Most children’s favorite day of the year is their birthday. They receive gifts, cake, and have a great day with their friends. This day, however, is rarely a holiday for parents. There are so many details to consider: budget, theme, location, food, activities, and so on.
Of course, if you don’t have a tight budget, you can hire a professional event planner to arrange everything, but no planner knows your kid as well as you do. Once you know what to do, throwing a party for your children will be much easier. With our plan, you will throw the most memorable party!
Step 1: Find a venue
Of course, throwing the party at home is the greatest option: you won’t be constrained in theme, menu, etc. It will also be easier to keep small children under control. If you don’t want to host a home party, you could go bowling instead. Children will always be busy playing, so you won’t have to come up with anything amusing. A park is also a wonderful option because you may organize a variety of games and other activities there. It’s recommended to book a place several months in advance to avoid unexpected situations.
Step 2: Choose a theme
Surely, a party theme is not obligatory. However, it will spark more interest in your child. The theme should reflect your child’s interests, such as a favorite movie or cartoon, a type of sport, characters they adore, and so on. It is important to note that if you choose a particularly specific theme, you may run out of appropriate accessories and will have to get creative. If this is not in your plans, choose a more generic theme, for example, unicorns, mermaids, pirates, and so on. Ensure that the cake and decorations are in keeping with the theme. You might also ask your child’s guests to dress up in thematic costumes.
Step 3: Prepare and send invitations
The first thing you should do is to make up a guest list. Invite the family members and your child’s classmates and friends. Also, you may have two parties: one for family and one for friends. Make a decision with your child on this question. Make certain that the venue you’ve picked has enough capacity for all of the people on your guest list. Next, think about what kind of invitations you want to use. There are three of them.
- Ready-to-go invitations from the store. This is the simplest and the cheapest way to go and will be perfect if you are short on time and money. However, there is a chance that you won’t find invitations that are appropriate for the party’s theme.
- Custom made. There are plenty of websites where you can create custom invitations with a unique design. Obviously, this will be quite pricey.
- DIY invitations. You can make DIY invitations and involve your kid in the process, although this may be time-consuming.
Step 4: Plan the menu
Menu planning is difficult because you must consider the children’s allergies and dietary limitations. Sometimes parents just refuse to allow their children to eat certain foods.
To avoid awkward situations, contact the parents of the children you intend to invite and ask what food is safe for them.
You can either order or cook the food, as well as the cake or cupcakes. A universal option, loved by most kids, is a pizza. You can also include chicken nuggets, fruits, canapes, small sandwiches, and so on. The cake should be designed in accordance with the party’s theme.
Step 5: Think about the decor
If you are throwing a party at a rented venue, you may request that the venue be decorated. If not, you will have to buy or make your own decorations. The most common decorations are balloons, party hats, confetti, party horns, and the birthday banner. All of these items are available for purchase in a store. You can also get creative and make original DIY decorations. It’s also possible to order a set theme-specific set of decorations. They may include such items as a tablecloth, posters, tableware, and others.
Step 6: Prepare age-appropriate games and activities for kids
Plan some activities to entertain the kids between meals. For example, you can plan six different games and offer kids to play them every half hour. Remember that the games should be basic enough that any child can play them. If games are not an option for you, you can just leave various items such as bubbles, coloring papers, clay, paper, and other materials that children might enjoy.
Step 7: Book some entertainments
Hiring a professional entertainer may be expensive, but this will be an unexpected surprise that your kid will remember for a long time. Hire a clown or an illusionist that will take the attention of the kids for one hour. If the party’s theme is superheroes, hire entertainers dressed like Batman and Superman (for example).
Step 8: Prepare favors for the kids
Make sure that each child receives a small favor at the end of the party. Prepare goody bags and some memorable items. There are a plethora of options: cups, stickers, notepads and pens, or small toys. Buy something that will be related to the theme of the party. If the party doesn’t have a theme, you can simply buy some coloring books and pencils. Label each item to remind them of your child’s birthday.