Unfortunately, planning your child’s birthday party might come with more headaches than happy moments. It’s easy to become overwhelmed with some of the hassles that come with planning a birthday bash for your children and their friends, but no matter how you feel, the show must go on.
To ensure that the party-planning process happens smoothly, here are some kids’ party planning tips and tricks to follow next time a birthday rolls around.
Set your budget a while ahead of time
Before you even set a date or a theme for your party, it’s pivotal to set your budget. Your budget will be the deciding factor on how lavish you can be, or how much you will have to do yourself. Another part of setting your budget is determining how you will allocate the money you do have. You’ll need to set aside parts of your budget for food, activities/games, a possible venue, and party favors, so it’s important to figure out what aspects are more important to you and to plan accordingly. For example, do you want to spend more money on food so you can hire a caterer? If so, consider making the party favors and organizing some activities yourself.
However, don’t worry about the size of your budget — amazing parties don’t always require a lot of money to be fun and exciting.
Splurge on one item
If you’re going to go all out for the party, consider splurging on one item. You only need to go crazy on one item because this way it will pop and be memorable — whereas you risk the children being overwhelmed with multiple larger items. So feel free to splurge on something such as an indoor bouncer, and let the rest of the party complement the one item.
Prepare the dessert ahead of time
One of the best aspects of any kid birthday party is the dessert — especially if you choose to have an ice cream sundae bar. But scooping out rock hard ice cream the day of the party can cause for hurt arms and impatient kids. So bypass this by scooping out the ice cream into cupcake tins the night before and pop them in the freezer. This way you’ll have prepared ice cream just ready to decorate that the kids can all enjoy together.
Plan activities in 15 minute time slots
Kids notoriously have short attention spans, so you’ll want to have a schedule of events to keep them occupied. It’s best to do this in 15-minute intervals. Not only does it give everyone a chance to try everything, but the kids can always go back to an activity they really enjoyed. Plus, this will ensure everything you planned actually does happen, and you didn’t waste any of your time planning for nothing.
Send out thank you cards
Make sure to take diligent notes when your child opens gifts so you can send out thank you cards after the party. This is a good way to thank everyone for coming and to show appreciation for the gift they brought. It will also teach your child a good habit they can use down the road as they get older. As a fun addition, you can include a link to a private photo sharing app so everyone can see fun snaps of the party to frame and remember forever.
With these tips and tricks in mind, you’ll be on your way to a headache-free birthday planning session. So go out, snap a few photos, and remember to have fun.
