Birthdays are meant to be special. It’s the one day out of the year that is designated as the time to celebrate someone. As a parent, you probably have all sorts of reasons you’d love to celebrate your child. That doesn’t always mean that putting together a birthday party that they’re sure to love is going to be easy though. Sometimes it’s downright difficult. That’s why we’ve put together this guide for you that you can use to help plan a successful party.
Pick a Theme
Themes certainly aren’t a requirement for a birthday party, but they sure can make them extra fun! Whether you’re throwing a DC or Marvel party for your own personal superhero, a tea party for your princess, or going wild with an animal theme, there are a ton of fun themes out there that are sure to be a hit with the kids. Think about the things your child loves. Anything from a favorite activity, show, or even color could provide the perfect inspiration for an awesome birthday party theme.
Find a Location
Hosting a party at your home is an option. For some people it works really well. For others, however, it may be best to find somewhere outside your home to hold the party. If that’s the case, you’re almost certainly going to need to plan in advance. Your preferred location could be determined by your theme, or just be a matter of convenience. Many successful birthday parties have been held at local parks, which can be great if the weather’s cooperative and you want something outdoorsy. Those sorts of parties are often easy enough to arrange closer to the chosen date. If you want to hold a party at an amusement park or somewhere like an ice skating rink or bowling alley, you’ll need to plan well in advance though, since space is often limited and can fill up pretty quick.
Plan Food
How do you have a birthday party without food? Planning food can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. Keep in mind the age of your guests and the types of food they’re likely to enjoy when you’re planning this aspect of the party. Foods like pizza, burgers and hotdogs, chicken tenders, and mac and cheese tend to be pretty popular with kids and are fairly easy to arrange. Just make sure you don’t forget about the cake. Whether you’re making it from scratch or ordering one from a bakery, this is another thing you’re going to want to give yourself plenty of time to plan and put together.
Get Supplies
No matter what your plan is for your birthday party, you’re going to need supplies of some sort, even if it’s just things like paper plates, cups, and utensils for eating cake. Odds are you’ll be going for more than just that though. You’ll want supplies you can use to decorate for the party and things you can give to the children as party favors when it’s all over. If you can, try to choose supplies that you can recycle or reuse when you’re done. Getting things you can reuse can save you money down the road, and getting ones you can recycle is environmentally friendly. That’s one reason to avoid things like plastic straws. Straws can cause a lot of environmental harm because they’re the most common single-use plastic.
Pick the Date
So you’re actually going to want to do this one before you get very far into executing your plan. The date you set will impact when you send out invitations and when you pick up or make the food for the party. It could also impact where you choose to hold it. You can always choose to have the party on your child’s birthday, or you could go with a day over a weekend. There are pros and cons to both approaches. Just keep in mind other events or holidays that may be close by and could prevent guests from attending.
Send Out Invitations
Invitations are a birthday party must when planning an event for your child. It’s one thing to shoot a few friends a text to get together for your own party. When it’s for your child, however, it’s always good to have a more formal invitation. What makes the most sense will depend on your child’s age. For younger children, it may make more sense to put together physical invitations. For older children, sending electronic invitations may be a good option.
Choose Fun Activities
No party is complete without some fun activities. If you’ve chosen a theme for the party, use that theme to choose some good games to play. A water fight might be really good for a beach themed party. Finger painting could be a good activity for your creative child’s art themed party (just be sure to tell the parents so they send their child in clothes that can get paint on them). If you’re feeling really creative, you can come up with games of your own.
Planning an awesome party for your child can take time, so be sure to give yourself plenty of it. That way you’ll be less stressed in the days leading up to the party and you’ll have more of a chance to enjoy the opportunity to celebrate your child. Feel free to get some input from your child too. Who better to ask for ideas they’ll love than the day’s VIP themselves?
Click here for more fun birthday party activity ideas!
