Our Watermelon Party 4th Birthday

Our little one celebrates her birthday just after Christmas in the heat of summer, so when we suggested a watermelon party, she couldn't have been happier. Her favourite fruit! It was a fun party at a local park with all her preschool friends and some family friends too. Read on for all the details of her 4th birthday watermelon party!

Party: 4th Birthday Watermelon Party
Organised by: Mum (Me! Steph Bond-Hutkin) with help from Dad
Location: Epping Oval Playground, Sydney, NSW
Theme: Watermelons!

Invitation: I made invitations using the free printable watermelon card from Canberra-based stationery designers Minq and + Mode (below)

Cake: Watermelon cake! I made one round lemon and coconut cake, cut it in half and layered it with buttercream icing. I then iced the outside with red-tinted, green-tinted and plain buttercream frosting and used chocolate chips for pips. (I recommend using natural food colouring).

Party food: The centrepiece for the party was a whole watermelon, carved by Dad into a fun spiky hedgehog/echidna creature (find tutorial here).

We also served a fruit platter, big bowl of chips and of course watermelon punch. I made cute watermelon cupcakes - red buttercream icing topped with choc chips and green icing topped with hand-painted marshmallow watermelons (but they melted in the heat!).

Decorations: The watermelon carving! I also hung red and mint green honeycomb balls from the trees and the picnic shelter, and strung printable watermelon bunting from Minie Eco.

Birthday Girl Wears: Scalloped Little Horn skirt, sequin heart top (a gift from Nanna), green-stripe Oobi vest and hat.

Games/activities: The kids played on the play equipment in the park. We also had a craft table set up for them to make their own watermelon crowns. I pre-cut the bands and watermelon shapes, and the kids decorated them with sticky black gems for pips. We stapled them to fit so they could wear them straight away.

Something special: I made mini watermelon decorations using felt for each child to take home, instead of a goodie bag.

Tips: On a hot day, take extra drinks for kids and adults, and keep all food in the shade (I mistakenly left the cupcakes on the table in the sun while setting up - they all melted!). Consider water play activities to keep kids cool.

I loved making the watermelon decorations for the kids to take home as party favours, but be prepared for little ones to ask where the goodie bags are. Next time I might make them some cookies to take home as well!

The best tip - ask friends to take photos with your camera. Huge thanks to Amanda from Easy Peasy Organic and friends John and Renay for taking such lovely photos. I only managed to snap a few on my iPhone!

For more real kids' parties, head to the Kids' Parties page!

Images: Amanda (Easy Peasy Organic) | Steph Bond-Hutkin (Bondville) | Minq + Mode