Let's Party

Here are a few things to think about when planning a kid’s party.

1. Parties aren’t just for birthdays. It can be great fun to plan a party based around a holiday. When my daughter was younger we would host an annual Halloween party for
   her friends (and their parents). I adore little ones dressed for Halloween so it was a perfect time to get the kids together for a little celebration. Since the kids were young, we held them in the daytime and included a costume parade and some crafts. The pictures I took at costume parties are still some of my favorites. Other party time holidays could include Christmas, New Years, Valentines Day, Easter, etc.
2. Another fun thing to do is plan a party in celebration of a season. Welcoming Spring is a good one. A mom friend of mine had a Spring Fling. It was outside in her back yard and there were all sorts of outdoor activities for the kids to do. Bubbles, kites, balls, chalk, wagon rides, etc. It was super casual, really fun and a little something different from a regular play dates.
3. When planning a “theme” for your party, there are other options besides the obvious Character themes. With a less-specific theme you will probably have a variety of options at a fraction of the cost. Luau, Under the Sea, Trucks, Dinosaurs. These are themes you can kind of make up yourself so there’s some flexibility in the decorations, etc. For my daughters birthday it was a “Jump and Jive” theme. There was a jumper and some fun dance music for the kids. It was great and easy and I just decorated with bright colors and bought inexpensive plates and napkins. My nephew’s party had a “dirt bike” theme. My sister made her own rectangular cake, crumbled up chocolate cookies and piled the crumbs in a mound on the over the chocolate frosting and placed tiny toy motorcycles in the crumbs. It was adorable and very affordable.
4. Match your party favors to your theme. For a Truck themed party, you could place inexpensive plastic trucks around for decorations and then as the children leave, everyone gets to take home a truck. At the “Jump and Jive” party I tied in a little “rock and roll” to the kid’s favors. I got bright colored rolling toys at the dollar store and labeled them for each kid with a note that said, “Thanks for rolling by”. If nothing else, the parent’s appreciated it.
5. Recycle decorations if possible. There are some I have used for years. Certain signs and streamers can be used year after year. My kids get excited when we bring out our paper lanterns. We always hang them in the trees for parties and they to help decorate with them. Older children like to make signs too. My daughter loves to be involved and has made some stellar signs for our parties.
6. Keeping kids busy at a party can be a challenge. Plan simple crafts and/or games for the kids to do. Easy, old school games like freeze-dance or hot potato are always a hit. Once I had everyone at the party (parent participation needed) decorate a birthday hat to wear. This kept everyone engaged for a long time and the pictures are really fun.
7. The most important thing I’ve learned about planning a kid’s party is to make it as easy as possible for you, as parents, for the day of the party. Do as much as possible before hand to ensure that when it’s finally party time, you can actually ENJOY it with your kids. They’ll love it and you will too and that’s something to celebrate!