6 Steps To Planning The Perfect Party For Your Child
Planning your child’s birthday party? But, unsure where to start? Planning a party for your child can seem rather daunting, especially with so many things to organise.
To help you plan the perfect party for your little one, we have put together a six-step-guide to throwing the perfect party. To find out more, have a read of this.
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Step 1 – Set a date
Choose a couple of dates close to the date of your child’s actual birthday for the party. Such as the Saturday before and the Saturday after their birthday.
Before settling on a date and booking a venue and sending out invitations, check that your child’s best friend will be able to make it. If your child has a best friend, their party won’t be the same if they aren’t there, so make sure to check that they are available on the chosen date.
Step 2 – Involve the birthday girl or boy in the planning
If your child is old enough to discuss their party plans, sit down with them and discuss some party theme ideas.
So that your child isn’t disappointed, write down a list of themes beforehand to discuss. These should be ideas you would be happy to use. Go through the list with your child and ask them to pick a theme that they would like for their party.
Step 3 – Create a guest list
Once you have booked a venue and know how many people it can hold, you can then start getting a guest list together.
A big party may not be the best idea, don’t fall into the trap of inviting everyone your child knows. Instead, only invite their closest friends or all the children from their class.
If you are planning on playing party games, try to invite an even number of children so that no one gets left out.
Once you know how many children will be attending, consider whether you may need to invite along a couple of your own friends to lend a hand.
Step 4 – Send out invitations
Make sure to send out invitations, at least three weeks before the date of the birthday party.
If the party is themed, try to buy or make themed invitations. The invitations should include a dress code, i.e fancy dress, as well as the date, time and location of the party.
Under the RSVP section of the invitation, make sure to ask about any special dietary requirements. So many children have allergies and special diets, such as nut free, gluten free and dairy free diets, that it is important to check.
Step 5 – Food
If you are planning on serving food, keep the menu relatively simple. Popular snacks like pizza slices, sandwiches and mini sausages on sticks all tend to work well. For the sweet treats, things like iced biscuits, cone cupcakes and ice cream and jelly all go down well.
Instead of ordering your food in, you can save money by making most of the snacks yourself. For example, cupcakes and low cost and easy to make. Plus, homemade cupcakes always taste a lot better than shop bought ones. To make your cupcakes delicious, have a look online or in a cookbook for the best chocolate frosting recipe ever.
When choosing what food to offer, make sure to take account of any allergies or special dietary requirements of your guests. If you have a gluten free guest coming along, consider making all the food gluten free.
Step 6 – Plan party games
Old fashioned party games, like pass the parcel, musical chairs and sleeping lions, often work well, especially for younger children. For older children, more challenging games like a treasure hunt or a pinata can be fun, as can making simple arts and crafts.
Ask your little one if there are any party games that they would like to play. After going to so many other birthday parties, they will most probably have a favourite game.