This post is all about hosting a soccer themed birthday!
It’s soccer birthday time!
If your child is anything like my son, they are soccer obsessed! Anyone who knows my now-9-year-old associates him with all things soccer and Lionel Messi (he received an 800 page Messi memoir as a gift!). For that reason, he wanted a soccer themed birthday party this year. I’m sharing all the details in hopes that they are helpful to you in your planning! Let’s gooooooo!
Soccer Themed Birthday Planning
Our first step in the process was deciding where to host the party. My son has had parties out of the home the last few years, so we decided we wanted something more low key and affordable than spending hundreds of dollars on a venue, and then more on food, decor, etc. For this reason, we decided to host at home (and ended up with 10 boys at the house!).
It helps me to understand the thought process / brainstorming that goes into planning — I enjoy when others share their process, so I thought I would offer the same here for you in case you also find it helpful.
Brainstorming for the soccer party:
- I wanted to use a lot of what we have for the decor. I have found that over the years I’ll purchase decor items and then they sit around in hopes that I’ll use them again (Minecraft, farming, Nerf…). This year I took the time to comb through my son’s soccer themed bedroom for decor items the weeks prior to his birthday and stored them all together in one place. This made it really easy for me to access them the weekend of the party. In years prior, especially since I have small children, it often felt easier to buy decorations for every party so I didn’t have to go digging around. This year I challenged myself to think about this differently.
- I eased up on the pressure I put on myself to make the party look a specific way. This is always a challenge for me (maybe you too?), but I’ve gotten exponentially better over the years. I remind myself of several things: this party is for a 9 year old boy and his friends — they could care less what it looks like. They just want to bounce around the house and have a blast together. While I want the party to feel special to my son, my idea of special vs. his idea of special are different.
Now, on to the party itself!
Soccer Birthday Party Ideas
trophies I soccer balls I turf I confetti (purchased & forgot to use)
Initially, this one felt a little tricky as my husband and I were thinking through potential activities for the kids. My son’s birthday is in the wintertime and we also have a very small yard, so we couldn’t have the boys play soccer for most of the party. While we initially planned for the boys to play soccer for part of the party (my son will play soccer in the snow, rain, or sleet — you name it), there was a huge sheet of thick ice over our patio and yard from a previous storm. This particular year my son also had an indoor soccer game the day of his party, so we held a late afternoon event.
Messi tapestry I mini Argentina flags
Here are the activity options we came up with for the party, knowing the kids may get bored with some quicker than others, or that they may not get through them all:
- Outside soccer complete with goals, a glow soccer ball, pinnies, lights, and Daddy as ref.
- Guess the team logo: super easy. The boys separated into teams and guessed the logo via a YouTube clip that my son had found. The clip featured the logo of a team on the screen with a countdown timer and that was that! Winners won a a little package of trading cards, these cute soccer candies, and soccer stickers.
- Guess the flag: We didn’t get to this one, but it would have been fun. We have the The World Game after friends introduced us to it and we had a blast with it. Our plan was to either find a YouTube clip in the same vein as the one above, but with flags from various countries, or just using the flag via cards on The World Game.
- Who knows the birthday boy best: This was super cute and made my son feel very special. We came up with a bunch of reasonable questions about my son and I created a handout via Canva. I had my son answer the questions ahead of time and then his friends answered them at the party once dinner was winding down. It was really cute to hear everyone’s answers and see who truly did know him best. The boys were hilarious with some of their guesses and were all good sports.
- Trading card station: Fun and easy! The cool thing about this one is that you could get really creative if you were up for it. I had saved some large boxes leading up to the party, as I was planning to make a booth with a fun sign. It didn’t end up happening, so I just laid the boxes on the ground like a table, threw this soccer table cloth over it and we were good to go!
- FIFA soccer video games: An easy option that requires no explanation!
- Foosball: We have a small foosball game that we setup on the table after dinner. This worked really well for the kids who didn’t want to play video games, were waiting for a turn, or just wanted to switch things up.
- MLS game: There was a Major League Soccer game on TV during the latter part of the evening. We kept this in mind in case we wanted to switch over to this, especially because the team was one of my son’s favorites. Another option would be to put on a clip of the “Best Soccer Highlights” or something of the sort based on your child’s interests.
- Colored lights and custom playlist: We installed these lights (they were super easy and are changed via an app) after being inspired by them at our friend’s house. We planned to turn them on to rotating colors during the later half of the party and had my son’s custom soccer playlist ready to go to give this the party vibe.
- Tattoos and stickers on the table: simply throw bulk soccer stickers and tattoos on the dinner table for another thing for the kids to do.
Soccer Themed Birthday Invitations
We kicked off the birthday with a soccer themed birthday invitation, of course. Here are a few options if you’re looking to do the same:
While I love (and have in the all previous years) handing out paper invitations, it has become a challenge because my son is not allowed to hand them out in class anymore (unless the entire class is invited). So, this year we just went with a digital version which I texted to parents, which is the norm around here. Is it the same for you?
Soccer Party Favors
Fortunately, this one ended up being very easy. My son is very into trading cards right now (there’s been a boom since COVID apparently), so we bought packs for each child: they each received soccer, football, and Pokemon cards. This worked out nicely because those who didn’t have a ton of cards got to use those to trade during the party. Since one of the soccer themed activities was “trading cards”, this made the favor more dynamic. Plus, the kids love to see what they “pull” in their packs.
We went to a local sports store which sells these trading cards. If you don’t have a local store, you can certainly by them online. My husband also made a trip to a flea market which has Pokémon cards in bulk which are very reasonably priced. We broke those down into packs and handed out the extras to the game winners. This was an affordable way to incorporate Pokémon, which I had initially nixed given that the kids already were giving several other packs as favors! Also, it really came in handy when there ended up being a bunch of winners — I didn’t need to calculate a specific amount of winners per game.
Soccer Birthday Plates & Table Items
These adorable plates are from Meri Meri. If you’re shopping via Amazon, you can click the picture. If you would like to purchase or view the listing directly from Meri Meri, you can click on the brand name.
soccer cups I soccer napkins I soccer candle by age
I decided to add a little more interest to the table by using a green paper plate underneath the soccer plate. Coupled with the seagrass chargers I had on hand, both broke up the soccer ball patterns from the tablecloth and the soccer plate.
Here’s another great soccer plate option from My Mind’s Eye which boasts a bit of a different style with a scalloped edge.
I highly recommend scouring a home goods store for various paper goods and party decorations. I do this in the weeks leading up to a birthday because they typically have great finds which are obviously reasonably priced. It’s also just so nice to hold things in your hand and visualize the item on the table or in the room. That’s how I found the fun “Let’s Go!” pennants — it was superbowl time and I was able to utilize them the party!
Wrapping up our soccer themed birthday party extravaganza…
We made one room really soccer heavy (our dining room) with the items we shared here. I added green balloons and soccer balloons (which we had on hand) because I think balloons really make a party feel like a party — for kids and adults alike! If you incorporate balloons, be sure to add 2-3 outside the door to your home. This gets the birthday child excited, as well as the guests!
Okay, now it’s your turn! Have a wonderful time planning your child’s soccer themed birthday party and be sure to share any other fun or helpful tips and ideas if you’re open to doing so. We’d love to hear from you!
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