Children's Birthday Parties
How to have fun without wrecking your home. Children's parties are rarely stress-free, but with some careful planning they can be enjoyable for everyone with memories to treasure.
No escape
Your children are going to want to have parties. You are going to have to give them parties if you want them to go to their friends' parties. So bite the bullet and get planning.
Horses for courses
You need to plan the party to suit the age group. As a basic rule of thumb, the older the children, the more they will need structured entertainment. Toddlers need a simple party games, food and drink. Older children (aged 4-7) may need also to be distracted by an entertainer, such as a magician. Older children still (8-12) take up more room, and are more boisterous, but also more assertive about what they like and don’t like. In other words, consult them. They may want a disco (more popular with girls than boys). Or it may be better to start reducing numbers at this age group, and perhaps consider taking a smallish group of close friends to the cinema and a pizza restaurant. They may even be happy just hanging out at home with a videogames and DVDs, a pizza delivery followed by a sleepover. Don't knock it!
Home or away?
The younger the children, the easier they are to entertain and manage (usually). But they can be guaranteed to make a mess, and investigate all your cupboards. It may be easier to hold the party away from home. In summer, how about a picnic (with games) in the park? Or you could hire a church hall, but that will of course add to your costs, and demand greater logistical organisation. A more expensive but easier option is to seek out one of the many places of entertainment that specialise in children's parties, and provide both entertainment and catering facilities. Each has its own appropriate age-group, of course; they include:
- Soft-play centres
- Sports centres
- Gyms (trampolines, indoor rockclimbing)
- Swimming pools
- Ice rinks
- Children's farms
- Art or pottery centres
- Go-kart tracks
Themed parties
Some children (not all, though) love to dress up. Themed parties for children have the same advantages for children as they do for adults (see separate article on Themed Parties), and the same advice applies. Above all, make sure the guests know precisely what the theme is, and know that they must dress up to gain admittance. With good invitations, and by spreading the word, and by choosing a theme that kindles the imagination, it should not be difficult to raise enthusiasm to a suitable pitch.
Party shops
There are numerous shops around the country that specialise in party products anything from decorative paper tableware and party-bags to balloons, banners and fancy dress outfits. Specialist hire shops can provide trestle tables and chairs, as well as bouncy castles.
Get them involved
Most children love to be fully involved in organising their own party. Exploit this from the outset. Get them to design the invitations; consult them about the guest list. Make sure they really feel it is their party, shaped as they would want it.
Party games
Children at parties need plenty to occupy them. Of course there will be soft drinks and food: simple sandwiches, sausages, cakes, biscuits, crisps and the cake. But do not count on that occupying a huge amount of time. The children will eat their fill of food rapidly, then start throwing it around. So you need entertainment. Up to the age of seven or so, you should be able to get away with traditional party games, such as chasing bubbles, musical chairs, musical statues, pass the parcel, grandmother's footsteps, apple bobbing, a treasure hunt,. (The old ones are best, as you don't have to explain the rules.) You could also have a trivia quiz, memory tests (remember all the items on a tray), or a blindfolded tasting competition. The point is, however, is these must be fully worked out, planned and scheduled well in advance and have plenty up your sleeve, in case the children get through them more quickly than you expect. If you hope that the children themselves will come up with the ideas, or think you can invent entertainment on the spot, you are heading for anarchy.
Sugar high
Give them sweet fizzy drinks, or too many sweets, and watch the barometer of excitement rise to a pitch of frenzy. You have been warned.
Professional entertainers
There are numerous professional entertainers who can come to your rescue: magicians, puppet shows, musicians, jugglers, face-painters, balloon-twisters, clown and comics, circus workshops, even handlers of live, exotic animals. Take advice from friends, or consult agencies on the Internet. The best professional entertainers can delight and thrill a young audience, and above all hold them spellbound for at least half an hour while you concentrate on something else, or collapse in an armchair. Book them well in advance.
The cake
Don't forget the cake. It can be styled to any whim you like. You could even get the party-giver to help you make it and decorate it. Alternatively, head for any major supermarket, where imaginative cakes are now part of their standard stock or splash out and have one tailor-made by an expert.
Party bags
If your child gets a party bag at every party he or she goes to, then you're going to have to provide them at your party. Specialist party shops and the big supermarkets can provide you with the bags, and many of the contents or go to one of the many party suppliers online. Party bags do not need to be expensive but the more surprising and inventive and delicious the better! And make absolutely sure you've got one for everyone, or your party may end in tears, literally.
And keep it short!
Don't be too ambitious in determining the length of a children's party. About two hours should do it. Make the pick-up time clear on the invitation. Sympathetic parents will know to be precisely on time, but there'll always be one who is habitually about half an hour late. It will probably be the parent of the child who is climbing up your curtains.