Searching for a fun and creative birthday cake idea for kids that you can make youself?
These playful cake ideas for children feature much-loved characters and themes that kids will remember.
Many of these cakes were made by my mum for my own children and I hope you’ll agree they are very impressive! There’s something here for a range of ages from toddlers who love Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol to tweens and teens who love make-up and florals.
Birthday cake ideas for older kids
Jellycat cake
Who doesn’t love a cute and cuddly Jellycat? The Jellycat birthday cake toy is one of the top gift ideas for kids who adore these snugglies. But why not make them a birthday cake inspired by their favourite toy too?
The legs and candle are made of icing, plus that acrylic personalised label has been custom ordered from Etsy.
Taylor Swift
Any Swifties in your house? They will adore a Taylor Swift-themed birthday cake.
The sides of the cake feature friendship bracelet designs with beads made from icing and hard candy balls.
On top there’s a mirror disco ball, Taylor figurine, cat figurine and a clock face, which was made from icing and an edible printer kit.
Cute capybara & resin animals
Has anyone else’s child been swept up with these resin animals you can collect? Some are ducks or bunnies, and you can also find capybaras. My daughter was obsessed with them so my mum made this cake featuring capybaras and little resin animals.
You could focus on any animal you like here.
Stitch
The cute Disney alien character Stitch is a firm favourite with kids. This cake features a larger figurine surrounded by tiny Stitch mini figures in different poses.
Makeup favourites
This cake is perfect for a tween or teen who is into experimenting with beauty and makeup.
The eyeshadow palette and brushes have been made using icing that’s been shaped.
Chanel handbag
Nothing else says luxury birthday quite like a designer handbag cake!
I love this iconic Chanel handbag cake. It’s so girly and fun, with the cool gold lettering detail on the front.
Harry Potter
Fans of the book and movie franchise will adore a Harry Potter themed cake.
These cupcakes each feature a LEGO Harry Potter character or item. This is great if you want an easier birthday cake option, plus makes it easy to give to kids to take home.
Sweet treats cake
This clever pouring cake is so much fun. You can make this with an anti-gravity cake stand – basically a stand with a stick coming through the middle where you can hang your sweet packaging and then shape the sweets around it to create the illusion.
This cake was made with Maltesers but you can do it with Jelly Babies or anything you can think of.
Birthday cake ideas for younger kids
Peppa Pig
A perfect birthday cake idea for toddlers that they will adore. This cake has been cut into the shape of Peppa, and then placed on a cake board covered with bright cartoon-coloured icing and flowers.
Paw Patrol
Another children’s favourite TV show provides a brilliant inspiration for a birthday cake. The pups of the Paw Patrol are easy to add to the cake using action toys or small figurines.
Choose all of the pups or pick your child’s favourite and make them the centre of the entire design.
I love that this one was a rainbow cake inside.
My Little Pony
Another classic cartoon is used as inspiration for a cake!
This cake features an icing rainbow for the pony figure on the top, plus gorgeous rainbow icing around the sides of the cake.
Doll cake
A doll is a good chance to add the child’s personality and favourite things onto a cake. It could be pets or a particular sweet treat, such as marshmallows here.
