June is the time to welcome summer with arms wide open. Sunshine! Sunsets after eight! Whether you host an end-of-school-year party or a girlfriend’s gathering, try a My Secret to Summer Party. It’s part Oprah’s Favorite Things, part Yankee Swap. Ask guests to forgo the hostess gift and instead bring a favorite item for a sensational summer. Here, we offer up a few variations to help you get creative.
FOR THE LITTLES
The kid version of My Secret to Summer Party has a few guardrails, but the core remains the same, everyone gets together and everyone goes home with a gift. Ask attendees to bring a wrapped present and set a price limit. (Challenge their creativity and help them flex their money-management muscles by setting reasonable limits.) For example, each child brings a present for $25 or less that is one of their favorite summer items. You can narrow it down by picking a genre. Throwback themes are a fun way for parents to share a glimpse of their childhoods. Pick a decade like the ’90s (Beanie Babies, Ninja Turtles, Pokémon, Super Soakers, Nerf toys) or 2000s (My Little Pony, Silly Bandz) or Classics (Magic 8 Ball, Play-Doh, Hot Wheels). Online and local toy stores carry many new versions of these classics.
The rules for a children’s swap can be gently adjusted. Every gift is tagged with a number, and each child is given or picks a number out of a bowl. To avoid tears, encourage no opening until the kids get home by waiting until the end of the party to pass out the gifts.
FOR THE TEENS
As kids get older, the actual swap aspect of the party can be introduced. Each gift is set on a table without a number, and each attendee is given a paper number. The teen with Number One goes first. Each subsequent number can select and open a gift or “steal” an already opened gift. Play proceeds through the numbers and ends with the person at Number One given the option for a final steal. Themes for teens can range from general to specific. Consider a rainy-day theme (board games, craft kits), beach books, water sports, etc. The options are limited only by imagination and budget.
FOR THE MOMS
Kids aren’t the only ones who get to celebrate the start of summer. Invite your girlfriends over, serve up a fruity sangria or frozen rosé, hang some bistro lights, polish your Spotify playlist with a compilation of summer songs, and let the season begin.
As for themes, think of your favorites, and build a theme around one. What’s your key to a perfect summer day or relaxing summer night? What are your summer beauty secrets? Your must-have travel accessories? You can also ask guests to bring their favorite beach reads. Or go Garden Party and ask everyone to bring a plant to swap. If your friend group is young moms, ask them to bring their favorite toy to entertain kids. The options are endless.
A fun bonus is to have guests send you a go-to summer drink recipe or easy summer dinner and compile and print out the list for everyone to take home.
The summer is filled with 92 days, so whether it is a marvelous night for a moondance or time to soak up the sun, seize the opportunity to share your secret to the best summer.
