Planning a child’s birthday party can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be when you start with a broad theme like emojis. There are so many emojis to choose from when planning your party. As these parties grow in popularity, so does the availability of decor!
There are so many options with emoji parties that it might seem overwhelming at first. We know it can be hard to decide where to start, so we’ll go in-depth on some epic emoji party ideas to get your imagination flowing. If you utilize one of these fun plans, you’ll be sure to have a hit on your hands.
Emoji Dessert Buffet
Let’s be honest; the cake is everyone’s favorite part of a birthday party. You can make the cake even more exciting by making it just one part of a dessert buffet dedicated to your emoji theme.
Check out this fun emoji ice cream cake to take center stage on your table. That’s just the start of a fun dessert table, though. You can also add poop emoji cupcakes that you do yourself with chocolate frosting, a piping bag, and some googly eyes.
If you want to get even more exciting, then you can check out these fun emoji cookies to add to your table as well. You can create most of these desserts yourself, which is a significant bonus when you’re trying to keep your party budget low.
If you’re looking for a classy touch to your emoji party, then you might want to consider emoji macarons. Macarons are a super popular treat all over the world, and they have a class to them that other desserts can’t match. If you’d like to make them yourself, yellow food coloring is a natural addition to a classic vanilla dough; then, simply decorate with colored food pens.
When you’re thinking about decor for your table, you’ll want to consider how to add a fun aesthetic without overdoing it on the emojis everywhere. We’d suggest following the lead of these party planners by utilizing bright yellow plastic plates to create a simple but vibrant backdrop.
Emoji Party Decor
If you’re looking to push your emoji party ideas to the next level, you can easily do so with great decorations. You can go overboard with paper products and backdrops without much thought, but having a lot of emoji themed decorations can create a fun atmosphere. These days being extra is completely acceptable, so why not go all out?
Paper Lantern Emojis
We suggest starting with these eclectic paper lantern emojis. You can make them without a lot of fuss, but they add a pop of fun decor that your guests will love. If you’re not feeling crafty, or if you need to save some time, you can always buy premade emoji lanterns like these.
To make the lanterns, you can start with some bright yellow paper lanterns and some thin foam or felt art paper. Use the paper to cut out all sorts of fun shapes like eyes, tongues, and teardrops, and then attach them to your lanterns. You can draw your shapes freehand or look at your local craft store or online for stencils to use in your designs.
Once you’ve attached your various faces to your lanterns, you’ll hang the lanterns with a fishing line or the string provided. You can place them in a cluster over a dance floor, individually throughout your space, or in several strategically placed groups throughout the room (i.e., over the dessert table and as a photo booth backdrop.
DIY Emoji Balloons
If you’re all about the inexpensive emoji party ideas, DIY emoji balloons are a good option. You can buy bright yellow bulk balloons cheaply at party supply stores, online, or even at many big-box grocery and dollar stores. The only other items you’ll need to create your balloon masterpieces are permanent markers, which are also easy to come by at a variety of locations.
You’ll want to blow up your balloons before designing them to make sure the faces don’t turn out awkwardly shaped. Use helium if you’d like your balloons to float or blow them up by hand if you’d like to spread them around the floor for a fun foam-party feel. You can even buy a helium tank to use rather than waiting in the store for a service professional’s help.
You can utilize your balloons in the same way you would’ve used your emoji lanterns, but with the low price of balloons, you might be able to pull off some amazing designs that wouldn’t have been possible with lanterns. For instance, you could build an emoji balloon arch or fly your helium-filled balloons at increasing heights to create an emoji balloon wall backdrop for photos.
Balloons give you a nice variety of options to create a fun aesthetic at your event. It’s a bonus that they are inexpensive and quite easy to develop. You can even get the kiddos involved if you’d like.
Giant Emoji Faces
Another idea for wall and ceiling decor is giant emoji faces. You can easily create giant faces using old cardboard boxes and acrylic paint. You can even create poop emojis with this method, so you aren’t stuck with only the basic faces like in the last couple of options we’ve shared.
One nice thing about the giant faces is that you can use them as wall decor or hang them from the ceiling like the lanterns and balloons, but you can also use them as a walkway by placing them on the ground leading to your party entrance or out to a patio space.
Extra Touches
You probably don’t want your whole party to be covered in nothing but LOL and smiley faces, so you’ll want to consider added touches you can use to create a more subtle atmosphere. Consider using blue or black poms or streamers to hang your emoji lanterns, balloons, or faces on a table or from the ceiling as a nice accent.
You can utilize coordinating paper fans in colors like yellow, black, red, and blue to add a classy aesthetic behind your emoji dessert table or intermixed with your paper plate emoji faces on the photobooth backdrop.
Emoji Party Games
If you’re looking to bring some order to the chaos that can be a kid’s party, then you may want to consider some organized party games. There are easy ways to bring your theme into several fun party games that kids and adults will all enjoy.
Emoji Twister
We’ve probably all played Twister at some point, and if you haven’t, you’ve likely at least heard of it. You can very easily turn Twister into a themed game by purchasing a couple of regular boards, or one ultimate board, and decorating them in an emoji theme. To give your game some pop, you can decorate just the yellow spaces, or you can go all out with emojis on every circle.
Sometimes you’re not up for the task of a do-it-yourself project. If that’s the case, then you can purchase an emoji twister game like this one, or you can get some free printables and create your own game more efficiently by using a sheet as the base like this.
Emoji Pinatas
Pinatas are almost always a hit with kids and adults alike, so it’s no wonder emoji pinatas are a trend for parties lately. You can easily create your pinata using the old fashioned paper mache method or a cardboard box, or you can buy one from a local store.
These fun mini pinatas from Oriental Trading Company are fun as well to keep more than one party-goer busy at a time. Mini pinatas are perfect for small candy at a kid’s party, but they are also a nice size for some plastic single-shot bottles for an adults-only event.
Emoji Photo Booth
We’ve mentioned how to decorate a photo booth backdrop a time or two, but we haven’t discussed how to set up the actual area. You can do a photo booth in a couple of ways; 1) you can use a nice camera on a tripod and an actual photographer or remote, or 2) you can have a selfie photo station where you put out an Instax or Polaroid camera for guests to use.
You can also set up a selfie station where guests can take photos on their own devices but have a sign telling them the event’s personalized hashtag so that you can locate all of the pictures after the fact. Make your hashtag sign fit your theme by creating an emoji border or by drawing on some emojis. You can even download a sign to use like this one.
If you don’t want to use an emoji themed backdrop, you can easily use a black tablecloth or another simple background and have emoji themed props for guests to use in their pictures. You can make these props easily using paper plates or foam cutouts like on the lanterns and decor we’ve already discussed, or you can download premade designs from Etsy or other sites.
Emoji Tic-Tac-Toe
Pair guests up and play a rousing round of emoji tic-tac-toe. It’ll be especially fun for kids to get to know one another and bring out their competitiveness, but adults might enjoy the simplicity of the game as well. You can download a premade version here or make your own with ease.
Creating emoji tic-tac-toe is easy. You can make a giant version or two by using the side of a cardboard box or small versions on typical pieces of construction paper. Then you can find free printouts of emojis online or draw out your favorites and make some copies. You can have different emoji pairs for each board or use the same ones over and over again. It’s all up to you.
Pin the Thumbs Up on the Emoji Board
Youngsters will love this updated version of pin the tail on the donkey. You can play it with adults too, which means it’s great for a party with a variety of age groups. It’s already made for you so you won’t have a lot of work to do, and it’s inexpensive. Keeping your party on a budget is a must, so less expensive games like this one are a great idea.
Emoji Party Favors
No party is complete without party favors for attendees to take home. Emojis are easy to use to create amazing party favors that your guests will keep talking about for weeks or months after the party is over. You can even use some of the desserts we’ve already talked about as favors. If you want something more, though, we’ve got some of our favorite ideas in more detail below.
Slime Jar Emoji Faces
Honestly, kids love slime! It’s a hit with toddlers to pre-teens, so why not make it fit your emoji party theme? It’s a simple product to make. All you’ll need for your slime creation is a borax powder, white craft glue, water, and yellow food coloring for the slime itself. Then you’ll also need some small jars and some of your emoji face printables from earlier.
You’ll make your slime according to this easy-to-follow recipe. Once you’re done making the slime, you’ll separate it into your jars and apply your faces to the outsides of the jars or jar lids. You can even add party details somewhere on the jar if you want a more personal touch.
Emoji Gift Boxes
Give any small favor an emoji theme by utilizing emoji gift boxes as your packing material. You can give out candy that coordinates with your theme colors, small soaps, whistles or other simple toys, and much more by packing them into a small themed gift box. We love the simplicity of this idea because you don’t have to worry about your gift matching the theme.
Emoji Candy Buffet
Kids and adults alike love a good buffet, and a few candy buffet makes a great DIY party favor. Supply your guests with some emoji cellophane treat bags that they can fill up with their desired indulgences when your party is wrapping up, and then let the fun begin!
You can stock your candy buffet by using all sizes and styles of glass bowls like this. Utilize candies that coordinate with the colors you’ve used elsewhere in your party like blues, blacks, reds, and yellows.
Some of the easiest candies to find in single colors are coated chocolates, but you can also use Hershey kisses with pre-colored wrappers, gumballs, lollipops, rock candy, and more. If you want to add some not-so-sweet treats, consider mints, nuts, or mini water bottles as a fun and unexpected addition to your buffet.
Food for Your Emoji Party
One of the most important aspects of any party is the food. The food you provide can make or break both the mood of your party and your theme. You might think it would be difficult to find emoji themed foods, but it’s easier than it looks with just a little creativity and only minor cooking skills.
Appetizers with an Emoji Twist
You’ll need some appetizers or hors d’oeuvres no matter what time of day you’re hosting your event, and we’ve got some great options for you to try out that will fit your emoji theme perfectly. Obviously, you don’t need every food item to match your theme, but having a few critical items on your appetizer table will set the mood early.
Sparkling Heart Strawberries
To make strawberries into sparkling emoji hearts, you’ll want to start with a whole, uncut strawberries, and some pink candy melts. Once you melt your candy, either in the microwave or over a double boiler on the stovetop, you will dip the strawberries. You’ll want to dip at a 45-degree angle to get the heart shape to show up well.
Once your strawberries are dipped, and the heart shape is easy to spot, you can add your sparkles. For the sparkle, you’ll want to cut the sparkle shapes out of fondant or yellow sugar paper using a utility knife. You can easily stick them onto the wet candy coating on your strawberries to create just the right look for your emoji-themed treats.
Smiley Face Potato Pucks
If you don’t want to have to do any work besides turning on your oven, then you may want to consider a simple smiley face potato puck snack for an easy-to-make and crowd-pleasing appetizer. These appetizers are readily available in the freezer section of most grocery stores. All you need is to follow the instructions on the bag, and you’re ready to feed the masses.
Main Course Emoji Meals
We love brunch parties, and brunch menus open up plenty of options for emoji themed foods. We’ll include a couple of different options for main courses with an emoji theme, including a brunch option and an option for lunch to help you stick to your theme no matter what time you choose to host your event.
Emoji Pancakes
You’ll only need three ingredients to create an absolute hit of a brunch dish. Large, red heart sprinkles, a black food marker, and frozen mini pancakes will set you up for an adorable spread of heart eye emoji pancakes to delight all ages. Add some whipped cream and assorted syrups to your table, and you’ll have an Instagram worthy party going in no time.
Meh Face Pizza Bagels
Probably one of the easiest and cheesiest emoji dinner options we’ve found is pizza bagels with meh faces on them. The meh face is the emoji with the plain open eyes and straight mouth. It’s simple to cut into pepperoni or sausage slices with a sharp utility knife, and then you can easily apply the precut slices to your pizza bagels.
The only ingredients you’ll need for this recipe other than the meat slices are mini-bagels, cheese or cheese substitute, and pizza sauce. It’s a simple, crowd-pleasing recipe that is easy to manage when you’ve got a million other things on your plate.
Emoji Birthday Cake Desserts
We talked about desserts earlier, but we can’t help but bring up another awesome emoji dessert idea: recreating the classic emoji birthday cake. Making mini cakes that look just like the birthday cake emoji is easier than it looks and will be a hit at your party for sure.
To make these cakes, you’ll need a box of cake mix, a pan, and a circular cookie cutter. You’ll also need a tub of white frosting, white birthday candles, and some red-coated candies or raspberries, depending on your personal preference.
You’ll first make the cake in a large sheet pan so that it bakes thin, but with optimal space for cutting out circles. Once the cake is baked and cooled, you can begin to cut out circles with the cookie cutter. Leave as little leftover cake as possible so you can make the maximum number of mini cakes.
Stack your circles on individual dessert plates with a thin layer of frosting in the middle. Once your cake is as tall as you’d like, we recommend at least three layers high, and then you can frost the outside in white frosting. Once your cakes are frosted, place the candies or raspberries around the top edge with room between, and then add three candles in the center of the cake.
Final Thoughts
Keeping your emoji theme alive through decor, food, games, and favors is easy with a little bit of creativity and a whole lot of crafting. We love that the emoji theme can be as simple and subtle or exaggerated and vibrant as you’d like.
Make sure you take into account some areas where you can use simple, coordinating colors to tone down the emojis and ensure that your party isn’t overwhelmingly yellow. Remember, not all emojis are faces, and adding in some others like the poop emoji and birthday cake will show your guests that your emoji party game is strong.
