Football season is here again! You don’t have to be at the game or on the couch to enjoy the game - you can plan a party out in your vehicle. Yep, a Football Tailgate Party! Tailgate parties aren’t just for trucks - an SUV or minivan will work perfectly as well. Before you head inside to enjoy the game, here are some fun ideas for planning a football tailgate party in your own driveway.
Decorations
One of the great things about a sports-themed party is that there are always a lot of options for decorating. You can use tassel banners, paper lanterns in your favorite team’s colors, themed bumper stickers as wraps for your drinks and other sport decorations from your local party store. If you are crafty, you can make your own tissue pom poms out of tissue paper. This is a great activity for the kids to help out with. To hang things in the back of your vehicle, you could use removable tape or safety pins. If the back of your vehicle is dirty, simply lay a plastic tablecloth down before you start setting out the food, dishes, cutlery, etc.
Small wooden crates, picnic baskets or coolers can be used to hold the food and drinks in the back of the vehicle.
Food
If you’re hosting your tailgate party in your own driveway, you’ll already have access to your own kitchen and BBQ so you don’t have to worry about preparing too much in advance, storing it in coolers or keeping it warm.
Some great options for a tailgate party include:
Hamburgers or sliders with a toppings bar
Hot dogs or sausages
Potato chips, pretzels or other snack foods
Salads (pasta, potato, bean, etc.)
Baked beans
Roasted vegetables
Kabobs
Nachos on the BBQ
A party wouldn’t be complete without dessert.
Some fun dessert ideas for a tailgate party are:
Cupcakes in your team colors
Cookies decorated like football helmets
Cake pops decorated like football fans or foam “We’re #1!” fingers
Ice cream or a sundae bar
S’mores over the BBQ
Fresh fruit
Chocolate covered strawberries to look like footballs
Activities
The main activity for a tailgate party would be watching the game, but there are several other activities for this party theme:
For the kids, have a little contest for the best touchdown victory dance. They may also like making up their own cheers to perform for the adults. You could have a little temporary tattoo station with team tattoos. Some old Halloween costumes could be turned into a fun ‘create your own team mascot’ game. No idea is too silly!
Playing a game of football in your back yard is a great way to burn off extra calories after that big meal.
You could look into renting one of those mobile game trailers that can park outside your house with game systems, TVs and sport video games. Kids and adults of all ages would have fun with this!
For the adults, you could share some fun football trivia questions (a little internet searching can help you put together some fun facts and trivia questions).
For watching the game, do you have a projector you could use to watch the game outside? With the tailgate party being so close to home, you can easily move the party inside once the game starts.
I have a feeling that the kids will have so much fun with this party that they’ll want to plan a few of them during the football season. It’s a great party idea for kids or even a fun family activity at home.
Cheryl is a married mother of one. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with a strong interest in parties and event planning. She is the owner and writer for Moms & Munchkins (www.momsandmunchkins.ca), which is filled with ideas for family fun, activities for kids, party ideas, party planning tips, holiday fun, moms’ night out ideas and more.
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