Art Birthday Party

Inside this post I'm sharing the epic art birthday party I hosted for my daughter! We did fun art themed activities and ate a little artist inspired treat.

Planning an art birthday party? This is for you!

My kids LOVE art, especially painting! For my daughter's 7th birthday she and I planned an at home birthday party for her and her friends that was ART themed! It was incredible!

How do you get started planning an art birthday party for kids?

Pick a location (backyard, park, your house, etc) and the date. We opted for indoors at my house.
Decide on the guest list .
Send out invitations (email or hard copy).
Select a few art themed activities that are age appropriate.
Make a list of everything you'll need for the activities and start collecting (we love using local Buy Nothing Groups to find stuff before we go and buy anything)
Prep all of the activities a few days ahead of time so you're ready for the big day!
Set up and host the art themed birthday party! Don't forget to take photos.

What activities do you do at an art themed party?

When I plan a birthday party for my kids I always like to make sure that they're involved in the planning and idea generation. For our art party, Catie and I chose art themed activities that she loves and that weren't too complicated. As a busy mom, I wanted to make sure the birthday party was fun and stress free for all of us (including me!).

For this art themed birthday party we decided to do a gathering activity as everyone arrived, two art activities, an artist themed game, and then we made a painting themed treat!

Here are the art themed activities we like to do:

Jewelry making gathering activity
Painting on canvas
Splat painting
Artist themed BINGO
Decorate your own cupcake
Grab an Art Party favor

Awesome Art Birthday Party Activities

Here are the 6 simple activities we included at our art themed birthday party!

Jewelry Making Activity

When you host a birthday party, some kids come right on time and others are late! We like to always have a gathering activity at the beginning of a party that we do while we wait for all of the guests.

Jewelry making is an easy gathering activity at the start of a party because the little guests can sit around and string beads onto thread while they chat with their friends.

Jewelry Making Supplies

Here are two of the items we had on hand as the party guests make neckaces and bracelets at the beginning of the party.

Letter beads
Stretchy String

Painting on a Canvas

After all the kids arrived at the party, they each went to a spot at the table that had paint, canvas, and some other art supplies. We hung art inspiration on the walls showing things kids could create and they got started painting!

Each child was given the following supplies:

paintbrush
paper plate paint palette with paint on it
water dish
canvas

We included painters tape in case the kids wanted to try some tape resist painting too. The creations each turned out unique and beautiful! Scroll down to see a few of them.

Painting on a Canvas Art Supplies

Colorful kid-sized aprons
White Canvas boards (Rectangle sized 8x10 and Square sized 8x8)
Mini wood easels
Washable non-toxic paint
Paintbrushes
Paper plates (cut to look like paint palettes)
Water dishes

Splat Painting

After the kids painted on their canvases, we divided the group in half and some went outside to do Splat painting while the others played Artist BINGO.

Splat painting is a really fun action art technique.

See the instructions and supplies needed for Splat Painting HERE.

Artist BINGO

While half of the party guests did Splat painting, the other half played Artist BINGO. Bingo is one of my favorite games to play at a birthday party because its easy to set up, uses very few materials, and is simple to explain! It's also fun to play!

My husband was the BINGO caller while I supervised the Splat painters.

Artist BINGO Supplies

Artist BINGO Board
Small tiles or candies to cover the board

Decorate your own Cupcake

It wouldn't be a birthday party with cake! Instead of making a big cake, we gave each child their own cupcake art palette with sprinkles and other toppings so that they could decorate their own cupcakes!

I made cheap homemade cupcakes and bought frosting to pipe on top.

The party guests had fun decorating their cupcakes, singing Happy Birthday to my daughter, and then eating them!

Build your own cupcake supplies

Frosted Cupcake
Acrylic Paint Palette Trays (one per guest)
Variety of sprinkles and candies

Get an Art Party Favor

At the end of the party, we sent kids home with a simple watercolor set and a bag of rainbow skittles tied together with a ribbon to go along with the party theme! Having a party favor at the end of a party isn't necessary, but can be fun!

The kids also took their canvas art creations home! I kept the palettes, water cups, paintbrushes, and other supplies/tools to reuse for future parties.

More Art Birthday Party Ideas

Here are a few other art themed activities that would be fun to try at an art birthday party:

Do you have any other favorite art party activities you've done with kids before? We'd love to hear about them! Tell us in the comments.

More Birthday Party themes

Don't want to have an art party? Check out these other fun party themes:

Do you have any questions about this art party? Ask us!