Birthday Parties for Kids - Kids Birthday Parties

Are you planning birthday parties for kids? Kids birthday parties can be very stressful for the parent or carer trying to make it happen.

Within these pages you will find lots of ideas to make your kids parties great.

If you have a toddler from 1st birthday to third birthday then pop across to our other site parenting-our-toddlers.com. This site has a birthday section for this age group

Here are some things to consider when planning your birthday parties for kids:

• What is your budget?
• Do your kids have an idea for their birthday party?
• What day, date and time do you want to have your party?
• How long will your party be?
• Are you going to have a party at home?
• Will you have your party at a different venue?
• How many children will you invite?
• Will you have a theme.
• What is your child's interest that you could do a theme around?
• Buffet food or sit down meal?
• Fancy dress?
• Will you have an entertainer?
• Will you play games?
• What will you do about party favors?

Birthday parties for kids......VENUE

The first thing to decide on is your budget as that will determine whether you will have the party at home or at another venue.

Other venues may include:

• Swimming pools
• Soft play areas
• Sports centers
• Adventure parks
• Leisure centers
• Pottery shops and studios
• Paintball centers
• Bowling alleys

Often hiring a local hall can be relatively inexpensive, this will give you the space, but you will need to organise everything yourself. If the hall does not have a kitchen then you will need to prepare and then transport food from your home.

For all venues you will need to book early for the date you want. Make sure you check out the venues yourself and that you get the booking and all the details in writing. It's a good idea to take along a checklist, that way you will be well organised.

Birthday parties for kids.......THEME

Once you have the venue sorted it's time to decide on the theme as that will help you plan the rest of the party.

If your child is old enough then talk to them and see what they would like to do. Have they a favorite topic such as dinosaurs, Animal Party, dance, Harry Potter, fish or characters such as backyardigans, blues clues. or Thomas and Friends They may really like a pirate theme, a sleepover or a princess party.

Try to agree the theme and get the kids as involved as you can. This way they will not be disappointed and will know what is going to happen in their birthday parties for kids.

Birthday parties for kids.......INVITATIONS

Deciding on a theme will help you choose invitations. Try Personalized Invitations to go with your theme. You could keep the costs of your party down by making your own invitations. The kids could help or even do these themselves.

On your invitations you will need to include:

• The birthday child's name and reason for party.
• Day, date and time of start and finish of party.
• Your contact details
• A respond by date
• Party address
• Theme of the party
• Clear instructions if your guests need to wear fancy dress.(if doing a summer party outdoors do the kids need a change of clothes? hats and suncream)
• Whether there is food (if at another venue where food is being served you may be given a choice list for each child to choose from. You will need to get this back fairly quickly.)

You will need to send these out about 3 weeks before your party, possibly more if you need to know numbers.

Birthday Parties for kids...... Games

Once you have a theme for your party you can decide on games and activities for your birthday parties for kids.

For very young children keep the games simple and easy.

As the kids get older you can make games longer and more competitive.

Don't do pass the parcel with kids under three as they can get upset at having to give their parcel up.

For younger kids, games based around copying, music, dance and movement go down very well. Often very young kids will enjoy free play with toys.

For older kids there are parachute games which you can do with a sheet if you don't have a parachute. Treasure hunts and scavenger hunts go down well and can be used in themes like pirates for instance. Balloon games, pin the tail on the donkey, and food games all do down well.

You can also do craft activities such as playdoh .

Birthday Parties for kids.....FOOD

You will need to decide what kind of food you will serve. If you want to do a snack make sure your party time is between usual mealtimes.

Don't forget to check whether any guests have food allergies.

At home you could choose to do a buffet style meal. You could opt for a sit down meal and serve pizza and chips or pasta with toppings for instance.

If you are going to a venue that serves food you may be asked to give your guests menu options which they will give you. You will then need to check with guests what their choice will be.

Don't forget to supply food for adults that may be staying.

Your cake can match your theme. You could make your own. Cupcakes make a change from a cake and are easy to give out.

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