How to Throw an Awesome Nerf Birthday Party for Your Kid!

Nerf parties are both fun and interactive
You can host a nerf birthday party on a small budget
Nerf birthday parties are best for kids ages 6-13 years old
Learn more about all things Nerf at Blaster Pros!

Planning your kid’s birthday party can be stressful, but it can also be tons of fun! Especially when planning something as interactive as a Nerf birthday party!

Even though a Nerf birthday party can be tons of fun, we here at BlasterPros still understand they you may be feeling overwhelmed by the stress of planning.

Are you experiencing more stress than fun while planning your kid’s next birthday party? Well, forget the stress and keep on reading to find out everything you need to know to plan an AWESOME Nerf birthday party!

What You’ll Need

It goes without saying that in order to throw a Nerf birthday party you will some Nerf guns and some darts.

The first thing you need to decide is if you plan on providing all or just some of the Nerf guns or if you are going to require all guests to bring their own.

If you plan on providing all of the guns and darts for the party, make sure you have enough Nerf guns for each of your party guests and a handful of darts for each of them. You can even include a couple of extra Nerf guns in case there are any extra guests at the party or one of the Nerf guns jam.

If any of your party guests bring their own Nerf guns, be sure to label them so that the guns do not get mixed up.

Once you have all your Nerf guns and darts, you are going to need some targets to shoot at or some forts to shoot from. These are easy enough that you can make them yourself at home!

Don’t forget to have Nerf themed decorations, invitations, and finally a Nerf gun birthday cake!

Choosing the Nerf Games

Before you start making any targets or forts, you should choose the games you are going to have the kids play.

The best games for younger kids are team shooter and target shooting games.

Start off by having everyone play against everyone match. Set a time limit of about 5 to 10 minutes and just have the kids try to hit as many people in that time frame. For this kind of game, you can build some shooting forts.

After a round or two of everyone against everyone set up a game of capture the flag.

Most kids are familiar with capture the flag from their P.E. class so playing a Nerf variation at your kid’s birthday party will be tons of fun!

Divide all the kids into two groups and give them some way such as a bandana to mark which team they are on. Each team will also need an extra bandana to use as their flag.

The goal of the game is to capture the other team’s flag and then bring it back to your team’s base without getting hit by any darts. If a player is hit by a dart than they either return to their teams spawn point or they are eliminated from the game.

If a player is hit with a dart while carrying the other team’s flag, the player drops the flag where they were hit and returns to their spawning point. The other team then has the opportunity to reclaim their flag and return it to their own base.

Another game perfect for a group of kids 6 to 13 years old is target practice!

Build a couple of different targets to shoot at and set up a points system. Whoever can get the most points within either a certain time frame or with a certain number of shots wins a prize!

For more ideas of games to play at your kid’s Nerf birthday party read 10 Awesome Nerf Blaster Games to Play with the Whole Crew (hyperlink)!

Building Forts and Targets

Once you have gathered your nerf guns and have chosen the games you are going to play you can start building your forts and targets!

In order to build your targets and forts, you will need to gather some cardboard, tape, string, and materials to decorate with.

Shooting Forts

For your forts, it is best to use boxes that are at least big enough for a person to hide behind.

Cut some windows out of each of the boxes and set them up like a tri-fold. If your forts don’t stand up well on their own, use some duct tape to add some braces.

Want to build the ultimate nerf fort for your son or daughter’s birthday party? Watch this video to learn how!

Targets

Nerf Targets are fun to use either to sharper your aim on your own or to create some competition in larger groups, making them the perfect game for birthday parties!

Make sure you have several different kinds of targets so that target practice and shooting games do not become too repetitive.

There are three main types of nerf targets you can build at home: spinning, standing, and hanging targets.

Each type of target brings a different level of difficulty to your target practice.

To read how to build your own Nerf targets read our article on How to Make a Homemade Target for a Nerf Gun: a Step-by-Step Guide (hyperlink).

Be sure to create a points system and have prizes to make the competition more fun for all the kids!

Nerf Cakes

Having a Nerf cake at your kid’s birthday party will be the literal “icing on the cake.”

At your local bakery, you can order a custom Nerf cake. However, if you want to put a little more of your own personal touch then you can try making the cake yourself!

Nerf Sprinkle Cake

Before you start making your cake measure out your ingredients. For an 11 inch by 29 inch cake board, you will need:

70 ounces fondant
- 26 ounces dark blue
- 26 ounces orange
- 2 ounces white
- 2 ounces grey
- 14 ounces black
3 1/2 cups butter or margarine
5 cups icing sugar
18 large eggs
7 1/2 cups almond meal
lemon rinds
6 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 all purpose flour
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sprinkles

Heat up your oven to 365 degrees.

Start mixing the sugar and butter together. Mix the almond meal with the eggs and then add the vanilla and flour to the mix.

Add sprinkles to the cake mix and then spread the mix out evenly between three cake pans. Cook for 20 minutes and then allow them to cool entirely (this is important as a warm cake is likely to fall apart while decorating).

Lay your Nerf gun template over the cooled cakes and start assembling your Nerf gun birthday cake!

Read the full recipe by How to Cook That by clicking here or watch the video below!

Learn More

If you are interested, here is a link to everything Nerf on Amazon.

Looking for a different Nerf gun birthday cake recipe? Check out our article on Nerf Gun Cake: 10 Awesome Recipe Ideas For Your Son’s Party! (hyperlink)

If you are worried that a homemade cake won’t live up to your expectations, skip the stress and order a cake from the local bakery.

Party Favors

While it is not necessary to provide party favors at your kid’s birthday party, giving some out can make the experience last even longer. Your kid’s friends will be talking about that party and using their party favors for weeks maybe even months to come.

If you’re having some difficulty coming up with ideas of party favors and how to package them, we have got you covered!

Your party favors should include at least one larger item and a couple of smaller items.

If you decided to purchase all the nerf guns for your party, you could consider giving the guns away as a party favor. Assuming you choose not to give the guns away (after all that can add up to be quite a bit of money) you will need to figure out how and where you are going to store all of the guns.

The first step in planning party favors is what you are going to package them in.

The most common packaging for party favors is using some colorful cellophane bag. However, if you are wanting to continue with the Nerf theme, here are some creative Nerf Target Party Favor Bags.

The first, and simplest thing you can start filling the bag with is candy. Choose a variation bag of candy or two and start filling the bags! Get this Candy Party Mix Bag or your kid’s Nerf birthday party on Amazon!

The second item you can put in your party favor bags is some smaller– and cheaper– Nerf guns! Get a set of 6 Single Shooter Guns on Amazon now! If you choose to include Nerf guns in your party favors, you do not have to purchase larger individual Nerf guns for each of the party guests. Instead, you can give them their party favors at the beginning of the party and they can use their own single shooter Nerf gun.

Be sure to include a couple of Nerf darts in the party favor bags so each of the guests has some ammo to use.

Want to make sure your guests are all thanked for attending your child’s birthday party? Then include a small thank you note in each party favor bag.

Make the note even more personalized by having your child write a thank you note personalized for each guest! Just be sure to label each of the bags clearly so that all notes make it to their intended targets.

If you still have some room to fill in your party favor bag take a quick trip to your local dollar store and look at their party favor section for some more ideas!

Snacks to Serve

Hosting a party with a group of rambunctious kids running around will definitely require some form of meal or snacks. While the birthday cake may hold some over for the duration of the party, others are going to need a little more to fill them up.

First, you need to decide if you want to provide an entire meal to the party guests or simply have an array of snacks set out for them to choose from.

If you choose to serve a meal, there is no shame in choosing something that is simple and easy to prepare, such as hot dogs and hamburgers. In fact, a barbeque birthday party can be lots of fun and easily catered to both the kids and the adults.

However, if there just isn’t enough time or money to plan an entire meal and the rest of the party, choose a couple of snacks to layout for kids to grab as needed.

Get one or two different kinds of chips or pretzels and pour those into large bowls. You can layout some Capri-Suns, juice boxes, or just plain water bottles that way the kids all remain hydrated throughout the party.

Be sure to include something healthier as well such as a couple different kinds of veggies and dip!

While these may not be the number one chosen snack, there is no harm in encouraging your kids to eat healthy even at a birthday party!

Are you inviting family and friends over for the party as well? Then you may want to consider having a more “adult” snack section separate from that of the kids.

In this adult section, you can include a more sophisticated– but still simple– spread of snacks. This may include vegetables, cheeses, fruits, and some “adult” drinks.

When it comes to planning the food served at the birthday party, think simple and try to avoid serving any sugary items. After all, they will already be getting a sugar fix from the birthday cake!

Be sure to check with all of the parents about any allergies their kids have at least a few days before the party so that you can prepare.