How to Make your Child's Party Amazing!

In person fellowship is very important to us as parents, but its also important to our kids. Birthday parties are a great way to get your friends together, experience fellowship, and love your neighbor by celebrating the birthday of a child.

The Pros and Cons of Party places

There has been an increased popularity with birthday party locations like trampoline parks, indoor playgrounds and other party places. Hosting a party there has benefits like the entertainment is taken care of and there are staff helping to facilitate activities and clean up after the party. However, they can be costly and stale. There is often a minimum child requirement and they can be dirty and not maintained well. They also can be crowded since you are also sharing the space with the public.

Home parties are great!

Hosting a party at home or at a rented hall is an inexpensive, low key way to celebrate a birthday. It can be fun for all ages; from crawling babies to board game playing teenagers. There are no crowds or rude people. And the budget is flexible since you are paying for what you need. They are inclement weather friendly because you can easily have an indoor or outdoor party (or both).

Here are some tips to make yours fun, safe and successful

Tips for when you host:

• Have entertainment: consider what are the kids going to do at the party: In my many years of hosting and attending parties, it has been my observation that the kids really just love to play. You can get a bounce house or hire a magician if you want, but you might just want some good toys, dress up clothes, magna tiles and legos available and let the kids play safely in the common areas.

• Do not do "drop off" parties: we do not allow parents to drop off their child for many reasons. One reason is for safety. Each parent is clearly responsible for their own child. Another reason is that us adults need fellowship too.

• Provide party food: if you have a party during a meal time- you should provide a meal. if not, you should provide snacks. We generally do snacks and drinks. Some examples are: a charcuterie board, chips and salsa, a veggie platter, goldfish crackers, juice boxes, Sparkling water, and other snacks for adults and kids are great choices. Coffee and tea are also great options.

• Be flexible about the day: be aware of holidays and cold weather months. Consider having a winter birthday in the spring so you all can play in the yard.

• Joint parties are great: if you have children whose birthdays are close together, consider having a joint party.

• Have a start and end time: have you ever been to a party where there is no "end time". It seems like the party is over, but you don't want to be rude and leave? Having an end time is important and will allow you and your guests freedom to enjoy the party, but also let them know when it's over. Generally, we aim for a 90 minute party. If you go through a service, it is also 90 minutes long. The first 10-15 mins will be your guests parking and putting thier things down. Cake time is at the hour mark. After cake, everyone is chatting, eating and the party is winding down. And people can always stay later if you and your guests want. During the cake cutting, we take the time to thank our guests for coming and let them know they are welcome to stay if they want.

• All About Gifts

  • We do Amazon wish lists for our kids. We give the link out to people who specifically ask what they would like for their birthday. I keep the items under $25.

  • Invite people who you might not know well, by letting telling them "Don't worry about gifts, we hope you can make it"

  • Be grateful. Mail your guests a thank you card after your party. Thank them for coming and thank them for the gift.

  • We do not open gifts in front of guests at the party for many reasons. I usually tell our friends that "We do not do group gift opening, If you brought a gift, thank you. If your family would like to watch our child open your gift, you are welcome to bring it to them and we can arrange that. Please make sure I am there too so we can thank you properly for it later."

• Network: introduce your guests to each other. Mingle and chat with your guests. Don't be cliquey and chat with just a few of your closest friends.

• Invitations: I usually coordinate with close friends and family to find a good day to make sure they can join us. I make an invitation on a digital paint program with a photo of the child, date, time and contact info to RSVP. I prefer to text it to our friends.

• "The more the merrier": one benefit of having it at your house is that you can invite syblings and husbands. So be sure to mention that either in your invitation or text.

• No party favors: There are many reasons for this. One reason is many party favors are unwanted clutter. However, we have given them a ballon when they leave and at a recent party, our kids wanted themed toy masks to play in, which came in a set and made good party favors. Other than that, no bag of junk.

• Have music playing. Make a fun party music list! You can use your laptop/iPad or a simple Bluetooth speaker.

• Decorations: we get a baloon bouquet from the grocery store and scatter some balloons on the floor. Colored and themed tablecloths are also inexpensive and fun

• Take photos! I like to take a group photo of all the kids. I also take a group photo of us moms. Do not share photos on social media of other people or other children.

• Communicate and be reachable. People will be contacting you to RSVP and ask about birthday registries. Be sure to communicate to your friends about any things they need to know about parking, weather and any other information or changes to the party plan before the party.

Tips for guests

• Bring an appropriate gift: it can be a regift, handmade, used, from their registry etc, just please be apropriate. We all know what it is like to be gifted a thing you cannot use or like. Get your children involved in choosing and wrapping the present for their friend.

• Be on time: the hosts might have activities planned.

• Do not drop off your child at the party: mingle with the parents, supervise your children. We want everyone to have fun, but also be safe while you are chatting with the other adults at the party.

• Be friendly! Smile! Mingle! Do not sit and be alone. Do not be cliquey and talk to your one favorite person you know already. Parties are a great oprotunity to network. You might make a new friend there!

• RSVP: even if you cannot make it, message the host. Thank them for the invitation and let them know you cannot come. If you are busy and you need to RSVP later, be sure to set some kind of reminder so you don't forget to RSVP. It is hard work to host even a modest party. Help the host by letting you know if you can or cannot attend.

• Attend! We all have lives and commitments, however, you should go if you are available. They are being kind by including you in their party.

• If you cannot attend, message the family and arrange a playdate to celebrate the child's birthday.

• Be extra kind: offer to bring an appetizer to the party, help set up or clean up or help in another way.

• Take photos and share them with your host. Do not share photos on social media of other people or other children. If it is at their home, respect their privacy. Photos of their bookshelves, garage storage and art they hang on their walls also does not need to be on the internet, even if it's in the background. Photos on the internet are forever.

• Communicate and be reachable: the host will be contacting you about parking, information and changes to the party.

• Accommodate when needed: if you are bringing a baby to a party, you might need to bring baby toys. If your child has an alergy to the cake, bring your own cake. Bring decaffe coffee for yorself if you want.

For ideas on what you can put on your gift wish list, click here to see our toy list.

Click to see our toy list

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

Romans 12:15

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