Birthday at the Beach?

Driving an hour is a bit long, but... If you only invited a few close friends and had people carpool I think it is a good idea. You could buy the same CD (a kids beach songs CD) for each car and pack a fun (not messy) snack and drink for the kids. You could also give each driver $20 for gas. If you only inivted 6-8 friends you would only need to take two or three cars plus your own. Have everyone meet at your house so you can pass out goodies and leave from there. You could also have each child sit on their beach towels to eliminate spilling in someones car. I think it would be fun if it were well organized.

I wouldn't mind driving an hour if a close friend of my daughters was having a special party, I also wouldn't mind driving a few kids and another parent.

Don't forget to go potty before you head out!

We've done LOTS of beach parties :) A couple of suggestions - since your daughter is going to be 5, I assume that the guests are around that age as well. Make sure that each guest comes with a parent/guardian that can watch them swim so everybody is safe. Kids get very hungry and thirsty when they swim so have lots of snacks and tons of water or lemonade available. I haven't had good luck with blowing out candles at beach parties because it always seems like it is too windy for the candles to stay lit! Bring a small first aid kit, someone always gets an owie and stock up on sunscreen because someone always forgets theirs. Laundry baskets work great for keeping things organized at the party because they are easy to clean when you get them home and they are full of sand :) If the beach has shelters, call and see if you can reserve one - if not, have someone get there extra early to save the best spot (hopefully one with at least one picnic table). Finally, assign "jobs" to the parents if you can. You will be spending most of your time putzing around the birthday area and having dedicated parents to count heads, do bathroom runs, etc can be a lifesaver.

Good luck!

i think it's a neat idea...now i am rethinking the pool party i was planning at my fathers house for my soon to be 5 year old. i definatley have friends that don't "love" the beach. so that is always an issue. but i really think it's a great idea. my friend had her daughter's birthday party at a local playground that had pic nic tables and one thing that worked really good was she cut up watermelon and put it on skewers with grapes. very inexpensive and easy for each kid to take one skewer. no forks! and instead of packing bottled waters and soda, get one of those big jugs with the spout at the bottom(used for team sports) and fill that. that way at the end your not cleaning up tons of bottles and cans. good luck!

It would depend on who you are inviting.... if my daughter's friend invited her to a birthday party that I had to drive an hour to I would not have her attend.

What about having a pool party for friends and then just you and family go to the beach?

M.

As long as each child has a responsible parent along, I'd say do it! Make the party favor a bucket with a shovel. Bring lots of sand toys for them to play with. Make easy food and do cupcakes instead of a cake...
Make sure you have watermelon - it's always better at the beach!
YMMV
LBC