Sports-themed parties are a fun theme to have when the little ones have their first or second birthday. I have created designs for four different sports: Soccer, American Football, Baseball, and Basketball. These are some of my most popular designs on both Etsy and Zazzle. There are so many options for games, decor, and fun for sports-themed parties no matter which type you want to do, and this blog post is written to help you with your planning.
INVITATIONS
The invitations are designed with a ball replacing the "O" in words one and two; you will not be able to edit this because it's a graphic. All of the sports-themed designs are available on Etsy as DIY printable invitations and in my Zazzle shop, where you can get it printed. The fonts vary slightly with the different party shops due to what fonts are available to me with Zazzle and Corjl online.
For all of the printables, you can try the editing program before you purchase the design. This feature allows you to see how the design will look with your information and content without having to pay for anything first. I created a short video for you to see how the demo works.
I designed the baseball theme with a vintage look on a baseball background. You can try the demo of this design to see how it works with the following links: Baseball First Birthday Invitations or Baseball Second Birthday Invitations.
For the basketball invitation, the background has a basketball texture in the far background and a basketball court on top of it. There is a light gunge-styled texture overlay on the background as well. Don't forget to check out the demos of the designs: Basketball First Birthday Invitations or Basketball Second Birthday Invitations.
American football! Another fun sports-themed party! I created these first and second birthday invitations in a similar way that I designed the basketball designs. First, there is a football texture in the far background; on top of a football texture is a football field and a lightly textured overly. You can try the editing service before purchasing the designs by viewing the demo invitations for designs; please click on the following links: Football First Birthday Invitations and Football Second Birthday Invitations.
Last but not least, I created the most popular sport in the world (I had to save the best for last) SOCCER! If you're a soccer fan, these invitations are perfect for your little one's first or second birthday. I designed these soccer invitations with a soccer ball texture background with a soccer field over the top of the ball. Check out the demo for these invitations through the following links: Soccer First Birthday Invitations and Soccer Second Birthday Invitations.
Here are the direct links to all of the printable invitations that I have available at Metro-Events on Etsy:
Printable Baseball Birthday Invitations
Printable Basketball Birthday Invitations
Printable American Football Birthday Invitations
Printable Soccer Birthday Invitations
If you would like to have these invitations printed and shipped, they can be customized and purchased through my Zazzle shop. Follow these links to the invitations that you need for your party:
Printed Baseball Birthday Invitations
Printed Basketball Birthday Invitations
Printed American Football Birthday Invitations
Printed Soccer Birthday Invitations
PRINTABLE PARTY DECOR AND STATIONERY
All of these sports-themed designs can be found in both of my party shops. First, I am going to provide the DIY options that you can find at Metro-events on Etsy.
For each sport, I have created the following party printables: Favor Tags, Party Posters, Food Labels with Signs, Thank You Cards, and RSVP Cards. I have made the items easy to find by creating SKU codes that can be input into the search bar on my main shop page. When you enter the codes, all of the coordinating items will appear on the shop page. Here is a short video to show you how that works:
How to find coordinating party supplies through Metro-Events on Etsy
Go to my main shop page: Metro-Events
Use the search tool on the main shop page; it's located above the items menu
Enter the SKU code from the list below
Here are the SKU codes for each sports-themed party:
Baseball: ME-BirthBaseball20
Basketball: ME-Birthbasketball20
Football: ME-Birthfootball20
Soccer: ME-BirthSoccer20
PRINTED PARTY SUPPLIES AND STATIONERY
Zazzle has some options that I can't offer on my Etsy shop. I have created paper plates, napkins, napkin wraps, favor tags, gift tags, banners, balloons, and backdrops for photo booths.
You can easily find all of these items using the collections I have created with each sports theme, so you can easily find what you need.
Baseball Birthday Collections
Basketball Birthday Collections
American Football Birthday Collections
Soccer Birthday Collections
PARTY GAMES
Games are a must for every party with sports. There are many fun and creative games you can play. You can play just about any game but revise the game to coordinate with whatever theme you are having. I did a little bit of searching for you to help eliminate your search. Since these parties are for first and second birthdays, these games are for older kids and adults to play.
Limbo - Limbo has always been a popular game to play, and you can decorate the area to look like a goal post or make it look like a soccer/football field! I found a limbo game on Oriental Trading Company that is easy to put together and affordable!
Hot Potato - Hot Potato has been around forever! It's a fun and easy game to play for kids and adults for just about any age. To play:
Have your guests sit in a circle and have something to play music ready.
Have one person designated to play the music; this person will be in charge of starting and stopping the music (It's best to have this person turned away from the group).
Use a ball that coordinates with your sports theme (Soccer, Football, Baseball, Basketball). Your guests will pass the ball around as fast as possible and whoever has the ball when the music stops is out.
Continue to do this until there one player left in the game; that player wins.
I found some balls for each sports theme that you can play; they are perfect; they are mini and soft, so no players get hurt while tossing the ball around.
Treasure or Scavenger Hunt - You can use the same balls from the above game; the links I referenced are for stress balls that come in packs of 6, so you can hide six balls, or you can get a couple of packages to have more balls to hide. Hide the balls at your party, then send your guests out to find them. Whoever finds the most balls wins a price.
Basket Toss - This is another game where you can reuse the balls mentioned above. Each guest gets several balls to throw into a basket, you can find a basket, bucket, or box in your house, or if you want to purchase one, this one is a good one to use: Basket, game basket.
Have your guests throw the balls towards the basket; if they are older, have the basket further away from them to make it an even game or separate the guests by ages.
Take note of how many balls each player makes into the basket. If there is a tie for the number of balls that made it in, have a throw-off to break the tie.
The person that makes the most balls in the basket wins.
Egg and spoon game - Once again, you can actually use the balls I have already referenced! I like to reuse things. It cuts the party's costs, and since there are balls in sports, they always match! To play, have your guests place the ball onto a spoon that you provide them with and race across to the finish line without dropping their ball. If someone's ball falls, that guest must start the race over again. The first guest to reach the finish line without dropping their ball wins.
FOOD
Planning for party food can be a challenge, but when it comes to sports, no matter what type of sport theme you use, some staples can be used for your party. I will do something a little different for the menu planning here and provide options for typical sports-themed foods and healthy choices.
SPORTS-THEMED PARTY FOOD
Hot dogs
Hamburgers
Buns for the hot dogs and hamburgers
Nachos with cheese and salsa
Pepper Bellies some places refer to these as Frito pies depending on where you live.
Chips
Don't forget the condiments for the dogs and burgers: Ketchup, mustard, pickles, tomato, cheese, lettuce, mayo, relish
Jalapeno poppers wrapped in bacon
Buffalo wings
Pizza
HEALTHY PARTY FOOD OPTIONS
Veggie tray
Air fried carrots
Air fried Buffalo Cauliflower Tots
Veggie Burgers
Turkey Burgers
Hummus and pita bread
Trail Mix
Salad bar
Lettuce
Tomato
Cheese
Olives
Salad Dressing choices: Italian, Ranch, Vinaigrette
Spinach
Cabbage
Hard-boiled egg
Red pepper
You can incorporate your decor with your food tables. I have created some excellent sports-themed signs and tags for you to spruce up your tables of food. The following signs and tags are printables available on my Metro-events party shop.
People enjoy customizing their foods just as much as you like customizing your parties, so it's fun to have stations for the food items you choose to service: Nacho station, Hot dog station, Hamburger station, or Salad station. You can customize your signs to signify which station your guest uses and put food labels in front of each item offered for that particular station. If you choose to serve nachos, you can create your Nacho Station sign and food labels for all the toppings you will have: jalapenos, olives, cheese, chips, guacamole, sour cream, and meat.
Now you have the invitations, party supplies, games, and food ideas for your sports-themed party! I hope that this helps you create a winning party that all of your guests enjoy, especially the birthday boy or girl you are celebrating.
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