Planning Your Child’s Birthday Party

Planning your child’s birthday party can be fun and tiresome. It is a chance to go all out on your child’s special day. A party is a way of showing your child how important they are to you. The key is to come up with something they will remember for the rest of the year. Trying to do this can be very stressful and time consuming. So what is a parent to do? Here are a few ideas to make this birthday memorable with as little stress as possible.

1)Pick a party theme. The themes should revolve around your child’s favorite sport, animal, or hobby. Most kids would prefer a movie or cartoon character. A theme makes planning the rest of the party easier. There are even themed invitations, decorations, plates, napkins and thank you cards. Try and create a party feeling that flows throughout the event. You can order all of this at one time from certain catalogs (Birthday Express). The possibilities are endless.

2)You need to get your invitations 2-3 weeks ahead of time. You can purchase your invitations at any local card store or retail center. You should be creative; there are a lot of scrap booking ideas and supplies out there. If you want unique invitations you should make your own and personalized them. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate. For a fun look get your kids to help cut and decorate items onto cardstock paper. Children of all ages will enjoy this project.

3)There are a lot of games that can be played by children of all ages. Some of games of the past can be the most fun. For instance games like Pin the Tail on the Donkey or Musical Chairs. For the older kids a scavenger hunt may be the best way to go. It’s better to give prizes to all the participants and maybe a special one for the winner. Remember to keep it simple and inexpensive. A good way of doing this is by giving a sticker or a piece of candy.

4)Now what about the presents! It’s probably the most exciting thing for the child to open his/her presents, but remember it’s also fun for the other children to watch their gift being opened. To help prevent the problem of whom gets their gift open first try and make a game out of it. You can put some music on and have the kids passed the presents around. Make sure they are sitting a circle. As they pass around each present from child to child the music will play. When the music is stopped, whichever present the birthday child is holding, is the one that gets opened first! You can do this until all the presents have been opened.

5)You should keep food preparation to a minimum the day of the party. There is enough to do without having to make a cake, so order or bake the cake ahead of time. Prepare as much food as you can the day before.

6)Also pick up film and charge your camera the day before the party. Make a check list and don’t forget to include candles and a lighter on the list.

7)After the party is done it is a nice gesture to send out thank you cards. Have the birthday child help you.

You may want to try one or all of these ideas. Just remember keep it simple and fun. Good luck in planning your next party.