8 Tips for Planning a KIDS Party
Planning and hosting a children’s birthday party is another beast, in terms of food, timing, and invitations. Using these simple guidelines during the planning process will help you with executing a successful and fun birthday party.
1. Enlist help!!
This cannot be stressed enough. Not only will you want some help with planning and prepping, you will also want help with hosting and wrangling a bunch of kids. Ideally you want to have 1 adult for every 4 kids but this could fluctuate either way depending on the venue, activity, invites, and ages.
2. Make sure the start time, duration, and number of attendants for your party suits the ages of your children:
1 – 2 years old
Party after nap time
1 hour long
Really depends on scale of event
3 – 4 years old
Party at lunch or late afternoon
1 – ½ hours long
4 to 5 guests
5 – 6 years old
Party in the early to mid afternoon
1 ½ - 2 hours long
6 to 7 guests
7 – 8 years old
Party in the early to mid afternoon
2 – 2 ½ hours long
8 to 9 guests
9 – 10 years old
Party in the mid to late afternoon
2 ½ - 3 hours long
10 to 11 guests
3. Pick food that is appropriate and desirable by the age group. Also, use food presentation as a way to saturate the party theme. Keep It Simple.
Hotdogs – in boats
Cake delivered in cupcakes (breeze for serving and clean up)
Another great way to multipurpose food is to make this an activity. So, have kids make a pizza, taco, sub sandwich as their activity/meals….and watch the time fly by.
4. Try to giveaway favours that are in line with your theme, useful, and one’s that could also double up as an activity.
Potting flowers at a garden tea party
Having a face painter will occupy time and send kids home with a colourful and sharable face
Painting and creating frames will keep kids happy and send them home with a keepsake
5. Change it up. 20 minute shifts for activities and 30 minutes for entertainers.
Kids can only be entertained doing one thing for so long. The rule of thumb is to change up the activity/focus every 15 to 20 mins depending on the nature of the activity. Entertainers should not exceed a 30 minute show, or else kids tend to become restless.
6. Be flexible. Drop what’s not working and facilitate what is.
Now, as much as you want to keep kids moving along and entertained, you have to pay attention to the mood of the crowd. Sometimes a well thought out activity just isn’t hitting the spot, move on, find something else for them to do. Or, maybe the kids are just over the moon with a box they found in the corner of room (of course the box that probably housed the ‘dud’ activity), let them have it. As long as kids are happy, having a good time, and safe – don’t force your well thought out plan on these liberal minds.
7. Consider entertainment. This could really help with entertaining kids as well as making the transition to/from games or food go a lot more smoothly.
Balloon maker
Face painting
Mani and pedi
Deejay
Storyteller
8. Good bye!!! Make them say it.
Since we are raising little human beings that are one day going to host a party of their own, it is a great practice of having children, not only greet but also, say good bye to all of their guests, thank them for coming, and then assist in creating the thank you note/email/video.
