Make it a cozy potluck or go all out with a fully catered extravaganza. Hire a decorator or do it yourself. Or better yet, have decoration-making an activity your guests can take part in as well.

If you’re looking for great birthday themes for a grown-up party, you’ll be spoiled for choice. How about a glitzy Hollywood-themed bash? Or a mysterious masquerade? The only limit is your imagination — oh yeah, and your budget.

Great Birthday Themes for Adults

You’re all grown up now, but you can still throw a rad birthday bash. What’s your pleasure?

Hollywood theme

party themes: Hollywood black and white movie film clips on a red background
Image: CC0 by 27707, via Pixabay

Swimming pools and movie stars — everyone dreams of making it big in Hollywood. Why not let Hollywood inspire your special day?

Decorations

Hollywood birthday themes are all about glitz and glamor. That means bright colors and shiny decor.

Start by inviting your guests with Hollywood or movie-style invitations. Try something like backstage passes or invitations featuring candy or popcorn. Roll out the red carpet and take pictures as your guests arrive. Inside the event, you can set up a backdrop like those set up at A-list premiers. Have everyone take their pictures in front of it.

Activities

No Hollywood party is complete without fun Hollywood activities like celebrity trivia, charades, or guessing games. You can also play Celebrity 20 Questions or even have guests dress up as their favorite star for a fashion show.

Masquerade

party themes: a woman in a masquerade mask
Image: CC0 by madeinitaly, via Pixabay

Masquerade birthday themes are versatile and fun. Make it spooky, romantic, mysterious, or…?

Decorations

When it comes to decorating a masquerade party, the bigger, the better. And it’s all about the masks. Buy them online or make your own. The key is bright and flashy colors. Use glitter, ribbons, and sheer fabrics for extra effects. Dresses and suits or full-on costumes? It’s your choice.

Activities

There are many fun activities that you can do at a masquerade ball. Have an elegant dance contest or set up a scavenger hunt with a fun reward for the winner. You might also have a silent auction. At the end of the event, give out party favors like feathered headbands, glitter candles, and personalized masks.

Casino party

party themes: a roulette wheel
Image: CC0 by Greg Montani, via Pixabay

Bring the casino into your home for a fun, not-so-high-stakes party. Go Vegas style or carnival-style — it’s completely up to you.

Decorations

Casino birthday themes are fully customizable. You can pick your favorite games and set them up at home. Fan out a deck of cards at every table. Mock up a roulette wheel or poker table. Serve snacks on silver trays and use champagne glasses to complete the look.

Activities

That’s easy! Your guests will have a blast at the blackjack table, the roulette wheel, or a friendly poker tournament. You can even rent a slot machine. Gamble with chips that your guests can turn in for prizes at the end.

Sports party

party themes: a football player holding a football
Image: CC0 by wikiImages, via Pixabay

Of all the birthday themes, sports may be one of the most popular for all age groups. And sports fans and those who love them can all have a great time.

Decorations

Decorating is easy. Pennants, banners, and more are all available from your local party store. Drape your house in team colors. You can even get cardboard cutouts of your favorite stars, or have guests dress up as players.

Activities

If you’re hosting your event at home, try party-friendly variations of your favorite sports. Try Nerf-ball soccer, mini-basketball, or driveway bowling. Or take the party to an actual game. Invite guests to dress as their favorite athletes and have a contest.

Fun Birthday Themes for Youngsters

While adults enjoy fun birthday themes, our kids go bonkers for them. Whether they’re teenagers, preteens, or babies, a good themed party can create memories that you’ll treasure forever. Here are some great birthday themes for each age group.

Themes For Teens

Once the kids get into their teen years, they may get a little more serious, but few can resist these great birthday themes.

Karaoke

birthday themes: a woman singing karaoke
Image: CC0 by BEP, via Pixabay

Karaoke is one of the best birthday themes for teens because it creates a lot of fun without going too overboard. This is also the ideal theme for those who love to sing their hearts out.

How to decorate

A karaoke theme focuses on music, so you’ll want to add plenty of flashy decorations. Cut musical notes out of construction paper or buy some at a party store and hang them up. A temporary disco ball in the middle of the room is always fun. Finish it off with music inspired streamers and colored banners.

Activities

Sing karaoke, of course! Many party stores rent karaoke machines. You can also play games like guessing the song from a few notes or have a limbo contest.

‘Stranger Things’ party

birthday themes: the words Stranger Things in red font on a black background
Image: CC SA 4.0, by Lowtrucks, via Wikimedia Commons

The Netflix drama “Stranger Things” is one of the most popular shows on television. It has everything — government conspiracies, psychic powers, and, most of all, teenaged heroes. It also makes for one of the most colorful, edge-of-your-seat party themes.

Decorations

First, have guests dress up as their favorite character. Haven’t seen the show? No problem. Just wear your favorite ’80s-inspired outfit. Then, hang up creative banners with popular phrases from the show like “RIP Barb” or put up Will Byers Missing Posters.

Activities

You can make up all sorts of activities based on the show. How about having an Eggo-eating contest based on Eleven’s favorite food? You can even have a “Stranger Things” treasure hunt. Then have a costume contest. Finish the night off by collecting a bunch of your favorite quotes from the show while the group guesses who said what.

Throw a pool party

birthday themes: balloons floating in a swimming pool
Image: CC0 by Tama 66, via Pixabay

If there is one thing that teenagers enjoy, it is hanging around the pool. And if you’ve got one, then your house is already a party waiting to happen.

Decorations

Consult your teen about decorations. For younger teens, there are a plethora of options. Some of the more colorful decorations include beach ball garland, beach blanket inspired napkins, or get a complete pool party decorating kit.

You can even decorate the pool itself by throwing in balloons or quirky inflatables like palm trees or flamingos.

Activities

When the teens aren’t splashing, jumping, and horsing around in the pool, they can try some of these other activities. How about Marco Polo, having chicken fights on each other’s shoulders, or having a funny hair competition? Those who feel brave can have a cannonball or belly flop contest.

Themes for preteens

Some of the most exciting birthday themes are for kids between the ages of 5 and 12. These kids know how to party, and the following themes will kick up any birthday bash to the next level.

Rockstar party

birthday themes: a rock band onstage with purple lights
Image: CC0 by Pexels, via Pixabay

The older kids will get a kick out of rockstar birthday themes. These aren’t hard rock inspired themes, but instead lighter events where inflatable guitars are the stars.

Decorations

A kids’ rockstar party comes down to musical symbols and colorful backgrounds. Throw out some rock-inspired plates and silverware. Hang up some fun posters and throw in those aforementioned inflatable guitars. You can even have a personalized banner for the birthday boy or girl.

Don’t forget the rockstar party favors, like guitar pick necklaces, temporary tattoos, and inflatable microphones.

Activities

Rockstar birthday themes bring with them a ton of fun party activities. Start off by having an air guitar contest. While you are at it, gather the other attendees and start a whole air band. Another fun activity involves sitting in a circle and passing around a notecard. Each person writes a word down before passing it on. Once it goes around, everyone sings your brand new song lyrics. Dancing contests and trivia games are also fun rockstar party activities.

Arts and crafts theme

birthday themes: an arts and crafts table with paints and brushes
Image: CC0 by rawpixel, via Pixabay

If there is one thing that younger kids love to do, it is arts and crafts. Art-based birthday themes can be memorable for all involved.

Decorations

Arts and crafts birthday themes mean color and imagination. Make sure there are plenty of markers and paint sets available on each table for spontaneous creativity. Go to the party store, buy balloons, add glitter and stickers, and hang them around the room. You can also make handmade paper banners to announce the birthday of the guest of honor.

Activities

There is no limit to the number of activities at an arts and crafts party. Start with finger painting. Then move on to making scrapbooks, tie-dye shirts, jewelry, masks, and so much more. You can even pass out blank party hats that each child can color and decorate to take home as a party favor.

Themes for babies and toddlers

There is nothing more adorable than watching babies and toddlers celebrating the first birthdays of their lives. These novel birthday themes bring the events to maximum cuteness.

Pink princess theme

birthday themes: a baby in a tutu and tiara
Image: CC0 by Tarynkphotography, via Pixabay

What little girl can resist a pretty pink princess party? Replace the batteries in your camera, because these parties are memory makers.

Decorations

The answer to this question is simple — make it pink, pink, pink!

Set the tables with pink floral arrangements, add pink plates and napkins, put out pink cupcakes, and add lots of jars of pink jelly beans. Encourage the kids to wear their finest pink dresses and switch out the party hats for elegant tiaras. You can top off the party by decorating the walls with pictures of pink Barbies and princesses.

Activities

Start off the festivities by unleashing the crayons and colored pencils and coloring in pictures of famous princesses or coloring in pre-cut stencils. Other fun princess games include creating Disney-inspired DIY party bags, having a Disney princess treasure hunt, or play a rousing game of musical thrones instead of musical chairs.

Candyland theme

birthday themes: the candyland board game
Image: CC BY 2.0. by John Morgan, via Flickr

If your kids love candy and adventure, then Candyland birthday themes are a slam dunk.

How to decorate

Candyland has always been a popular board game, so there are plenty of game-inspired decorations from which to choose. Have the kids walk through the Candyland arch or have them take glamor shots in front of a Candyland standee. Of course, no candy theme would be complete without a fun pinata!

Activities

After the kids have popped open the pinata, they can create their own candy necklaces or even create and play a life-sized Candyland game. After that, engage in a licorice-eating contest, have races while holding a gumball in a spoon, or get a chocolate fondue machine. No matter what you do, if you send the kids home with lots of chocolate, then everyone’s a winner.

Sesame Street party

birthday themes: three life-sized Sesame Street characters
Image: CC 2.0, by Walter Lim, via Wikimedia Commons

When you’re looking at birthday themes for little kids, you can’t go wrong with one centered around Sesame Street. It is a party theme that will be both entertaining and educational.

Decorations

Decorating for Sesame Street birthday themes is a snap when you have so many memorable characters to choose from. There are a ton of Big Bird balloons, Elmo party hats, and Cookie Monster plates to go around. For food, create or buy Cookie Monster cookies or zany rice crispy treats. Don’t forget the steamers and honeycomb decorations.

Activities

Start off by having a face painting booth where guests get painted as their favorite Sesame Street character. Then, play pin-the-tail-on-the-muppet. This fun game involves having a parent act as Big Bird while moving around the house via walking, skipping, crawling, and dancing. The kids have to follow behind, mimicking the motions.

Birthday Themes Limited Only to Your Imagination

These are some of our favorite birthday themes. However, these options are just the start. When it comes to how to celebrate your special day, the possibilities are only limited to your creativity. When coming up with your own theme, think about your interests. If you like space, then do an astronaut theme. Like Darth Vader? Then have a Star Wars theme. Your imagination is the only limit.

Which of these birthday themes is your favorite? Have you had a different theme that you really enjoyed? Share your stories in the comments.

Featured Image; CC0 by vilandrra, via Pixabay

Recent Posts