Creating The Perfect Birthday Party For Children

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As any parent can tell you, the business of children’s parties is a serious one for any child. After all, school aged kids live in a cloistered, vulnerable world where peers and popularity reign supreme.

The responsibility for maintaining their social status when it comes to throwing a successful birthday party can be a harrowing task, fraught with pitfalls, especially in the tween and teen years.

Frighteningly early, these youths have a knowledge of what’s hot and what’s not, which must be adhered to in order to avoid social disgrace.

As I have an upcoming teenage party to arrange, I thought it would be timely to share my experience, gleaned over many years, regarding how to throw a birthday bash which will be the hit of the (school) season.

Different age groups call for a completely new set of rules when hosting a party. Let’s begin with the trickiest time, the teenage years…

Teen Parties – what’s cool and what’s hot

As any parent of a teenager can tell you, navigating the finer details of what is acceptable and what causes a rolling of the eyes, is nigh impossible. The days of having a ‘party’ in the traditional sense is over. So too is any thought of having a host or any structured games or entertainment.

Chances are they will move out of single sex parties and thus, the party planning needs to be focused on less gender specific entertainment.

With this in mind, here are some suggestions:

Photo Booths – Look for ones that provide Instaprint. If there is one things teenager LOVE, it is photos of themselves, especially in groups of friends, to be later displayed on social media.

Digital games like Quiplash, which can be accessed through teens mobiles or iPads, can be great fun and are an inclusive way for guests to mingle. Make sure you have a few spare mobile devices for those that don’t come prepared.

Video games such as Just Dance, Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero are always a hit.

Music – Running your teens music from their phone to Bluetooth speakers ensures that they can’t complain about the music choices

Remember that supervised privacy is the order of the day, with a teen party. They will want their space…. just don’t give them too much.

Tricky tween birthday parties

Tweens are in a kind of twilight zone between wanting to appear mature yet still enjoying the fun of childhood. Parents usually take over the role of party host at this age. Providing things such as:

A trampoline
Age appropriate TV based video games and DVD’s
A karaoke machine
Gift bags containing more age appropriate things such as lip gloss for girls or collectibles like Ooshies or Lego for boys

Primary school parties

Ah! The fun age, where kids are still thinking about being princesses or heroes and villains. These are where parents can have some creativity and let their childhood dreams play out in the form of games, decorations and magic.

The most successful party formula, for the 6 to 9 age group, could include:

Themed costume party
Party host / games organiser
Venue party – roller skating rink, Jump Deck, go-karting
Larger sized jumping castles with slides
Arcade games hire – pinball machines

3 to 5 Year Old Birthday Parties

The hardest part about throwing a 3 to 5-year old party can be controlling your pint-sized guests. Holding these parties between specific time frames of about 90 minutes may be one way to keep the party short and sweet whilst preserving your furniture and sanity.

Dressing your home in dazzling streamers, balloons and lights will bring an air of magic to your child’s party and he will be just as excited as his little guests.

Consider:

Face painting
Visiting super heroes
A small jumping castle
Playing music such as the Wiggles where actions can be performed as a group
Keeping coloured lollies and sugar to a minimum for both the children’s health and also to curb hyper behaviour

Baby bonanza

At the opposite end of the scale to the troublesome teens lies the baby birthday party. Blissfully unaware of what all the commotion is about, a baby party is more about impressing relatives and friends and the baby is often just a baffled afterthought.

Some ideas for an infant’s birthday party to consider:

Mobile petting zoo
Hiring in a few Cosy Coupes for a couple of hours
Hiring a small merry-go-round or similar ride

Children’s tastes and expectations change rapidly so organising their birthday party should always involve consultation with them about what they want.

You don’t need to throw a party every year but for those years that you do, making it an occasion to remember just takes a little patience, a heap of planning and a lot of love.

Not many parties are complete without a take home Party Bag. Get ideas on what you can include.

Article from E Hudes