How to Plan a Children’s Birthday Party

Children’s birthday parties don’t have to be stressful events to plan. Here’s how you can plan a great birthday party with ease!

Planning a child’s birthday party

Pick the theme

Thankfully, the first step in party planning is a fun one! 

Planning a party is a lot of work, so starting with a theme is a good way to direct your creativity in the right direction. If your child is old enough to choose a theme, ask them what they’d like, or give them some options if they change their minds every other day.

Don’t neglect your own timetable and abilities, though, so don’t feel bad about setting boundaries for what you can realistically accomplish. Unicorn parties, mermaid parties, construction parties or pirate parties are doable, while a party on a real-life spaceship might be a little trickier to pull off. 

Determine your budget

Everything about the party will rest on the budget you set, so it’s worthwhile to spend some extra time on this step!

First, start with how much you’re willing to spend on the party. This could be as vague or as specific as you want, but just know that it’s easier to overshoot a budget than it is to go under budget. 

Your budget will also change based on your priorities, so think about whether you’d like to focus on the guests or on the experience. A day at the laser-tag arena could be awesome, but then you may need to cut down the guest list to fewer people and budget less for food and décor. On the contrary, if you’d love to have all the friends and guests as possible, then maybe a party in the park will give your budget room to fit food, games, activities and décor needed for more people. 

Come back to the budget as you plan your party, as it’s a helpful tool to help you make decisions throughout the planning stage. 

Here are a few party staples that you’ll have to account for in the budget:

• Food & drink
• Decorations
• Tables & chairs
• Utensils
• Entertainment
• Transportation
• Party favors
• Cake!
• Invitations
• Games

Choose a time and place

Children’s parties require a fair bit of preparation, so as you decide on a time and place for the big day, factor in a few hours or a few days’ worth of prep time as needed! 

This is also the point at which your location will determine the amount of guests you are able to invite. A picnic at the park could host a hundred hungry hooligans, but a field trip to the zoo might be better suited to a handful of close friends. 

And remember, much of the work that goes into children’s birthday parties will, most likely, go unnoticed by the birthday kid and their friends anyway. Will they fully appreciate the expensive party room at the movie theatre? Will they enjoy running through the grass with their friends at a park? The children’s ages will factor into the type of experience you curate for them, but in the end, you know your child best, and you know what they will enjoy. 

Create a guest list

There’s no hard-and-fast rule for inviting birthday party guests, so ask the birthday kid who they’d like to have over and go from there! Depending on the child’s age, you may need to make some executive decisions on the guest list, but it’s still important to include the birthday kid in this stage of the party planning in some way. 

The amount of guests you can invite will also be determined on your location and budget, so keep that in mind. 

Then comes mailing out invites (if anyone does that anymore), texting parents and setting RSVP deadlines. Make sure to ask about allergies and anything else you need to know, especially if you’re going on an outing. Don’t be afraid to reach out to confirm attendees. 

Choose activities

Here’s the fun part. How exciting!

The activities are the best part about a birthday party, and there’s no limit to what one can do to entertain both the children and the adults in attendance! 

Bubble-wrap races, musical chairs, treasure hunts, egg and spoon races, water balloon tosses and the like are great games that are not only easy to set up, but are highly entertaining, too! Here’s a great master list of party games for kids 2-12.

And honestly, most of the time children will end up entertaining themselves with the toys and games left in their care. If the kids are deep into a game of their own making, then don’t feel like you have to break it up for the sake of a single activity. Read the room, make some substitutions and accept the fact that you may have to switch up the schedule a bit! It’s all good! Leave a little wiggle-room in your activity-planning for those spontaneous games.

Organize food & drinks

The food and drinks you choose for the party will depend on the party’s time, location, length and theme, as well as on any allergies or intolerances. Whether you’re making the food yourself or ordering it beforehand, here are some questions to ask yourself:

• How many people are coming?
• Is the party over a meal time?
• Are there any allergies or dietary restrictions?
• What time does the food need to be ready by?
• By what time do I need to start/order the food?
• What foods are appropriate for the party’s location?
• Are we having birthday cake/cupcakes?

Pick your décor

Gone are the days where you are limited to the packaged décor on the shelves of your nearest party store. In this age of the internet and two-day shipping, you can have nearly any kind of decoration in your hands in mere days. Go bonkers with unicorn décor, create your own version of a dinosaur-infested island or just go crazy with the “Star Wars” themed party pack. It’s your world, and we’re just living in it!

Have fun!

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Featured photo courtesy Unsplash/Lidya Nada