Here is a complete guide to throwing an amazing Fish Birthday Party! These fun ideas include a party menu, original decorations, an adorable homemade fish cake, party activities and party favors. This party has a sweet, happy feel to it. The fish theme was used for Jack’s 1st birthday party called: He’s a Keeper! which could easily be She’s a Keeper! if you have a daughter, because this party works equally well for boys and girls. I was inspired by his cute onesie (pictured above) that has the same phrase and an adorable fish. Although it is a first birthday party, it could work well for up to 6 years old.

I followed my usual pattern of making the food fun and thematic and letting party favors do double-duty as decorations. That limits the waste. Boy, it was sure nice not to buy any dishes, utensils or napkins for this party. Our small investment into a permanent supply has already paid for itself.

Here are some of the highlights:

Fish Party Menu

Adorable food always makes a party festive. Make it delicious too, and you’ve got a great party on your hand. The Fish Party Menu served as a feast for the eyes and the taste buds. A bonus was that it was pretty healthy too!

• Salamander Sammies: Open-faced fish sandwiches made with herbed cream cheese and decorated with cucumber, carrot and radish fish scales. A green pimento olive slice served as a wonderful fish eye.
• Seashell Salad: Mango, avocado and shrimp pasta salad made with shell-shaped pasta
• Delish Fish Poles: Bread sticks tied with a licorice rope and gummy worm bait. So fun!
• Veggies on a Fish Platter: Every party should have fresh veggies for crunchy munching.
• Watermelon Whale: We carved a watermelon into a whale shape and used celery for the blowhole. We filled the watermelon with melon balls.
• Goldfish in a Fish Bowl: Super fun way to serve a kid favorite. Include a ladle to avoid germs.
• Swedish fish in Blue Jello: Fill individual cups with blue jello. Let it set. Once firm, add a Swedish fish and fill with more jello. Important Tip: Be sure to make these just before serving because they lose their color quickly.
• Ocean Breeze Punch: pineapple juice, coconut milk, lemon-lime soda or sparkling water, a drop of green food coloring (piña colada)

Salamander Sammies

Seashell Salad

Delish Fish Poles

Ocean Breeze Punch

Watermelon Whale

Goldfish Bowl

Swedish Fish in Jello

Fish Party Cake

This cake is so easy to make and is perfect for a mom who want to make a homemade cake, but doesn’t have cake decorating skills. This cake is not my original idea. I borrowed it from a friend who borrowed it from a magazine. Now, it’s yours to make.

• Bake 2 9-inch round cakes in any flavor you want. I always serve carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for 1st birthdays.
• Frost and layer the cakes with turquoise frosting.
• Crush graham crackers into a very fine texture to serve as a sand island in the middle of the cake.
• Tear lime green licorice into threads. Use it for seaweed along the outside of the cake. Take a few strips and place them in cookie straws for palm trees. Push palm trees into cake.
• Use starbursts and shredded wheat to make Tiki huts. Use frosting as glue.
• Pipe bathing suits onto teddy bears. Use gummy candies for floaties. Use Fruit Stripe gum for surf boards and towels. Be creative placing the teddy bears around the cake.
• Scatter speckled Jelly Bellies and Nerds around the bottom of the cake for aquarium pebbles.

Fish Party Decorations

This is a fun party theme! Use whatever fish toys or fishing poles you already have. The possibilities are endless! I kept ours sweet and simple.

• A big roll of turquoise craft paper served as a table cloth. I decorated it with my kids using Under the Sea foam stickers.
• Scatter seashells EVERYWHERE!
• Fish beach balls were a whimsical alternative to balloons. They pulled double-duty as party favors.

Party Favors

Children used a fishing rod to Fish for Favors! My husband hid behind our deck railing which was covered in turquoise paper waves. Children cast a fishing rod and he secretly secured a prize to the line. (Sorry, no pictures.)

• Fish Beach Balls
• Small bag of Swedish fish or bait (gummy worms)

Party Activities

We kept this party pretty simple. The birthday boy spent most of his time eating. Like I said, the food was yummy. Our guests were young that it made sense to not overwhelm them with too much. Here’s what we did:

• Baby Ball Crawl: We bought 4 bags containing 100 balls each at Walmart and put them in the pack and play. (Pictured at the top of the post.)
• Kiddie Pool
• Outdoor Toys
• Sandbox
• Fishing for Favors (see Party Favors)
• Craft Table: paper, ocean foam stickers, markers, crayons and glitter.
• Jack’s a Keeper! Video: I played a video montage I made of Jack’s 1st year of life. Because of musical copyright laws, I can’t share it here. It takes some effort to create, but it’s a wonderful keepsake. I consider it the modern equivalent of a photo album.

Big brother enjoys his cake and ice-cream.

Ha! The money shot! Jack LOVED his birthday cake. It was his first bite of sugar since I didn’t give him any sweets until he turned one. Boy did he love it! I have an 8 minute video of him eating every single bite. He sure is a keeper!