Are you planning a winter birthday party but don’t know where to start? It’s easy to plan near New Year’s Day, but it gets much harder in January and beyond. I have a lot of great winter birthday party ideas that are perfect for him or her.
If you have time to put these themes together, the birthday person will be sure to love them.
Winter Birthday Party Ideas to Celebrate in Style
Below are all of the options you need to turn a basic idea into one that is remembered for a lifetime.
Themes
One of the easiest ways to get winter birthday party ideas is to choose a theme. If you have a theme, it’s so much easier to go from a simple idea to a birthday party that you’ll never forget.
Winter Wonderland
Transform your space (or wherever you’re holding the party) into a winter wonderland. You’ll need to adapt this idea, whether the birthday is before or after the holiday season. Gaining inspiration from the Pin above, you have a lot of great options:
- Christmas trees: Multiple, lighted Christmas trees are a good way to bring the winter wonderland feel to life. You can opt for real trees, or you can find fake ones to use. I like these small trees, sold in pairs, because they are a decoration I can repurpose and are just under 2 feet tall.
- Garland or flowers on the table: Place garland or flowers down the middle of the table. A universal option is this eucalyptus flower garland, which looks great at any time of the year.
- Candles: LED candles lining the table are also nice. I wouldn’t recommend traditional, flame candles unless you want to risk a fiery birthday.
- Hanging snow clouds: Hanging snow clouds are an amazing addition to this theme and are so much fun to look at online. You can make your own, but these ones on Amazon are just too nice not to mention.
- Fairy lights: Adding fairy lights to the theme seems like a nice touch and is one of the recurring themes this year.
Winter Woodland Party
Woodland parties are another easy option that fits the winter theme so well. While we don’t have as much to go off as in the last theme, it’s easy to visualize with:
- Wooden accents (plates, bowls, etc.)
- Pine cone decor items (garland looks great)
- Wood slices
If you want, you can even bake a cake with woodland features, like trees on the side, as part of the overall decor.
Related: How to Plan a Birthday Party – Tips, Ideas & Planning Checklist
Snowflake
Snowflakes make every birthday feel magical. You can hang snowflakes from the wall, like these ones, and then surround them with fairy lights to make them stand out. Add in some additional touches to make it really feel like winter, such as:
- Consider having a snowman cake
- Have a fireplace? Bring out the s’mores
- Place fluffy pillows on the couch
Bonfire Party
Ditch the fireplace idea above in lieu of a fun bonfire. If you have the space for it, a party outside is always a good idea. Your party will revolve around a bonfire, so you’ll need to have a few essentials:
- Food and snacks (more on that below)
- A place for people to sit
- Blankets on extra cold days
If you have the right outdoor area for this idea, consider hanging fairy lights from the trees or landscaping to make this space “pop.”
Food & Drinks
Food and drinks are always at the center of winter birthday party ideas because one, your guests will expect food, and two, it’s one of the best times of the year for food.
I’ll share some of my favorite ideas for an amazing food-filled party below, but make these options your own.
Hot Chocolate Bar
Hot chocolate bars are one of my most favorite options for drinks because I find them to be so fun. You can opt for the instant hot chocolate or make your own, but it’s really all about the toppings and goodies.
A few of the go-to toppings are:
- Mini marshmallows
- Whipped cream
- Mints
- Candy canes
Spend time making the space perfect. I recommend using a wooden tray to hold all of the premade hot chocolates.
Winter Themed Cocktails
Cocktails are always a good idea. You have a lot of options to choose from, and instead of giving you a recipe for dozens of different drinks, I’ll share some recipes straight from the source that I think you’ll love.
- Cranberry collins is a fun, red drink that tastes and looks great.
- The Nor’easter Cocktail offers a more intense option with bourbon, maple syrup, ginger beer and lime juice.
- Whiskey Sour almost looks like a snow field in this recipe, so it’s a must-add to any list.
- Cosmopolitans are always crowd pleasers and provide a fun, ruby-colored drink that people are sure to love.
- Mistletoe Margheritas are another tasty option that guests are sure to appreciate.
You’ll find more than enough cocktails to make the birthday party one of the most memorable.
Snowman Truffles
How can you even eat these truffles when they look this cute? But if you can eat them without the guilt, they’re easy to make and no-bake, so you can put them together in just thirty minutes. For this recipe, you’ll need a handful of ingredients:
- Oreo cookies
- Cream cheese
- White chocolate
- Black and orange food gel
- Strawberry laces
For your dairy products, aim for dairy-free options. You’ll make the snowman without any special molds. Instead, you’ll measure 7 grams and 20 grams for the head and body of the snowman, respectively.
You will want to have a food processor and a baking tray for these truffles.
Related: 23 Mouthwatering Finger Food Desserts We Love the Most
Winter Wonderland Snack Board
Snack boards are always fun to plan and put together. You have so many options here. If you have the time, you can bake all of the goodies I’ll be mentioning, but you can also buy most of them premade.
So, what are you adding to the snack board?
- Chocolate-covered pretzels
- Sugar cookies (snowflakes or stars)
- Mini cinnamon buns
- Finger sandwiches
- Powdered donuts
- Popcorn cups
Add any of the sweet treats that you like to this list and serve.
Snowman Caprese Snowman Skewers
Caprese skewers that offer a winter feel? Yes, it’s possible with the help of this fun recipe. It’s meant for “Christmas,” but no one will mind. You’ll need skewers that you then add the ingredients in the following order:
- Mozzarella cheese
- Tomato
- Mozzarella cheese
- Basil
- Tomato
For reference, your tomato will be on top.
Add little carrot pieces for the nose and black olive pieces for the face. Drizzle in balsamic vinegar. You’ll sprinkle salt and pepper on top to complete the taste.
While the author recommends 12 black olives, you only need a handful to make the eyes and nose.
Related: 20 Delicious Finger Food Appetizers for Your Next Party
Soup Bar
Soup bars are a welcome addition when it’s cold outside and you want to warm up your guests. You can choose any of your favorite soups to add that cozy feel to your party, but the following are always good options:
- Tomato basil soup
- Sweet potato soup
- Cheesy broccoli soup
- Zucchini soup
- Winter veggie soup
Activities
You have your food and drinks in order, and now it’s time to sprinkle in some fun winter birthday party ideas. Activities help make the day or night memorable and are always a good time.
Some of the ideas that work exceptionally well at this time of year are:
Board Games
Get everyone off their phone and play some board games. You have a lot of options to choose from:
- Monopoly is always a classic, especially for smaller groups of people
- Scrabble is a great time for adults and can lead to a lot of laughs
- I-spy is an option for any group of 2-4 people
Adults may also appreciate card games, UNO or even Jenga. If you plan on having a lot of people over for the person’s birthday party, you can set up gaming stations so people can pair off and play on their own.
Older video game consoles are also a welcome throwback that guests will appreciate.
Throw the Snowballs
If there’s snow outside, go out and have a good old snowball fight. But if you’re like most people and snow never seems to fall on the day that you had hoped, you can always improvise with a good game of “throw the snowballs.”
You’ll first grab a cardboard box and cut five holes in it to make it large enough to throw snowballs through.
Set your box up against the wall in your home, but be sure that it’s away from anything that may be breakable.
Players will attempt to throw the fake snowballs through the holes. Keep score of each “basket” and the player with the most points after a certain number of rounds wins!
You can be as flexible as you like with this game, such as varying numbers of:
- Tries
- Rounds
- Etc.
Snowglobe Making Station
Finally, one activity that people always love is to make a snow globe together. You supply the materials, and let everyone go wild with their creations.
You can buy entire kits on Amazon that have everything you need to make snowglobes. Just make sure that you have enough kits or materials for everyone you invite to make one each.
So, what did you think about these winter birthday party ideas? You can add or omit any of the ideas I provided, but they’re all good starting points to help make your birthday party one to remember.
