Finding Nemo Themed Costume Party Ideas
This is the PartyOz guide to the perfect Finding Nemo Theme Party with all the ettiquette, ideas, costumes and party games.
Prepare to delve to the bottom of the ocean floor with a Finding Nemo Party! Here’s some advice and tips for holding a party that your guests will surely love.
Finding Nemo is a children’s classic, filled with fun, humour and adventure. Finding Nemo is a perfect party theme for any child who is a fan of the film.
Invitation Suggestions
A great invitation is the classic shape of who else but Nemo himself, but any fish shape will suffice.
Taking orange paper/cardboard, cut the shape out and add white stripes with either white paper, paint, pencil or crayon. You could also reverse this process if it’s easier, and use white paper/cardboard with orange paint or pencils.
Another alternative is to go for the fishtank scene, and have a picture of Nemo and his tank-buddies looking out through the glass. You could even leave the invitation black and white so the children can colour them in and bring them along on the day.
Decoration Suggestions
Decorate the room by hanging long strips of blue, white and green crepe paper from the ceiling.
You can shade a lamp using blue cellophane (be sure to do it safely) to create the effect of an underwater playground. Several lamps with differing colours add the impression of varying depths, darker colours for the deepest ocean, lighter for those closer to the sandbanks.
For that extra touch, use the cellophane to line the windows as well. Green streamers placed strategically in the corners and about the room offer the impression of seaweed, and can prove a great place to find the odd treasure.
To create the sunken ship in which Nemo finds refuge from Bruce the Shark, take the furniture (couches and armchairs) and either tip them on their sides to create a hollow between them or drape a sheet over the top of them.
To open the inside of the ship up, fix poles (perhaps bamboo, available from hardware stores) to the furniture to lift the sheets up. Place cardboard port-side windows on the outside and hang strips of crepe paper inside.
If you have the time, purchase a large sheet of green cardboard and create a set of goggles you can leave lying in the corner.
Another great decoration idea is to get lots of pink, purple and blue pipe cleaners and twist them together into the shape of jelly fish. Glue some googly eyes on with some craft glue, and then hang them from the ceiling or around the party area.
Costume Suggestions
Everything aquatic passes, along with the odd seagull, pelican and even a dentist.
Finding Nemo has great white, hammerhead and marko sharks, Clown Fish, jelly fish, star fish, turtles, sea horses, the odd octopus, Regal Blue Tang, yellow tang, porcupinefish, whales, eels and so much more…
If it swims, chances are it’s in Finding Nemo somewhere. Let the imagination run wild.
For something easier, wear orange clothing for Nemo, or blue-dark for Dory, and paint your face the same colour. Nemo’s face is largely orange, except for a thick circle of white around the outer side (see photo above). Dory is similar, except blue with a black band across the top of her face. Perhaps you could paint your ears yellow for her fins!
Some basic face paints covering the colours blue, red, yellow, orange, purple and grey should suffice for that extra flourish.
Finding Nemo Party Food Suggestions
Make a large bowl of green and blue jelly and fill it with gummy fish lollies or even jelly snakes for eels.
Fish Fingers are perfect for the day and you can also make your own chips, slicing the potatoes and cutting them into sea shapes such as ships, fish, shells and stars for starfish.
Pasta shells go with the theme as well, or serve up green linguine as seaweed! Put some gummy fish, sharks or sections of worms inside ice-cubes as a treat.
And, of course, who can forget the cake! We’ve included a pic of a Dory cake, but there are many other characters you could create!
Finding Nemo Games & Activities
Dory’s Dilemma
Dory, as we all know, is a very forgetful fish. So forgetful, in fact, she’s forgotten where she’s hidden many of her possessions.
Hide objects around the house or party area with a little blue tag to indicate they belong to Dory (blue lollies or toys are great) and have the kids search them out.
There is a catch, however. Dory forgets what she is doing every thirty seconds (time can vary depending on area size). When the time is up, the children have to return to a central are with what they’ve found, and the time begins again.When all of Dory’s possessions have been found, they can be divvied up between the participants.
The seagulls are noisy, and one in particular is very hungry… for Nemo!
Have all the children hold hands in a circle with one blindfolded in the centre. The blindfolded child is the Hungry Seagull*. One child in the outer circle is Nemo, while all the other children are the Noisy Seagulls.
The circle of Noisy Seagulls begins to turn, crying, “Mine! Mine!” while Nemo cries either, “Dad!” or “Nemo!” The task of the Hungry Seagull is to hear Nemo’s cries and catch him for dinner. The Noisy Seagulls, however, want Nemo for themselves, and so keep changing the direction the circle moves in.
* The Hungry Seagull can also be Nigel the Pelican, whose task is to save Nemo, rather than eat him. We leave this to your discretion.
Turn the children into Lantern Fish and have them hunt for food!
Fill a large box with strips of blue and green paper, along with toys and lollies with small magnets tied to them. Get a few hats and tape strong straws or sticks to their tops, with a long piece of string and magnet attached (much like a fishing rod) and set the kids a-hunting!
* Test the weight of the lollies/toys ahead of time to make sure the magnets/straws are strong enough to lift them.
For inspiration try using the following films and themes:
Shark Tale
SpongeBob SquarePants
The Little Mermaid
Ocean Girl
Sea Quest
Atlantis
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
