It is IC's 4th birthday tomorrow and I have been working on it since we were on vacation in the Philippines a month ago. Yes, a kiddie birthday party is not really so simple to plan. After all, kids like IC would always want to have something to keep them busy. And what about the food? Okay, I am not a master on this thing but I do have previous experience with MC's birthdays. And here are my tips:
-Plan the party ahead. I always start planning as soon as the last party's guest left. I tend to list down what I think went wrong and what could be done in a much, much better way and I take note on what made the little guests happy and if some improvement could be made on it.
-Here is the most important thing to do: talk to the birthday girl first. Ask her what she wants to do, what her wishes are, what she wants as party theme (princess, clown, zoo, etc), who she wants to invite, what kind of food she wants to have, should we create her invites or buy them, etc. And then decide.
-The whole year, I collect small gifts whenever some stores would offer discounts on toys, school items, party items, etc. and store them at home. That was why I said I have been working on IC's party in the Philippines because I took advantage of the affordable prices there as compared to what we have here in Germany and bought some paper doll books, boxes of crayons, masks, etc.
-I watch out for the prices of IC's list of gifts drop and grabbed them online or in the nearest store. Oma and Opa usually give the money for us to buy the gifts.
-At least 3-2 weeks before the birthday party, decide about the invitation; if you want to create a homemade one, better start three weeks before the target date. You need to buy the materials and set the theme. IC wanted an Ariel party and I convinced her to change it into an underwater party theme. Her invitation card is a red and green fish just like Ariel. We sent it out two weeks before her birthday party. Note, too, if you want to guests to come wearing costumes!
-What is important on the invitation? Ask them to confirm if the kid could come or not; thus have your telephone on it. Dont forget your address, if needed, print out a sketch of your place. And set a time, not only the start of the party but also on when it would end for pick up time. If you have birthday registry, this should be on the invites, too. (see next tip)
-If you have a toy store that offers birthday registry or birthday tables, why not go for it? We have one here in our city and before giving the invites out, IC and I visited the store and she got to choose what she wanted. These items would then be placed on a birthday table with their name on it, it is a table specifically for birthday gifts that were chosen by the birthday celebrants. Of course, dont forget to print on the invites that you have a birthday table on that specific toy store so that the gifts would be those that the celebrant wanted and it wont be doubled. Buying gifts is not easy and I find this birthday table practical.
-Watch the weather. Would you want to do the party inside or outside? In the garden or in the living room? You would need more space if you only prepared for a garden party and it rained! The decors should also be taken in consideration. Plus, what games are you planning to do? This might well be dependent on the weather, too.
-You would want to play games. List down the games and make sure you know the rules and you have all the things necessary to play those games. Dont forget to have small prizes on hand for these games. Here's a tip: have a sackful of different prizes on the side and ask the winners to simply dip their hands inside and voila, they've got their prize! If you want, you could also have professional party clowns, magicians etc which you could easily find in the internet or the local gazettes; but if not, a talented uncle, a beloved friend, etc could do as substitute.
-Decide on the menu, but consult with the birthday girl. IC wanted as main dish french fries with hotdogs plus slices of yellow bell pepper, apples, pears, carrots on the table to munch on. For her birthday cake, she wants brownies and I am also planning on baking mini muffins as a surprise. Dont forget to put these items in your grocery list.
-What about your decor? IC's got an underwater party so we started creating fish, star fish, shell fish that we plan to hang around in the living room and scatter around on the dinner table.
-And dont forget to have a seat arrangement with the guest's name on it. I usually ask MC or IC who they want to seat between them during their birthday parties' so that there would be no pushing.
-Prepare the loot bag. You could either buy the bag or create one. And make sure you have one for each guests. Place their names on the loot bags to be sure. I usually place these loot bags on their assigned seats where the main dish would be served.
-Plan the day. Create an outline on how you want the day to go on -- opening of gifts, a game, blowing of the birthday candles, snacks, some artworks (in a form of a break), snacks, games, main food. It is important to have some breaks, too! And plenty of hand towels and table napkins :D
-And put in mind that these are 4-5 years old you are attending, too. I mean, you need to prepare yourself for just about anything, too! So, relax and when the day came; have fun!
1 comment:
It's really important to devote time to planning and preparing for the party. It is important as well that you get the birthday celebrant into the process. This way she gets what she wants, plus she will appreciate the celebration all the more since she's had a hand in everything.
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