Birthdays can be one of the best days of the year for kids. They get to be the life of the party, eat their favorite foods, play games with their friends, and get new toys. Make your little one’s day special by planning the perfect party!
Cake
The cake is the most important part of the party! Theme the cake around something your child enjoys, like a TV show, animal, sport, hobby, or other activity. Match the cake colors to the decorations and party theme. Have your child pick what flavor of cake and what icing they would like. If it is a surprise party, chocolate is always a good choice! Make sure you have enough cake, utensils, and plates for the entire party.
Balloons
Balloons are a fun party decoration. Use either an array of brightly colored latex balloons or get themed foil helium balloons from a party store. These foil balloons often have characters on the faces, like dinosaurs, superheros, princesses, and other cartoons. If choosing latex balloons, use multiple different colors that fit the party’s color scheme. Get creative with balloon placement. Try taping several balloons to a wall to spell out the child’s age.
Party Favors
Give the guests a way to remember the day with a party favors bag! These bags include glow sticks, small toys, stuffed animals, crayons, notepads, party sunglasses, candy, jewelry, and other fun small items for children. The bag can be clear or themed and tied with a ribbon. Give these to the guests as they are leaving the party. If the party has a theme, match the party favors to that theme.
Bounce Castle
To really impress guests, rent or buy a bounce house for the children to play on. They are available in a variety of colors and models, such as the traditional bounce castle, inflatable slides, and inflatable obstacle courses. When using a bounce castle, make sure to abide by safety instructions. Follow the manufacturer’s guidelines when setting up, do not use if wind speeds exceed 20 miles per hour, and stop usage if there are signs of air loss.
Magician
A birthday party magician will amaze your guests. These performers generally do shows with simple magic effects and illusions. The magician will wear a unique outfit with a cape, top hat, and the magic wand to enthrall viewers with their abilities. Many performers make the birthday child the star of the show and involve other children in the performance. Humor is often incorporated. Hiring a magician can be very affordable based on location and availability.
Food
When choosing food to serve, pick fun and easy to eat food like pizza, sandwiches, hot dogs, hamburgers, and kebabs. Have multiple options so picky-eaters won’t have an empty stomach. Try to avoid unfamiliar food or foods with complex palettes. After the main course, serve the cake and other sweet desserts like watermelon, fruit cups, candy, or ice cream. Give them a dessert to remember and have them help make s’mores, chocolate-covered strawberries, dipped marshmallows, or candy apples.
Decorations
Decorations create the fun mood of the party! After figuring out a theme or color scheme, pick out decorations like balloons, streamers, banners, and tablecloths that fit the theme. Good decorations are the first thing the guests are going to see when they arrive, so choose high-quality decorations that complement other aspects of the party. For the crafty-types, head to websites like Pinterest for tutorials and inspiration for creating your own party decorations.
Invitations
The first step to any great part? Invitations! First, decide on a party date. Choose a non-holiday weekend Compile a guest list with child and parent names and parent numbers of all your child’s friends. Buy invitations that fit the theme or color scheme of the party. When filling them out, make sure to include the date, time, what to bring (like a swimsuit for a pool party), address, driving directions if it is hard to find, and your name and number for RSVPs. Give them to the adults yourself or have your child deliver them to friends at school.
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