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Posts Tagged ‘birthday parties’

by Susie Cortright

One day, a friend of mine saw me in line at the grocery store. I was balancing boxes of Capri Suns, cheap plastic goodie bag paraphernalia, and a super tall cake with a Barbie thrust through the middle. I was running late, and I was fearing my child’s guests would arrive before I did, so I was probably sweating and out of breath. I was tired of the birthday party already, and it hadn’t started yet.

Figuring she could commiserate, I said, “Birthday parties wear me out.” And she said, “But they are so joyous.”

Ah, spoken like someone who has a really good nanny.

Preschool birthday parties are joyous, but, the truth is, when my kids were younger, I tended to lose sight of what a successful birthday party is: a memorable event that makes your child feel treasured. I invested way too much into the vision of what I wanted the birthday party experience to be, without thinking enough about the experience from the point of view of my child. I stressed about not leaving out siblings, of having age-appropriate goodie bags for a range of children that was way, way too wide. Somewhere along the line, the magic of the experience was lost.

Now that my kids are a little older, and I have a few more parties under my belt, I do it differently.

Here are some tips for throwing a birthday party for children ages 5 and under.

Start early. It’s much easier to get everything done when you plan ahead.

Keep it short. A two-hour party is plenty long for children age 3 and under. Children ages 4 and 5 can generally handle an hour or two longer, but you don’t need to go nuts. Birthday parties are tremendously stimulating for a small child. Throw in some sugar, and tantrums are inevitable.

Keep it small. The rule of thumb is to keep the number of guests equal to the age of the child. Too many guests take the attention away from the child who is being honored. If you have a large extended family (especially if your family includes cousins with a great variation in ages) you may want to consider having a family celebration separate from the celebration with friends. We have started having our family over for pizza the night before or the night after the children’s party.

Keep it simple. Ask your child for ideas on activities, games, crafts, or food to have at your party. Kids are surprisingly imaginative and often know exactly how they would like their birthday party to be. Plus, their ideas are often surprisingly simple. Asking your children to describe the type of party they would like to have is a good starting point. If it’s over the top, you can simplify from there. For example, if your child longs for a grand princess tea party, ask everyone to come in their favorite dress up outfit and decorate paper or plastic mugs as your activity. The birthday girl can be responsible for pouring apple juice and handing out the finger sandwiches.

Ask for help. Ask family members, older siblings, and friends to stick around. If there is a child who you worry about how to handle behaviorally, invite the parent to stay for the party.

Make each guest feel special as they arrive. Young children can feel tentative at first in a festive, noisy atmosphere, so make sure to make them feel welcome. One really popular idea that we have done in the past: Enlist an older sibling or a parent to do simple face painting for each guest as they arrive.

Give the wee ones something to do. You don’t need to go overboard, but having a plan is important, and will help the party go more smoothly. This age will engage in free play for quite some time. And then you can have a simple craft station, followed by a simple game, if you are feeling ambitious. Simple crafts can include making photo frames (Orientaltrading.com is great for simple ideas such as these.) All you need is some stickers and squares of cardstock with a 4×6 square cut into the center. Then you can take a photo of the child with the birthday boy or girl and print it immediately (if you have a digital camera kit equipped to do so) or send the photo in the thank you note. If there’s time, you might play some games. Kids love simple party games, such as Duck, Duck, Goose and Ring Around The Rosy. But beware that once a group of children gets riled up, it can be hard to bring them back down.

Use music to help with crowd control. Fun, lively kids’ tunes can get the party started. When everyone starts to get a little wild and crazy, switch the music to soft classical. The kids probably won’t consciously notice a difference, but you are bound to see a change in their behavior.

Maintain order at gift giving time. Too often, the children are feeling wild and a bit out of control by the time it’s time to open gifts, and it’s hard to regain control once the gift wrap starts flying. Start in an orderly fashion by placing two chairs side by side. (Kid sized chairs are best.) The child who is opening gifts sits in one chair and the giver sits in the other while their present is opened. This way, the giver feels singled out and special as she watches her present being opened. This also sets up a perfect photo opportunity, when you are guaranteed to have just the guest and the giver in the photo.

Make the birthday girl or boy feel special. One tradition that we’ve been doing for our children once they turn four is to give the birthday child an inexpensive single use disposable camera (if you look for these on sale, you can get them for under $5.) Tell them that the camera is theirs to document their birthday and birthday party in whatever way they like. When the photos are developed, they can put the prints in an inexpensive plastic mini photo book. Kids take such pride in photos they take themselves.

Goodie Bags. Go for quality rather than quantity. Young kids love anything with their name on it. Here’s a popular idea that we’ve used: Find inexpensive little sketchbooks and use rubber stamps to spell each guest’s name on the front. Tie a ribbon around the front so it looks extra fancy to young eyes, pair it with a couple of crayons or markers and a lollipop, and you’re all set. Kids also love to unwrap things, so instead of filling a goodie bag with small items, you might gift wrap a more meaningful item and send it home with them.

Some more ideas: My 5-year-old recently came home from a party with a full-size Hershey’s bar, and she was the envy of the entire neighborhood. Another big hit: My sister-in-law once had a spring garden party for her 5-year-old with mini terra cotta pots tied with ribbons and a tiny silk flower. Each child got to plant a seed during the party and take the pot home as a party favor.

Quick and Easy Thank You Notes. An easy way to do thank you notes is to save up all of the artwork your child creates on any given day, cut the page down the middle, and fold each half into a card. Ask your child what he or she would like to say to each of the guests, in turn. Write them up and ask your child to sign their name, if they are able. If not, they can draw a little picture (or not, depending on the time you want to spend and the patience level of you and your child). Insert a photo of the birthday child and the guest enjoying themselves, and you’re done till next year.

Susie Cortright is the founder of http://www.Momscape.com and http://www.Susies-Coupons.com, where she hand picks only the very best online coupons and products, including coupons for simple kids’ party crafts, games, and activities.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susie_Cortright

by Mike Dougherty

A birthday tea party is an elegant and fun way to celebrate your child’s birthday party.

Your daughter and all her invited guests will have a wonderful time with this kid birthday party theme.

And you can put together lots of fun activities and games that will keep everyone busy and having lots of fun.

You can also use your tea party theme to teach your child and all her friends proper manners and etiquette.

Tea Party Invitation

Set the stage for your child’s tea party by making your invitation elegant but fun. And you’ll have your invited guests excited if you tell them you’ll be doing makeovers and playing dress up.

You might word your invitation like this:

“(First and last name of the birthday girl) invites you to join her for a birthday tea party celebrating her (number of birthday) birthday.”

“For your tea time with (birthday child’s first name) please wear a party dress for high tea. You can also wear your dress up hat and gloves.”

To make your invitation really special and exciting you might include a pair of white gloves with the invitation.

If your birthday tea party is for younger children, you might ask them to bring a favorite doll or stuffed animal with them.

And don’t forget to give them all the important information too.

“Our special tea party will take place on (month and date) at (start time for your party), ending promptly at (end time).”

Giving an end time for your party will keep you from having party guests stuck at your house waiting for a parent to pick them up.

“Our party location will be (street address and other important location information).”

You can also mention that you will be doing make overs and playing dress up.

You can deliver your invitation by postal mail or you can have a gentleman in a butler suite or tuxedo hand deliver the invitations. What fun!

If you send your invitation by postal mail, consider using a special envelope and stationary. Anything to make your invitation elegant and fun.

Birthday Tea Party Decoration

Think elegant, pink and fun with balloons, streamers, ribbon, confetti and glitter.

Mix pink, white, gold, silver, royal blue and red.

Use balloons to create a pink and white ceiling. You can also use red ribbon tied to the balloons as streamers so your guests can get hold of the balloons and play with them. Have some balloons on the floor as well.

A tea party pinata is also a great idea.

And don’t forget to use some balloons and streamers outside to decorate your mail box or doorway.

Set an Elegant Table

Set your table using a table cloth, plates, cups and napkins. You’ll also need forks and spoons. You might want to roll up each fork and spoon setting with an elegant napkin and tie it with a nice ribbon.

Decorate your table cloth with glitter.

Use a colorful tea pot as a fun centerpiece. Attach a small helium filled balloon bouquet to the tea pot.

To make your table setting really exciting, you can put a few party favors by each place setting. A ring, a fun bracelet or even a tiara for each guest.

Birthday Tea Party Games

Get things started as soon as the first guest arrives, this will keep everyone from just “standing around” while they wait for all your guests.

Give everyone some indoor bubbles to blow.

Have your guests make a tiara.

Give each girl a coloring page from the tea party in the Disney movie “Alice in Wonderland.”

You might even have the tea party scene from “Alice in Wonderland” playing on a DVD in your living room or family room.

Make Over

Pick up a small mirror and comb set for each guest. You can also pick up an assortment of lipstick and nail polish.

Let the girls help each other with a make over.

Just for fun you can also pick up a few colorful costume boas, hair clips, costume jewelry and even high heel shoes.

You can always pick up a few dress up items at a local thrift store. This is a great way to save some money and give a little back to your community at the same time.

Pass the Ring

Have all your guests stand in a circle.

Now place a small ring on a long piece of string and tie the ends of the string together.

Now have your guests hold the string while your birthday girl puts her hand over the ring.

To start the game, have one player stand in the middle of the circle as all the other guests pretend to be sliding the ring along the string and secretly passing the ring to each other.

The player in the middle tries to guess who really has the ring.

When the player guesses who has the ring. That person switches places with the player in the middle.

Birthday Tea Party Food

Think elegant, think fun! If your group is very young you may want to stick with cake and ice cream.

- Small finger sandwiches

- Sliced veggies

- A crackers and cheese plate

- Pizza cut into small squares

- Grapes

- Melon balls or slices

- Strawberries dipped in chocolate

- Elegant mint candies

- Jello Jigglers

You can easily add a very elegant touch to the serving of food and treats by asking an older male to put on a a tuxedo or a suit and tie and serve the food.

This can be a lot of fun especially if the male actually pretends to be the butler by asking the birthday girl what she would like and serving it to her and her guests.

Birthday Tea Party

You can easily put together an elegant cake for your daughter’s tea party.

One things for sure, your birthday child is going to have an absolutely wonderful time at their fun birthday tea party.

Mike Dougherty has lots of experience putting together successful birthday parties for his children and grandchildren. To learn more visit http://fun-kid-birthday-parties.com/birthday-tea-party.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Dougherty