Planning a Kid’s Birthday Party

Some people absolutely love planning their kid’s birthday parties and others absolutely dread it. I’m guessing if you have landed on this page, then you are more of the latter with and need some guidance on planning a kid’s birthday party. Parties can come together quickly, but make sure you give yourself enough time to plan in order minimize stress. Follow this guide for creating a memorable day:

Pick a Date

First thing is to pick which day you want to throw a party. Maybe you are lucky and your kid’s birthday falls on a Saturday this year making it easy for you to actually throw a party on their birthday. More often than not though, birthdays tend to fall on a random day in the middle of the work week or on a school night. When this happens, we tend to do a special dinner, dessert, and presents on their birthday, but save the party for a day when more people can attend. Weekends are ideal because they give you plenty of time to prepare and enough time to recover for the next week ahead.

Pick a Location

I always start by asking my child what they might want to do for their birthday. Sometimes they want to go to a trampoline park, roller skating, or rock climbing. Many places like that offer birthday party packages which include admission, a reserved party room, and sometimes pizza. The benefit of a birthday party like this is that it takes little to no planning. Most of the work is done for you and you just need to show up, sometimes just with a cake and party favors.

The downside to this is that the packages can be very expensive, often a couple hundred dollars. They also do not offer you much room for flexibility since you only have your room reserved for a certain number of hours. Additionally, these types of parties can feel rushed. At my daughter’s gymnastics party, we had maybe an hour for the kids to run around but then it was time to eat and do cake. By the time they were done with that, there really wasn’t a lot of time to go back and play. But, if you prefer the more hands-off approach, then these types of party packages would be ideal for you.

I personally prefer to do house parties since everything is within my control. I can set the timing, where kids are going to be playing, and I get to make the food and snacks the way I want. The downside to this is it can be a lot more work. If you’re like us, your house probably isn’t super neat so prepping for a party also means cleaning a significant part of your house on top of preparing a lot of food.

Your other option is to a hybrid of sorts. Perhaps you rent a local pavilion at the park and bring your own food. Or, alternatively you can do a house party but choose to have it catered. Figure out what your budget is both financially and how much time you have to dedicate to preparing and this will help dictate what a good location for your party might be.

Pick a Time

When it comes to picking a time for your party, think about how much prep you might have to do and what sort of activities. I generally try to plan parties in the afternoon, after lunch but before dinner. That way I never feel like I really have to plan a big meal, but more just need a bunch of snacks to get the kids through. Sometimes if you choose a location like a children’s museum, their parties will have predetermined times. If you have younger ones, I recommend trying to plan around nap times so your kids will be well fed and rested.

Number of Guests

Remember this is a birthday party, not a wedding. These happen every year so you don’t need to invite all your extended family. Invite your kid’s closest friends and family. Do you think you want to invite your kid’s entire class? Kids absolutely love this, but having 20+ kids to feed and entertain can get chaotic and expensive pretty quickly. If you have the patience and budget, then I say go for it.

Often for party packages you are limited to the number of guests you can bring. So, it is important to get that number early when determining your location. If you are making your own food or hiring catering, getting a guest count helps you accurately plan for how much food you will need.

Themed Decorations

This is honestly one of my favorite parts of throwing a kid’s birthday party simply because I love being creative. I always ask my kids what theme they want for their party – whether that be something they are currently into or even just a color. I really try to let them dictate what they want and try to make it happen. Some examples of party themes are Minecraft, unicorns, or superheroes.

A few decorations like streamers and balloons can go a long way. Many people also love the oversized balloons to spell your kids name or proudly show how old they are turning. I often rely on Pinterest for inspiration but you can also check out stores like PartyCity or Amazon for some premade decorations.

My main focus is to not spend a lot of money and buy things that are reusable. My son’s last birthday party was a Minecraft themed party. We had just moved so I had a lot of cardboard boxes that I used to make things like block animals and creepers. I even wrapped our cooler of drinks in a cardboard box so it looked like a Minecraft chest. My son then requested I make an Ender dragon which became quite the challenge but one I wanted to take on. What do you think? I think it turned out pretty well!

Food

Once you know how many guests to anticipate you can figure out how much food you might need. Living in the south, I personally like to make a couple of crowd pleasers like macaroni & cheese with hamburgers and hot dogs. A side of baked beans, potato salad, and a large green salad work well. Make sure you give some vegetarian options too if your guests don’t eat meat.

I also love to just make a bunch of appetizers for people to graze on throughout the party. I find this works well for kids too who like to run around and every now and then decide to stop for a bite to eat. Chips & salsa are easy to put out as well as a large bowl of pretzels. Fruit and and a prepared vegetable tray is also quick and easy to put out. If you want to get a little fancy with minimal effort, a number of different dips, such as combining cream cheese with this Harry & David’s pepper & onion relish.

If you want to go the extra mile, you can theme your food for the party. For example, you could do a bunch of different rainbow colored foods for a unicorn themed party. Your food does not need to be fancy, just make sure you have enough!

Dessert

Ask your kids what their favorite dessert might be! My son loves cake, but for my daughter it is all about ice cream and brownies. For their birthdays each year, they get to decide what flavors they want and if they want anything special. I have made everything from unicorn cakes, to a Spiderman cake, an ice cream cake, and even a sushi cake.

Don’t feel like you have to go the homemade route though! There is no shame in picking up a cake or dessert from the grocery store or local bakery. Costco is a great place for ordering large sheet cakes if you are having a larger party. At our wedding, we did a cookie bar, which might be something different and fun for your kids to have at their party. The best part is they can double as party favors.

Activities

It is important to think through what everyone is going to do at the party. Food and mingling can only go so far and that is more for the adults than for the kids. If you opted for a party package through some event space, then they will likely have all the activities planned for you. This is one of the greatest benefits of going with a birthday party location.

If you are thinking of doing something at home though, ask your child what they might want to do with their friends. Perhaps it is having some huge video game tournament or having an at home spa day. If you are thinking of doing something outside, then cornhole or other lawn games are great entertainment. For my son’s summer birthday, we once planned a bunch of different activities with water balloons with sprinklers and a slip ‘n’ slide.

Activities don’t need to be a lot and they will likely take longer than you think they will. So, my advice is to have enough things planned to do, but don’t feel the need to rush through everything. Let the kids just have fun and follow their lead.

Party Favors

I can go either way on party favors. On one hand, I think it is extremely courteous to provide something to your guests and thank them for coming. On the other, as a parent, I hate the little knick knacks my kids tend to come home with from parties that somehow end up all over the floor and in the bathrooms. As the one throwing the party, these favors can also add up in cost pretty quickly.

My advice is, if you are going to do party favors, have them be something edible. Alternatively, one of the activities of your party could be something they make and get to take with them. I wouldn’t feel obligated to provide party favors, but it is nice to thank your guests in some special way.

Relax!

Lastly, remind yourself that this is just a kid’s party and to relax! Your kid is going to have a blast no matter what you do as long as they get to be with their friends and have a good time. To this day, my kids might remember the cake I made them but that is about it. They just remember having a good birthday and having fun but hardly any specifics as to what we ate or did. So remind yourself to just relax and not overthink it!

What have been some of your favorite party memories? Let me know in the comments below!