Little Mermaid Party Games and Activities

Swim party
If the birthday girl loves the Little Mermaid, taking her and the guests to a swimming pool, wave pool or waterpark will give them the opportunity to pretend they’re mermaids for the afternoon. You can keep things simple and just let them play freely at the pool, or you can organize a few games, such as “mermaid races,” where the girls must hop from one end of the pool to the other while keeping their legs together tightly, or “diving for treasure,” where they must swim underwater to grab small plastic or rubber toys scattered at the bottom of the pool.

Aquarium trip
Another activity that fits the ocean theme is a visit to an aquarium, where the girls can see real creatures of the sea. Again, you can keep it simple and just let them enjoy the experience, or you can organize little games for them to play while they’re there. Offer a small prize, such as a candy bar, stickers or other dollar-store item to the first girl to find a purple fish, or a red starfish, or a fish with yellow stripes, or a jellyfish, etc. If there is a touch-pool, award a prize to the first girl brave enough to touch something scary.

Home activities
There are lots of great ocean-themed activities you can coordinate at home.

Fish Toss
One simple idea for a game is to pick up inexpensive beanie fish and play games of “fish toss.” Cut a large (two foot diameter) circle out of cardboard or posterboard and lay it on the floor five or six feet in front of the girls. Tell them that the fish need to be thrown into safe waters where the sharks can’t get them, and that the safety zone is within the circle. Give each girl a few tries to throw a fish into the circle, and award a prize to the girl who gets the most fish in the circle. (You can recycle the fish as part of the girls’ favor bags, or hand them out as prizes for this and later games.)

Deep-Sea Treasure Hunt
You can also organize a “deep-sea treasure hunt,” where the girls are tasked with finding treasure hidden around the room. Before the party, hide handfuls of chocolate gold coins around the room—under cushions, in drawers, etc. To make it feel more like an underwater hunt, you can replace one of the light bulbs in the room with a blue bulb and turn off the other lights. Make it a rule that the girls have to make a swimming motion with their hands when they move or, to make it even harder, make it a rule that they must hop everywhere on their “mermaid tails.” Each girl can keep as many coins as she finds (you can add them to the favor bags). Keep a few coins aside in case there are girls who don’t manage to find any.

Mermaid Relays
You can finish off with a few “mermaid relays,” which are relay races where the girls have to keep their legs together and hop. Take lengths of green crepe paper and wind them around each girl’s legs to make a “mermaid tail.” Then divide them into two competing teams, and award prizes to the team that finishes the relay race first.

Sandy Candy Station
For quieter craft activities, set up a “sandy candy” station where the kids can design their own tubes of colored sandy candy. Sandy candy kits are available in some craft stores, or on Amazon and the kids simply use different colored ‘sand’ (candy) to create a colorful tube of art candy. This makes the perfect activity to add to their party favors!