5th Birthday Party Ideas

High five! Celebrate another amazing year with our great 5th birthday party ideas!

Basketball Party
This basketball party is sure to be a 3-pointer! Have the guests wear their favorite basketball jersey or t-shirt. Use construction paper cutouts to cover the treat table with a basketball court and hang a basket overhead. Buy orange basketball balloons and place basketballs on the table. Set up a hot dog station and serve snacks like “basketball” cheese puffs and oranges with basketball seams drawn on in frosting. Get a tiered cake with a basketball net on top and complement it with basketball cake pops. Set up a basketball camp outside and test everyone’s skills at shooting and dribbling. If you have a hometown team, see if a player will come teach the kids some tricks! For favors, give everyone a bottle of Gatorade and a referee whistle.

Spa Party
Is your little girl not so little anymore? Throw her an ahhhh-some spa party! Set up a spa at home with nail polish, face mask, and hair styling stations. Let everyone pick their favorite colors and styles. Set up a photo booth at the end so everyone can get a photo of their new look! Or, let the pros handle it and book a group appointment at a nail salon (kids under 12 typically get manicures at a reduced price). Need some more in-spa-ration? Create a dessert table with calm-colored treats like a pastel birthday cake and pink smoothies! Sip on cucumber water and let the day melt away. Send your perfectly pampered guests off with a bottle of nail polish, a sleep mask, or some body lotion.

Superhero Party
What 5-year-old doesn’t love a superhero? Whether it’s Batman or Iron Man, unleash the powers of this superhero party. Have everyone dress up as their favorite superhero, or even their favorite super villain! Set the mood with a famous cityscape cutout like Gotham or Metropolis. Get everyone off their feet with a game of pin the mask on the hero, or if the weather is nice, have a superhero competition outside. See who can jump, run, or throw things the farthest! Remember that superheroes need fuel— offer up kryptonite cupcakes or Green Goblin goodies. Everyone is sure to say Bam! Zap! and KaWOW!

Puppy Party
Everyone will howl for this pup paw-ty! Draw a nose and whiskers on each guest as they arrive and hand out dog ear headbands. Set doghouses alongside the dessert table and transform the cake into a pup with ears on top and frosting whiskers on the front. Serve pigs in a blanket alongside “kibbles” cereal and bone-shaped rice crispy treats. Post “no cats allowed!” signs and swap paper streamers for dog leashes. Set up an “adoption center” corner with enough stuffed dogs for everyone to adopt and name. Let everyone create a collar for their new pup and let them take them home after the party. Play a game of cat, cat, dog— think duck, duck, goose, but furrier! If you’re the adventurous type, see if your local animal shelter does birthday parties. Many shelters offer parties on site and you can even play with the animals! Just make sure you get the okay from parents first.

Pizza Chef Party
Is the birthday kiddo a master helper in the kitchen? Cook up some fun with a Pizza Chef Party! It’s easy to decorate— use your kitchen utensils as table accents and lay out a red checkered table cloth. Set up a place for each guest marked by their own paper chef hat! Have pizza crusts and toppings in the middle of the table and let everyone come up with their own creation. While the pizzas bake, have everyone decorate their own apron (check out craft stores to find child-sized versions) to take home. Felt markers and felt glue-on shapes will really snazz up these take-home treasures. Get a cake shaped like a big pizza or a chef hat. For a fun dessert treat, serve edible (egg-free) cookie dough and cake pops with chocolate drizzle to look like whisks. Bon apetit!

Petting Zoo Party
What do kids love more than being party animals? Playing with animals! Rise to the occasion and take the party to the petting zoo! Make sure your brood is a manageable size, and make sure to ask your local petting zoo for a group discount. Before you go, ask the birthday boy or girl which animals they want to see the most. Set up a map to make sure you hit the most important spots! If the petting zoo has party space, bring an animal cake or cupcakes decorated like lambs, llamas, or rabbits! Create a treat table with a fun “Don’t Feed the Animals” sign and label the snacks as “sheep treats” or “pony food.” Bring some face paint along and help everyone transform into their favorite animal! Or go really wild and bring the petting zoo to your home. Fence in the backyard and hire a local petting zoo to bring some of their animals to your own space. Don’t forget the pony rides!

Rainbow Party
Even on a rainy day this Rainbow Party will brighten up anyone’s birthday! Create a colorful table with a rainbow fruit tray and rainbow veggie pinwheel wraps. Use a bright tablecloth and hang a giant rainbow behind the table. Use blue balloons as rain drops and set the food plates out on clouds made of cotton ball. Dress cupcakes in rainbow frosting, or, top them with fruity pebbles for a crunchy and colorful treat. Freeze different colored Kool Aids in ice cube trays and put them in light-colored soda or seltzer for a vibrant spritzer! Set up a tie dye station and give every guest a t-shirt. Let everyone come up with their own crazy design! While the shirts dry, play a game of Twister or send everyone on a color scavenger hunt— find something in every color from the rainbow! Give everyone a pot of gold filled with candy to take home.

Bee Hive Five Party
This bee-day party will be all the buzz! Hang black and yellow balloons or paper lanterns around a dessert table with a yellow tablecloth. Decorate with vintage-looking jars of honey and watering cans full of fresh flowers. Get a beehive-shaped cake and make bee-shaped cake pops that are placed in a green grass frosting tray. If cupcakes are more your style, bake chocolate cupcakes and ice them with yellow frosting. Draw black frosting stripes across the top and add candy eyes and wings. Serve sweet nectar lemonade with striped straws and give everyone black and yellow-striped party hats! See how many queen bees everyone can get into the hive with a game of cornhole- paint a hive onto the board and get yellow and black bean bags to toss. For favors, paint white bottles of bubbles with black and yellow stripes and add eyes to the cap to make them “bubble” bees!

5-0 Policeman Party
Does the birthday boy want to grow up to be a policeman? Throw him a dispatch bash! Make sure the guest of honor has a police chief hat to wear. Set up a dessert table with a blue tablecloth and decorate it with police cars. Hang a “police station” banner behind the table and get blue and yellow star balloons. Serve blue velvet cupcakes with blue frosting and fondant badges on top. Set up platters of burglar burgers, cop corn, and mini doughnuts. Set up a station where everyone can create their very own police badge— then send them to the academy! Play a game of red light, green light, and create a horseshoe game where you use plastic handcuffs in place of horseshoes. Test their detective skills with a backyard scavenger hunt. If your local police station does tours, take the group there to see real life cops get to work! Have everyone take home a pair of plastic handcuffs from the horseshoe game as a favor.

Hollywood Movie Party
Lights, camera, action! Roll out the red carpet for your 5-year-old star. When your guests arrive, have everyone create their own Hollywood star with star cutouts and finger paint. As they dry, take turns in the photo booth, where you’ll have a box of pearls, boas, hats, and all kinds of red carpet attire. Create a dessert table with a film roll cake, movie ticket cookies, and movie theater candy. Have the guest of honor pick his or her favorite movie to watch, and set everyone up with a bag of popcorn to accompany their sweet treats. This party would for sure be an academy nominee!