A Guide to Children's Parties

Party Planner’s Guide to Children’s Parties

Planning a birthday party for children is always fun; children have such an amazing sense of fun and imagination that they are both fun and easy to plan a party for.  If you are the one in charge of planning a birthday party for your child, take the opportunity to have some fun with party ideas, and plan the best fun-filled party experience you can.  You can bet that your child, and all of their friends, will love you for making the extra effort.

The number one consideration for any child’s birthday party is to understand that the goal of the entire day, and the event itself, is to make your child feel like they are king or queen for the day.  On that day it's all about them feeling special and nothing more.  The most successful child’s party is one where the child is happy, their friends and family are happy, and no one ends up crying.

The second consideration for a child’s birthday party is what the child wants to have as a theme.  If you sit down with your child and ask them you might be pleasantly surprised at the simple wishes they give you.  A lot of children want only very basic things such as a particular color or special food choice.  Take your queues from your child and try to develop a party around their wishes which fits into your ability and budget.

If the party you are planning includes little guest that are very young, you will need more adults present to help you.  You cannot be everyplace at once, and by having other people at the party things will go much smoother and with much less stress.  If the parents ask if they can stay for the party you want to invite them to do just that.  You will need the extra help and you might even make some new friends in the process!

If you will be inviting the children your child goes to school with, you need to either invite the entire class or plan on distributing your invitations outside of school.  This rule is meant to keep from hurting children’s feelings and is generally in effect at most schools.

Before the party discuss manners with your child and explain to them about duplicate or unwanted gifts. Tell them to just say thank you if they receive more than one particular gift. If the gift is accompanied by a recipe it can be returned for something your child likes. Instruct them on the need at other times when it is appropriate to use good manners. Also, insist, gently, that guests use their best manners as well while they are in your home.  This will make the day a lot better for everyone.

Planning crafts or games for a young child’s party is essential.  There is nothing worse than ten young kids with nothing to do.  By keeping their active imaginations and party time excitement channeled/occupied everyone will have a much better time.  However, it is always good to plan extra activities just in case something doesn’t as planned.  This way, you can switch to doing something else without too much hassle or complaint.

It is also important to remember that a child’s birthday party doesn’t have to last all afternoon.  A simple party that lasts a couple of hours or so is plenty long enough so that by the time the little guests are likely to be getting cranky and restless, you can send them on their way home.