IDEAS FOR A POOL PARTY: Just like if you were in a Tropical Paradise!!!! (for ages around 12+)  My friends and I all wanted to get together over the summer to have a pool party. I invited 10 of my friends. We have a big pool and a HUGE backyard. Here are some ideas you can use for your pool party! They were great for me, and I hope the same with you!  Invites: You can blow up a beach ball and write all the info on it. Deflate, and put it in an envelope. It's always a cute surprise to get a beach ball in the mail! Then you can tell them to bring the ball to play with at the party. You can also do the classical, Message In a Bottle. Take a plastic bottle, a colorful piece of paper, put sand and seashells in, and you've got a Message in a Bottle! Activities: We bought a Badmitten Set, Tennis Set, and Horseshoes. We also bought some kickballs. About a year ago we had bought a Basketball Hoop for the pool. It comes in handy because sometimes in the pool it may get boring just swimming, so add a little FUN!! We also got about 5 Hula-Hoops to play with, and to use them as bases if you want to play Kickball, or Baseball. If you have a Basketball Net in your driveway, that also is always fun. A very fun game to play at a pool party is to have a water balloon war, or toss. Everyone can enjoy it! If you have a big backyard and its LEGAL to do it in your area, have a bonfire! They are fun, and yummy if you make smores!  Decorations: Blow up TONS of balloons. They are always fun. You can take a marker and draw faces on them, or throw them around. Also at Party City or another store, you can buy those blow-up Palm Trees. They always give a paradise feel to your pool deck. Buy tons of streamers, and confetti. You can take the confetti and just sprinkle it on the tables. They add glamour and glitz, and are very easy! What also are very tropical are silk flowers. You can put them on everyone's plates before they eat. You can put them in your hair, or throw them in the pool for a little more decor in the pool area.  Food: It's always fun (and yummy!) to make up a food! For example, you can create a "Dessert Sushi"! You can use fruit leather (as the seaweed), Chopped up Marshmallows (as the rice), and little gummies on the inside (as the crab or veggie). They taste good and are very creative. You always can take cute toothpicks and put gummies and marshmallows on them. Put them on a platter and sprinkle sugar around it. Decorative, and Delicious! As real food just get pizza or tacos. Something simple that everyone will like. As drinks, you can make NA (non alchohol) fruit drinks. Like Pina Coladas, Strawberry Daquiris, or even a Margarita!! For the margarita, instead of salt, some teens or kids may not like it, so use sugar! Fruity and YUMMY. As a finishing touch, put the little umbrellas in each drink.  I'm 12 and I absolutely loved my pool parties, and I used those ideas that my family and I made up. All my friends had a blast, and I hope you can too!