Children’s Party Tips

Children’s Party Tips

Throwing a party for your child, whether it’s for a birthday or other event, can be a lot of pressure. While it might take some time and planning, there are plenty of ways to keep it simple, affordable, and still totally fun! Here are some simple party tips to make sure your child’s birthday is a hit!

Choosing Invitations

As parents, juggling different schedules can be a challenge! That’s why we suggest sending birthday invitations far enough in advance for parents to be able to schedule, plan, and get a gift. However, you don’t want to send them so far in advance that the party is forgotten. We recommend sending invitations between 2-3 weeks prior to the birthday party date.

Timing is Key

Choosing the perfect time and length of the party is another important factor to keep in mind when planning a child’s birthday party. This will mostly depend on the age of your child! For younger children, an hour is usually plenty of time for people to visit, enjoy, and get back home before it’s dinner or nap time. For older children, 2 hours should work well! If you plan to have entertainment for longer, let guests know what time activities will be happening so they can ensure they are able to make it.

It’s also thoughtful to plan around meals! If you have no intention of offering lunch or dinner, you can plan a party around 2-4pm so your guests can come and enjoy small snacks in between meal times.

Deciding a Theme

Birthday parties don’t always require a theme, but if you’re wanting to go all-out, it’s important to consider a them your child will love! You don’t want to scare any younger children with spooky decorations and you don’t want to embarrass your older child with a theme that’s for toddlers. Usually choosing something your child is very interested in is the way to go, whether that means superheroes, a new movie, princess or more!

Offer Kid-Friendly Food Items

Choosing foods for children is a lot of fun! As with the timing of the party, the type of food depends on when the party is being hosted and it’s always a great idea to have kid-friendly options available. Cheese and crackers, cookies, and other little snacks that aren’t too messy are great. They also make clean up incredibly easy!

Bring on the Games

Entertaining the children is the best part of the party! No need for a bouncy-house or hiring (scary) clowns. You can simply play “homemade” games that everyone will love.

For Younger Children:

1. Musical Statues: Play music and when it stops all the children have to be as still as a statue. Anyone seen moving is out and the last one standing is the winner!
2. Stuck in the Mud: Played as a classic game of tag. Anyone tagged “out” has to be still until someone “unfreezes” them by crawling under their legs

For Older Children:

1. Capture the Flag: There are plenty of versions of Capture the Flag, but we recommend that you first split into two teams and each team has a flag they must hide. From there, children play stuck in the mud (see above), while they are also trying to capture their opponent’s flag. The first team that’s able to capture the flag of their opponent is the winner!
2. Tug-of-War: Grab some rope and split into teams! This could also be fun in a tournament style if you want to get the adults involved and have more than two teams,

Ultimately, the goal of the party is for the birthday boy or girl to be happy and enjoy themselves. Be sure to take plenty of photos of the day and back them up on a Picture Keeper Connect. This way, all the photos and videos from the special day will be safe and secure!