There are birthday parties and there are great birthday parties. Organizing birthday party for kids requires some effort and there are few things that should be considered. Below you will find several tips that will help you to organize great parties that the guests will enjoy and remember.
Music
One of the most important things for a good party is the music. It is up to you to decide if you play kids songs or just party music. What’s really important is that the music plays from the very beginning, ideally before the guests start arriving. This creates a party mood and gives the guests a feeling that the party is ongoing.
Of course you can turn down the volume or even pause the music shortly when this is required, but the rest of the time it should be playing.
In case you don’t have time for music selection, you can still play your favorite music radio or online music playlist.
For smaller parties it is often enough to have a portable Bluetooth speaker or your home stereo system.
Drinks
Drinks are important, especially at children parties, because kids are moving and running a lot. It is good to have some juices to make kids happy, but the most important drink that should be always available is water.
If you use tap water, you are safe, but in case you provide bottled water, make sure you have enough amounts for both the children and their parents (if they are staying at the party).
If you are wondering how much water to buy, you can safely count with 1 liter of water per person. Better to oversupply a bit, than to not have enough.
For the juices or other drinks, you can also estimate at least 2-3 bottles/glasses per person. That way everybody will have a chance to get something. For juices we will recommend you to have more but smaller packs. This will reduce the waste (kids often open a drink and forget it somewhere) and will also give a chance for the guests to try different kinds of drinks.
Try to have a bit more than you will need, to ensure that you don’t run out of drinks. Better to have a little left overs than being at a situation when there is nothing to drink at the end of the party.
Birthday cake
Birthday cake is the most important item for the party. It should be big enough so each of the guests can have a piece of it. You can make it yourself or order it, depending on your skills, available time and budget.
When choosing the cake, keep it simple
- Avoid having nuts and other potential allergens inside.
- We would also not recommend chocolate cake, unless the child really insist on it.
- Chocolate is like coffee for the children and when dropping around can make clothes and room floor really messy.
- Some vanilla cream inside is more than enough for the children
- The most important is the decoration. As soon as the cake is beautiful and eye catching, the children will be happy
Buy candles and a lighter or a match and keep them next to the cake. Sometimes people prepare a beautiful cake with wonderful candles only to figure out that nobody around has a fire for them when everything is already on the table and children are waiting to blow up the candles.
Pinata
Children love the pinata full of candies so having one increases the fun factor significantly. When you are buying one, check the quality. On one side it should be durable enough, so it does not brake after the first hit. On other side, it should not be too durable so it can brake after several hits.
Ideally it should allow each child to hit it at least once. To make sure it does not brake too early, let first the smaller children hit it and leave the biggest or strongest children at the end.
If you don’t have a dedicated place to hang it, then you can use a longer stick handle, hold by two parents for this purpose.
Food
Food leaves space for quite a lot of creativity. Depending on the size of the party, you can prepare it yourself, order it from somewhere, buy something form the shop or all of these together.
When choosing the menu, ensure that you have both sweet and salty foods. Sweets are happiness for the children, but too much sweets increase the sugar and energy levels and can bring your party out of control especially if the kids are small. Therefore having the right balance between sweet and salty is important.
If you enjoy to bake, feel free to prepare the food yourself, but in case you have more guests, we would recommend you to buy also some packed sweets and salty crackers as a backup in case you run out of home made food.
The advantage of packed foods is that they are cost efficient and last longer time. If you need them, you can open and put them on the table at any time. In case something is left and you didn’t open the pack, then you can eat them later at another occasion.
Decoration
A party without decoration is not a party, so you need to prepare yourself in advance. Here are some of the things that you need to consider:
- Balloons and balloon pump
- Nice table covers
- Colorful napkins, plates and cups
- Party decoration sets
- Party lights
If you have balloons, make sure you have also a pump for them. Prepare them in advance, because blowing up the balloons takes some time.
You will need at least 1 hour before the party to prepare the decoration, so if you are renting a place for the party, consider that time as well. After the party is finished, you will also need around 1 hour to clean up everything.
Games
Having food, drinks, music and good decoration are the basics for a good party, but you will need a bit more than that in order to have a great party.
You will need to prepare some games to entertain the children. This is valid especially when they are smaller. You can hire animator for this or prepare the games yourself. If you choose the latter, here are some tips that will help you.
When you are preparing the games, consider that you will need to alternate exciting games that brings the mood up with some more relaxing games that calm the children down. You need that because if the excitement goes beyond certain level, the children may become too wild and go out of control. To avoid that, after 1-2 energizing activities, you need 1 that calms children down.
Below are some games and activities that you can consider for your program.
Exciting / energizing games
- Dancing
- Treasure hunt
- Parachute
Relaxing games / calming down
- Face painting
- Temporary tattoos
- Drawing/cutting/gluing activities
When playing the games, have in mind that the most important thing is that the kids are having fun. They won’t always follow your instructions or will follow them in their own way. This is especially valid for smaller children. Be adaptive and flexible and let them enjoy. It’s all about the fun.
Now you are ready to go and have a great party! Enjoy!
Birthday party checklist
- Music
- Food
- Drinks
- Birthday cake
- Candles
- Lighter
- Knife
- Forks
- Pinata
- Decoration
- Balloons + pump
- Table covers
- Napkins
- Plates
- Cups
- Party lights (optional)
- Games
