You don't have to be a prize-winning baker or spend hundreds at a bakery to have a top-notch cake at your child's birthday party. If you have a little bit of decorating flair and can follow boxed cake instructions, you've got all it takes! Whether you bake a bunch of cupcakes and decorate them together to form a "cake," or make a few layers of your favorite boxed recipe, frost it, and throw sprinkles alllll over it, there's an easy way to make a cake that will taste great and wow your birthday kid.
Ahead, see some of our favorite easy birthday cake ideas for kiddo parties, minimal baking experience required.
Marshmallows and M&Ms or Skittles are all you need atop this frosted round cake to make a rainbow.
Top with a personalized cake topper to give it extra flair!
Use a number candle or cut out a paper template, lay it on the frosting, then sprinkle everything else. Pull off the number, and viola!
Make layers of Rice Krispies treats in cake pans, stack, frost, and boom — cake.
Frost your child's favorite flavor cake and toss some fresh whipped cream and berries on top.
Frost a simple round cake and top it with a favorite animal, TV character, or just a funky candle.
Make Rice Krispies treats in a bundt pan, flip it, frost it, and sprinkle.
Make a sheet of brownies or blondies, then top with frosting and sprinkles.
After frosting the cake, cover completely with Lucky Charms marshmallows!
This one looks tough, but all you need is yellow food coloring, a frosting tip, and some green construction paper. You can use black paper for the facial features or chocolate frosting squeezed out of a piping bag (or a plastic sandwich bag!).
Use fun-shape sprinkles to write out your child's age atop the frosting.
Make a naked cake or simple white frosted cake and let a fun cake topper shine.
This chocolate cake has a bunch of cake pops as decoration, and, heck, they can even be some of those delicious ones from Starbucks!
This one's so easy — just grab a dozen or two of your kiddo's favorite doughnuts and stack masterfully.
Using cake or cupcakes to form the number, frost, then line it with candies!
Or just go totally crazy with different candies all over a round cake.
Swirl on frosting using a piping bag, then top with candies or sprinkles.
If you're feeling up to it, a drip can be so much fun, but this cake would look amazing even with just the white frosting and doughnuts!
Frost a cake, then top with crushed Oreos or another type of cookie.
Using cupcakes with fun colored frosting, form your child's age!
Gumball machine, rainbow, unicorn — the possibilities are endless.
Or you can form a shape using the cupcakes!