Planning a kid’s birthday party?
It isn’t an easy task. There are lots of moving parts to consider and get right in order to pull it off.
But… It isn’t impossible.
There are lots of ways that you can make the planning of a kid’s birthday party a little bit easier for you and a lot better for the children involved. Luckily for you, this blog is going to tell you all about these ways; all the tips and tricks that you can use to make planning a kid’s birthday party smooth, effective, and fun at the same time.
Sound good to you?
Then let’s dive into it and get you party-ready.
Go digital with your invites
Invites are one of the most important parts of a kid’s birthday party. Creating invites for your entire class or friendship group has long been one of the most exciting parts of party planning for children.
However, creating and sending physical invites and receiving physical, paper RSVP notes can end up a little time-consuming, messy, and inefficient for the parents involved. It is much harder to keep track of things and you are much more likely to end up losing an invite or RSVP, ending up in tears for someone somewhere along the line.
One of the best ways to get with the times and stay efficient with kid’s birthday party planning in 2022 is to go digital with your invites.
Sending e-vites out to your child’s friends (or their parents) is a quick, environmentally friendly, and easy to track way of organising your guest list. It’s much harder to lose an email than a loose piece of paper, right?
… But go old-fashioned with the party games
A mistake you can make, however, when organising the perfect kid’s birthday party is making everything digital.
Some parents are opting for tech-friendly kids’ parties and while this might please kids initially, it takes to end up with a bunch of disengaged kids who aren’t socialising with each other and who aren’t really having that much fun.
While keeping your digital invites, it is always best to go for some good old-fashioned fun within the actual party time. Party games with physical fun and social cooperation are the best ways to keep a kid’s birthday party happy and healthy while helping the kids make friends with each other and have a great time.
That’s what it is all about.
Leave the screens aside for another day.
Buy accessible food
There’s nothing worse at a kid’s birthday party than having kids who feel left out or excluded.
One of the easiest ways to make sure all the kids are feeling involved is to make sure that you make/buy food that is accessible for all kinds of kids, including those who have allergies and intolerances. This might initially seem like a bit of a minefield but it isn’t really. There are lots of recipes and pre-made options out there to cater for a wide range of kids, so try checking them out first.
If you want to make things easier for yourself you can include an option for the children’s parents to inform you about any dietary requirements or allergies on your digital invite.
Double up crafting and party favours
Making up good party favours can be a task for parents; an endless, difficult task.
But it doesn’t have to be!
A really smart trick you can use to make planning a kid’s birthday party super-efficient is to double up crafting as both an activity and material for the party favours, by using the very crafts you make as the gifts that the children take home!
This could be anything, from dream catchers to jewellery to picture frames. Whatever interests your child and whatever materials you want to buy.
Doing this means that kids have a fun activity and something fun to take home, without breaking the bank or taking up lots of your time preparing gifts for everyone.
Set a time to take photos and then go phone-free
It makes complete sense that you want to have lots of memories of your kid’s birthday party, but it is important that you don’t waste the whole first-hand experience behind your phone or camera screen.
Kids also get pretty sick of having their photos taken 24/7 and I think this is fair enough.
One of the best ways to handle this is to set a specific time where you are going to take some photos of your kid and their friends, get your memories, get all the shots, and then let the party continue interrupted.
Your scrapbook will be filled out but the children will have plenty of time and space to enjoy themselves too.
Have backup plans
Something I have found to be of particular importance when it comes to planning a kid’s birthday party is remembering to have backup plans. Things can and will go awry, especially with kids, so it’s always a good idea to have a backup idea. Think of spills, accidents, weather changes, tantrums, and sickness, all in advance.
The better-prepared will alternatives you are, the less the kids will even be able to tell that anything has changed.
Let the kids lead the way
Out of everything that is important in organising birthday parties for kids is that the kids have fun and do what they want. It’s too easy to get caught up in what we want and need, and what other parents say and think. While we might have the best intentions, forgetting to truly put our children first in their own party is a common mistake.
To have a truly successful kid’s birthday party, we need to let the kids lead the way.
It’s their party, it’s their memories, and it’s their life.
Within reason, provide what they want, and everything will go super smoothly. And when you do have hiccups, you’ll know exactly how to prepare and deal with them with your brand new tips!
What a great time for everyone.
Stick around and check out more of our kid-friendly tips and tricks, right here!