Mermaids are mythical creatures that had a human upper body and the tail of a fish. Also called sirens in some of the stories, mermaids were reputed to have mystical and prophetic powers. They were partial to music and often sang, sometimes luring unsuspecting sailors to their deaths.
Many stories tell of mermaids marrying men since they could take on a completely human form. In some instances, the man had stolen a mermaid’s personal item, like a comb or mirror, and hidden it. She remained with her human husband until that item was found. After that, she returned to the sea.
Mermaids are featured in many cultures, including those found in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Near East. They are sometimes associated with disasters such as storms, flooding, drownings, and shipwrecks. The male counterpart is called a merman, and the community that includes both genders can be referred to as merpeople or merfolk.
These days, one of the most famous mermaids is Disney’s Ariel from the movie The Little Mermaid. Her character was based on a story of the same name written by Hans Christian Anderson, however, the happily ever after ending is decidedly missing in the original fairy tale.
Types of Mermaid Parties
There are lots of reasons to have a mermaid themed party. Today we are going to fill your creative cups to the brim with all the mermaid party ideas we have for you. You don’t need a reason, but in case you feel as if you do, consider hosting one of the following nautical shin-digs!
Mermaid Birthday Party
Girls of every age love mermaids, making birthdays the perfect occasion throw a mermaid party. Little and big girls can dress up in mermaid costumes, as elaborate or as simple as they like and dive right in. Be sure to make time to snap a few “shelfies” for posterity.
Mermaid Pool Party
Those hot summer days are just begging for a mermaid pool party. Throw in inflatable sea creatures to add to the ocean ambiance. Play ocean sounds background music. Wear a swim tail or flippers and enjoy the fresh and cool water as a lovely mermaid. Don’t get tangled up in the nets!
Mermaid Pajama Party
Pull out those Ariel jammies and snuggle in a mermaid tail throw for a mermaid movie marathon with your merfolk. Watch The Little Mermaid, Splash with Tom Hanks, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides starring Johnny Depp, and Aquaman with hunky Jason Momoa. Feast on fish sticks and goldfish crackers as you dream of the one that got away.
Mermaid Graduation Party
Celebrate your little mermaid getting her fins with a sea-filled graduation party. Because mermaids like to sing so much, set up the karaoke machine and let those sirens loose. Mermen are welcome as are sailors, pirates, and regular ol’ blokes. Make it a costume party. Come as a mermaid or a historical character that has seen a mermaid, like Christopher Colombus, Blackbeard, and Henry Hudson.
Mermaid Bridal Shower
Mermaids aren’t only for little girls. Just like Ariel, sometimes a mermaid will trade her tail for a veil, and a mermaid-themed bridal shower is a perfect way to celebrate. Everything from the invitations to the party favors will be whimsically delightful using the under the sea motif. Add a few glasses of The Little Mermaid Cocktail or mocktail, and the bride-to-be won’t be the only one drinking like a fish.
Mermaid Wedding Event
Throw a party to remember with a mermaid wedding! Commemorate the day that a mermaid chooses to marry her human with nautical decor. You’ll look lovely in a mermaid style lace-overlay dress. Your bridesmaid mermaid tribe will also be stunning in sequined gowns. Show off your pearls as you say, “I do.”
Mermaid Baby Shower
If a little mermaid is on her way, then why not acknowledge it with a proper mermaid baby shower? You could even plan a mermaid or fisherman gender reveal party. Etsy has all sorts of pregnant mermaid invitations you can choose from. Sequined diaper covers, little mermaid bibs, adorable fishy onesies, mermaid loveys, and mermaid sleep sacks make perfect gifts for the mer-mommy-to-be.
Mermaid Costume Party
Instead of Halloween, you can host a mermaid costume party this year. Crown the best dressed with Poseidon’s crown and trident. Go beyond the typical Ariel costume and pick a favorite water deity such as Amemasu, the monster in the lakes or Chalchiuhtlicue, the goddess of water. The Lady of the Lake is sure to make an appearance along with Hatepuna, the daughter of the sea.
Mermaid Divorce Party
There’s lots of fish in the sea! What better way to prove that adage than by throwing a mermaid-themed divorce party? You might even want to hire a merman or two to shake things up. Don’t forget to wear your shell bras and fishnet stockings to this party!
Mermaid Retirement Party
Old mermaids don’t die. They just head out to the sea. Mark this momentous event in your life with a mermaid retirement party. Invite your coworkers over for a pool-side splash. Lend them some fins if they forgot to bring their own.
Mermaiding Your Party or Event
Whatever your cause for celebration, it’s a great time to be a mermaid. For the full mermaid effect, include items that are decorative, edible, fun, and under the sea themed in your party planning. Let’s take a look at some quick and easy mermaid party ideas to make your sea party a big tail-thumping splash!
Mermaid Decor
Decorating with a mermaid theme in mind isn’t too tricky. Shimmery blue, purple, and green go a long way in making everything seem under the sea. Cut out half circles from glossy paper and overlap them on the walls for fish scales. Blue streamers mimic ocean waves, while green ones are flowing strands of seaweed.
Nets can hold back balloons or stuffed sea creatures. Glue shells along the length of the meshing for an added sea vibe as you sprinkle glitter and luminescent party confetti on tables around the food, games, and gifts. Use long thin nets as table runners by adding some tea lights and shells.
Paper lanterns are inexpensive and can be used to create fun party decorations. Attach streamers to the bottom for an instant jellyfish. Make paper lantern fish with just a few added eye and fin cutouts.
Ice sculptures and sand, seashells and candles centerpieces add a little nautical class to the celebration. Tea candles set in a shell or nestled in a fishbowl of colored sand are lovely lighting choices. An evening event sparkles with fairy lights caught in nets along the walls.
Even the banners can be mermaid themed. What about a sign to the pool that says “Mermaids this way”? Or how about a “Let’s shellebrate” poster on the wall? Weddings and bridal showers could be announced with “Trading my tail for a veil.” Graduation and other milestone events banners could say, “I did swimmingly.” That divorce party sign “Lots of fish in the sea” says it all.
Mermaid Music
The party theme isn’t complete without some mermaid vocalization. Think beyond Disney’s The Little Mermaid soundtrack and include some magical Celtic mermaid songs. Spotify has mermaid playlists ready for your swimming pleasure. YouTube has mermaid channels. Add some ocean sounds and create a truly unforgettable, nautical event.
Mermaid Food and Drink
What’s a mermaid party without some delicious underwater treats? Gummy sharks, saltwater taffy, and Swedish fish are just the tip of the ocean iceberg. Driftwood pretzel sticks, jelly bean fish eggs, and bowls of goldfish or oyster crackers make delicious finger food.
Sugar, water, and food coloring will make coral reef rock candy. Heat water to a boil. Add sugar to the boiling water, continually stirring until it dissolves. Once the mixture reaches a rolling boil, remove it from the stove and add food coloring and flavoring if you like. Put the now colored mixture into a glass jar. Then soak some bamboo sticks in water briefly and cover the ends with sugar. After that, insert the sugar-coated sticks into the now cooled mixture. Allow them to set about a week for the sugar crystals to grow.
Starfish sugar cookies are easy to make using a star-shaped cookie cutter. Sand dollar cookies are just sugar cookies with almonds strategically placed like a star in the center. You can buy or create shell chocolate candy. Vanilla wafer clam or oyster pearl cookies are fast and cute!
Mermaid cupcake toppers are easy to make or find online. If you use candied orange slices, you can make an adorable and edible Sebastian crab cupcake topper. Adding a little blue food coloring to your yellow cake or cupcakes makes them a dessert fit for the deep blue sea creatures.
Seashell macaroni and cheese can be served with octopus hot dogs. To make octopus hot dogs, simply cut a hot dog in half and divide the bottom half into legs before cooking. Another tasty delight is crustacean croissants. Add some googly eyes to a ham and cheese croissant, and snack time has arrived.
Use a star-shaped cookie cutter to make peanut butter and jellyfish sandwiches or star fruit. Dolphin bananas are fun decorative food. Slice the top of the banana to resemble a mouth. Add dots for eyes. Insert a single grape for a dolphin ball. Carrot sticks are crab legs. Pickles are sea cucumbers.
Lifesavers candy or donuts can be life-saving additions to your nautical table spread. More mature taste buds might like shrimp, sushi, or fish dishes as dinner options. Fish and chips, crab cakes, shrimp cocktails, or even caviar make for an upscale, adult mermaid feast.
Drinks can also be blued up. Berry Blue Hawaiian punch makes an excellent seawater beverage for the kids. Lemonade can also be turned blue. Blue lemonade popsicles with gummy sharks and Swedish fish are just the treat for mermaids on those hot summer days. Freeze some gummy fish in ice cubes and let them bob around your mermaids’ drinks.
For something more adult, mixed drinks made with Blue Curacao will do the trick. Serve your over 21 guests a Lotus Flower or Dolphin martini, a Blue Cosmopolitan, or a Blue Hawaiian and watch them unfurl their fins.
Mermaid Crafts
Whether you are hosting a merfish gender-reveal party or your daughter’s fifth birthday party, having a craft table is a fun aspect to include. So when it’s time to get those mermaid hands busy, the arts and crafts table can be under the sea fun too! The difficulty level and choice of activity should reflect the age and aptitude of your guests.
Have the girls string their very own “pearl” necklace or bracelet. Use tissue paper to decorate a mermaid, fish, or seahorse cutout. Make some shell art. String shells to make a wind chime. Add googly eyes to make shellfish. Drill a hole in a shell, add glitter and string, and you’ll have an instant mermaid necklace. Dip them in paint and make print art.
Hand or footprints will provide the outline for starfish. Paper plates can be turned into fish or crabs, while paper bowls become sea turtles. A paper tube reimagined is an octopus. Shiny cupcake holders make excellent scales for mermaids or fish. Popsicle sticks, leaves, craft beads, and yarn magically transform into mermaids.
Starfish can be made into an enchanted mermaid wand. Seashells on headbands, bobby pins or barrettes are fun and easy crafts as well. If your mermaids are a bit older, you can make mermaid slime or fishbowl terrarium with colored stones, sand, and plants.
A regular water bottle can be changed into a mystical mermaid ocean in a jiffy. Fill the container with two-thirds water and one-third oil. Add blue food coloring and sea creature cutouts. Close tightly and watch the ocean waves.
Mermaid Games
Mermaids are fun-loving sea creatures and love to play. So you must include some fishy games in your party planning. Again, the game choices will depend on the age of your guests. There is also the option to have pool games if your mermaids will be swimming.
Mermaid Games on Dry Land
You can put a mermaid tailspin on the party games! Start the fun off with some mermaid face painting and luminescent nail polish manicure or pedicure to get into character. Once prettied up, dive right into with these mermaid party ideas for games.
Pin the tail on the donkey can quickly become pin the tail on the mermaid. How many fish in the sea is a guessing game. Collect a jar of Swedish fish and the child who guesses the correct number wins. Mermaid bingo cards are easy to print up and can be used for both children and adults, depending on the images chosen.
Crab walk relay has your little mermaids racing as crabs to the finish line. Mermaid limbo needs nothing more than a streamer decorated stick to see how low can they go. The musical sea shells game has shell cutouts on the chairs as mermaids “swim” to the music. The last mermaid on a shell wins. Mermaid tail races require nothing more than burlap sacks dyed green with fin cutouts. You can also have the mermaids tie their legs together with a ribbon and hop to it.
Save the sea creatures is a game every little would-be mermaid will love. For this activity, you’ll need a large blue tarp, sheet or tablecloth, and plenty of inflatable or stuffed sea creatures. A fisherman has captured the sea creatures, and it’s the mermaid’s job to save them. All the mermaids hold on to the blue tarp and wave it up and down.
Now, call out the name of one of the mermaid participants. She must run under the tarp, pick up a sea creature, and toss it back into the waves. The remaining mermaids must try to keep the sea creature from bouncing off. Repeat until all the ocean critters have been returned to the waves.
An ordinary scavenger hunt can take on mermaid proportions. Hide the clues in shells. Send the mermaids out to search for the treasure. Younger mermaids could have a sandbox treasure hunt. Hide coins and necklaces in a sandbox and let them dig.
Freeze tag can be altered so that one child is the shark or sea monster, while the others are mermaids. If you like, you can even have the “shark” wear a fin headband and watch the mermaids scatter. “Simon says” is quickly changed to, “Mermaid says.” Follow the mermaid has all of your little mermaids copying the lead mermaid as she mermaids around.
Mermaids love pinatas! Give each mermaid a sand bucket. Clobber a fish pinata until it opens. When toys, candy, and treasures fall from the pinata, the mermaids can collect their loot with their sand buckets.
Mermaid Islands only requires a few hula hoops. Position the circles on the groups as the “islands.” Have some children sit in the hoops. The other children swim around until the music stops. Then the mermaids in the islands can reach out. If they can touch another mermaid, that mermaid joins them on the island. The music starts again until all the mermaids have been landed.
Mermaid Pool Games
Everyone knows that mermaids love the water, so why not make your mermaid party a pool party? While some mermaids might have their own swim tails, others can use flippers to practice their mermaid water antics. Add sea creature inflatable toys for more an ocean feel.
Instead of playing Marco Polo, have your little mermaids call out “seaweed” and respond with “coral.” Mermaids can race each other to the opposite end of the pool. Have mermaids dive to the bottom of the sea to recover pirate coins.
Paint some cardboard rings like life preservers for a sea-themed ring toss. Make a shark cutout and feed it with “fish” bean bags. Toss gold coins into the treasure chest.
Mermaid Party Favors
Each of the little mermaids will want to take home something to remember the party. The little mermaids themselves can make some of these mermaid party favor ideas, or you can buy or make them ahead of time.
Shell bobby pins and headbands are beautiful take-home items. Baby food jars with candy pearls and Swedish fish are sweet. Any age mermaid would love a pearl or shell necklace, bracelet, or earrings.
Sandcastle buckets with trinkets or goldfish crackers will bring a smile to any mermaid’s face. Mermaid tail change purses are easy enough to find in an online craft store. The older mermaids would much appreciate seafoam bubble bath, bath bombs, seaweed wraps, and bath salts to scrub away all the scaly skin. Pearly nail polish, sand, and shell jar decorations or candles are also lovely gifts.
Final Thoughts — Express your Thanks with Mermaid Gifts
If you are invited to a mermaid party, be sure to bring the queen or princess mermaid a suitable token of your gratitude for having been invited. Mermaid dolls and figurines come in those appropriate for the smallest swimmers to those for the grand-mere.
Jewelry is another great option. Pearls, luminescent stones, and shell charms are perfect accessories to give while earrings, bracelets, and necklaces with little pewter mermaid figures are magical keepsakes. Store them in a mermaid treasure chest or jewelry box for safekeeping.
Engraved or personalized wine mermaid wine glasses are classy choices for the fully-grown mermaid. Sequin pillows will complement any mermaid’s living room or bedroom decor. A sherpa mermaid tail blanket will keep your favorite mermaid toasty warm even on the days when the northern waters are freezing.
Mermaid coffee mugs or teacups are both decorative and practical gifts. A mermaid photo album will keep those mermaid wedding or baby shower pictures protected from the elements. Mermaid wind chimes tinkle with the sounds of the sea.
Younger mermaids might like a coloring book while babies can be swaddled in the softest sea-themed blankets. The entrepreneur mermaid would love a mermaid embossed business cardholder. While iPhone covers, totes, and candles work for teenage merfolk.
