Birthday Parties!

I love birthday parties!!! Starting with my son's first, I was hooked. When my kids were two to four that I kept the affairs small and the guest list pretty much consisted of family, but when school and activities filled our lives with more friends my whole excitement over birthday parties bloomed (to the skeptical and worried eye of my husband!)

If your child is old enough, it's important to sit down with them to discuss the theme, guest list, and food list. Letting them have input gives them satisfaction, and it's fun to share that time together. I think it can also be a great teachable moment when discussing who you are inviting and why. You can ask questions about different friends and why your child doesn't want certain kids there. It's up to you whether to invite the whole class or not. We have had parties both ways, and they both have positive and negative aspects. I also think it's important to set a budget and to discuss that with your child if they are old enough. It's very easy to get carried away for them and me!!
After a few years of trials and errors, I came to discover that there are a few can't miss items that are successes at every party:

#1 A craft upon arrival. As kids stagger in you don't have to help them all at once and it gives them something to focus on as they adjust to being there. And, whatever it is, it has time to dry.
#2 A few themed games. Three is the most kids can focus on.
#3 A treasure hunt!
#4 A pinata
#5 Food that matches the theme

I know that "goodie" bags are a big deal at parties, and I know that they are important to my kids. Even though I try to stress to them that it's not about them, it's about the birthday person, all kids have come to expect them. I don't love the idea of giving out bags of stuff - but I do like to make the kids work for them! By the end of the party the kids have enough loot from their craft to the hunt to the pinata and any prizes won. They don't leave empty handed and I use those items as the party time fillers activity rewards.

I generally start gathering prizes, items for the hunt, pinata fillers and such as soon as the theme is picked. Looking in the dollar bins at Target, the clearance aisles at discount stores or craft stores, and at the dollar stores are great places. It's important to keep track, though, if you are starting way in advance. You may end up with much more than you need and spend more than you anticipate!

Themes make the parties memorable and give you a guideline to follow. When my kids were small I tried really hard to avoid the whole "character" theme. I found it more fun to be creative with a more generic theme that didn't put me in a box to use only certain items at the party store. Some ideas are under the sea, zoo animals (or a certain favorite animal), cowboys, generic princess theme, tea party, bubbles, balls, candy land, bugs, music, etc.  If you use a more generic theme you can find items for your party at the fabric store, the dollar store, craft store... just about anywhere.

Now, if your child is really into certain characters, what can you do if they are set on it? Not much. I eventually gave in. You can still get creative with characters. I didn't love it, but it was their party after all! I will share the specifics of all our family parties in the next blog. Here are some of the parties we've had:

For Nate:
Star Wars
Gross Party
Scooby Doo
Ocean Adventure

For Zoe and Mia:
Angels
Princess
Tinker Bell
Ariel