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Celebrate turning 22 in a fun and memorable way, and get inspired with these fun and creative 22nd birthday ideas to plan a day that you and everyone invited will love.
Best 22nd Birthday Ideas (Fun Things to do for your 22nd Birthday)
Creative and Unique
1. Write a Birthday Checklist
Can’t decide what to do for your birthday? Or maybe you have lots of things you want to do for your birthday, but don’t know how you’ll fit everything in.
Write everything you want to do on your birthday down as a checklist and tick each thing off as you complete it throughout the day.
By the end, you’ll have a great keepsake of everything you did on your birthday! Bonus points if you have 22 points on your checklist.
2. Release Paper Lanterns
Our birthday signals the start of a new year, a fresh start, and a chance to set new goals. Releasing paper lanterns is a beautiful way to mark your 22nd birthday.
We recommend writing down a wish or a goal that you want to achieve in the next year and attaching it to your lantern to make it extra special.
3. Cheap Flight Tombola
If you want to do something out-of-the-box for your birthday, why not research the cheapest flight you can find and plan a trip there?
Some places you may never have heard of have inexpensive flights! You could end up having a very memorable birthday trip.
4. Host a Great Birthday Bake-off
Fancy yourself as a star baker? Why not make the tradition of a birthday cake a little more exciting by having a birthday cake-making competition?
It’s always great seeing who can come up with the best attempt. Plus an added bonus is that you’ll probably be left with a lot more cake than normal!
Fun
5. Go to the Arcade
Why play one game on your birthday when you can play 20? Arcades might be retro, but they’re filled with timelessly fun games for you and your friends to play on your birthday.
You can make it interesting by making a league table at the beginning of your night and seeing who ends up arcade champion!
There are also now plenty of arcade-themed bars popping up all over, so you can sip a cocktail while playing Pacman.
6. Murder Mystery Party
Murder mystery parties are perfect for people who like anything to do with crime drama, problem-solving, or a good game! It’s the perfect way to get everyone involved in your birthday.
Everyone gets to dress up and get into character, and you can choose different themes for your murder mystery party.
There are lots of guides or party packs online for murder mystery parties to make sure you have the most fun possible!
7. Trampoline Park
Feel like expending a bit of energy on your birthday? A trampoline park is a fun way to celebrate your birthday and to watch your friends make themselves look silly as you all jump around.
A trampoline park is a great idea to have an active birthday if you want to do something fun but a little bit different.
8. Bowling
Sometimes the activities that are the most fun are the classic ones! Go bowling with your friends and spark some friendly competition while being guaranteed a good laugh.
Bowling alleys are stocked full of entertainment, food, drinks, and terrible bowling shoes. As an added bonus, bowling is usually pretty cheap, so you can have a lot of fun for a little money.
Classy and Luxurious
9. Spa Day
There’s nothing quite like a spa day to truly treat yourself and totally relax. What better gift is there than the gift of rest and recuperation?
Lots of spas have deals and day packages, so you can make a day out of it with a massage, sauna, and your best friends!
10. Wine Tasting
Visiting a vineyard or going to a wine tasting is a lovely idea if you want to do something a little bit luxurious for your birthday.
It’s not something we do every day, and it’s more special than just heading to the local bar or pub for a glass of wine.
You can usually find nice charcuterie boards or nibbles at wine tastings to make it that little bit more special, too!
11. Shopping Spree
You know yourself better than anyone, and who better to buy you birthday presents than yourself?
It’s not often we can justify a shopping spree, but your birthday is a great excuse to go to your favorite shops or a shop you might not visit usually, and buy yourself something special.
12. Dinner at a High-End Restaurant
Is there a restaurant you’ve always wanted to try but you’ve been waiting for a special occasion? Does your birthday fall near a friend or relatives?
An expensive restaurant is a fabulous way to celebrate, particularly if you want to do something jointly with someone else.
If your friends don’t know what to get you for your birthday, coming out for dinner with you is also a great present, where everybody has fun!
Low-Key and Simple
13. Group Fitness Class
There are boutique gym classes, spin classes, and yoga studios popping up everywhere at the moment.
Give yourself the gift of trying something new, and go for a birthday workout with friends or on your own. We all know looking after our health is a good thing, but treating yourself to a new class is a great gift to yourself.
14. Movie Marathon
Do you like your popcorn sweet or salty? A movie marathon might seem obvious, but you can make it really special by getting your friends together, and picking your favorite movie snacks and drinks before picking your movies.
You can make your living room nice and comfy or decorate it to be birthday-themed. Not to mention the best part: if it’s your birthday, you get to pick the movies. Lord of the Rings, anyone?
15. Dinner Dash – Starter, Main and Dessert Takeaway
If you and your family, friends, or partner can never agree on what to eat, this birthday idea is the one for you!
Choose somewhere to get a takeaway starter, somewhere for a main course, and somewhere for dessert.
You can have this delivered to your home, or drive around each food stop. This is a great way to make sure you have all of your favorite foods on your birthday!
16. Bucket List
You’re another year older, with a whole year in front of you. What better way to celebrate your birthday than by making a bucket list of everything you want to do while you’re 22?
You can have a bucket-list-making night with your friends or family to get inspiration for things to include on your list. You can also spend time reflecting on everything you achieved, or wish you’d achieved in your 21st year.
If you need some help planning, use our bucket list printables to write down and visualize your goals and dreams for the year, then set about making them happen.
At-Home
17. Car Drive-by
If you’re at home for your birthday, you might not be able to see your friends or some family members. Have all your loved ones drive by your house to say hello and wish you a happy birthday.
It’s a great way to see everyone you want to on your birthday at a time when you might not have otherwise been able to.
18. Drinking Card Games
Card games are a great way to pass time and to have some fun that doesn’t involve any screen time.
You could also spice up the traditional card games by turning them into drinking games. You can do anything, from drunk snap to a more upmarket poker night.
You can even dress up à la Casino Royale, with a martini (shaken, not stirred – obviously).
19. Video from Friends and Family
If you can’t see all the friends you’d have liked to on your birthday, you can ask them to send you video messages so it feels like they’re in the room with you.
You could give free rein to friends and family to come up with something creative, or have them sing you a song. It’s bound to make you laugh, plus it’s something you can keep forever.
20. Potluck Dinner
If the thought of hosting and cooking dinner for a group of people seems overwhelming, why not try out a birthday potluck?
A potluck dinner is when each person involved brings a dish for the group. You could split this into starters, mains and desserts, or get everyone to bring a dish and have lots of things to choose from! It takes the pressure away from one person to do all of the cooking.
21. Zoom Party
If you live far away from loved ones, a zoom, skype, or teams party is a great way to celebrate with loved ones whilst you’re physically apart.
You can organize party games, quizzes, and even karaoke! Just make sure you all dress up in silly outfits to get yourselves in the mood.
22. Order a Meal Kit from a Restaurant
Many of our favorite restaurants offer dine-at-home options. Dine-at-home kits are often cheaper than if you had eaten in the restaurant, so you can choose something special for your birthday.
The instructions are usually pretty straightforward, so you’ll be enjoying a lovely birthday meal in the comfort of your own home in no time!
Themed Party Ideas
23. Disco Theme
The ’70s might have been half a century ago, but they sure had good music and funky fashion! A disco theme is a great excuse to dress up in clothes you would never normally wear, and boogie the night away to some old music.
Curate a ‘70s playlist, get a disco ball and some strobe lights set up, and get your best disco moves out and you’re guaranteed a groovy night.
24. Taylor Swift Theme
‘I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 22’. It’s pretty impossible to not have heard Taylor Swift’s smash hit about loving being 22.
Taylor Swift is famous for her different ‘eras’ and albums. You could exclusively play Taylor Swift music or have all of the attendees of your party dress up as different versions of Taylor.
25. Each Guest Dresses as the First Letter of Their Name
This theme is a great way to see how creative each of your guests is. Have each guest dress as something that starts with the same letter as their name.
For example, Adam could dress as an apple, and Ben could dress as Bob the Builder. You can have a competition for the best dressed, along with lots of cake, food, and drinks.
26. Color Theme
Get everybody to dress all in one color! You can either pick one color for everyone to dress in, or let each person pick their own color.
The photos will be great, and you can have your own rainbow party. If you choose to have everyone dress in one color, you can even match the decorations and even the drinks to the color theme. It’s sure to be a memorable night.
Last-Minute
27. Picnic
If the weather’s sunny and you’re not sure what to do for your birthday, a picnic is a great solution as it’s always a simple and easy way to have fun.
You could go traditional and pack a wicker basket with yummy treats, or have everyone bring their favorite food to share with the group.
If you need some ideas for what to pack, our picnic foods list has over 100 yummy treats and ideas for you to get excited about.
28. Bar Crawl
For a classic birthday idea that can be done last-minute, consider a bar crawl. It doesn’t take a lot of planning, and you can usually google a nearby route if you can’t decide where to go.
You could even just google nearby bars, and pick your route that way. Make some rules for how many drinks you have in each location and make sure everyone sticks together!
29. Cocktail-Making Competition
This is a great opportunity to get inventive with your friends. Have each person make a different fancy cocktail for the group and secretly score each one. At the end of the night, the winner can get a prize.
30. Lucky Draw
Need a last-minute birthday idea but can’t decide what to do? Write down all your options on small pieces of paper and pop them in a bowl.
You can get friends and family involved here by asking them to contribute suggestions. You then draw an idea out of the bowl and do whatever activity you choose!
You could even take it one step further by having one group of ideas for the morning, afternoon, and evening if you wanted to completely leave it to chance.
It may not be as big a milestone as your 21st, but your 22nd birthday is still a day that should be celebrated in a fun, exciting, and memorable way.
Whatever you enjoy doing, use these 22nd birthday ideas to inspire you to plan a day that lives long in the memory, and that everyone involved enjoys to the fullest.
You Might Also Like to Read
- The Best 18th Birthday Party Ideas
- The Best 20th Birthday Party Ideas
- The Best 21st Birthday Party Ideas
Got a 22nd birthday on the horizon? Keep these ideas for inspiration, by saving this article to one of your Pinterest planning boards.
