Party Time!

When I was younger there was nothing better than going to parties! The dressing up, the party games, the food, the cake, I loved it all and the party bag at the end meant I could bring some of the fun home with me.

Now that I have four children, the oldest being 15, I have thrown many parties with many different themes. It doesn't always have to be an expensive mayhem.

Party planning also doesn't have to be tricky, it can be a doddle, especially when you have a little help, so let me do the honours. Here is my guide to children's party planning...

THEMES

There are many to choose from and it generally depends on your child's favourite TV show or book. Here are some of my favourites for different age groups. This is just a rough guide, these themes could be used for older or younger, the ages are interchangeable and this is not an exhaustive list.

Age 1

Lets be honest, this is a party for you to celebrate. Your child may like having their favourite people around them for the day and getting some nice new toys to play with, but their understanding of birthdays is limited at this point. We kept first birthdays limited to family and close friends and held it at our house. I saw recently someone I know hired a hall and invited lots of children, but the birthday boy look bewildered and as a first foray into children's parties why not go easy on yourself!

My advice is to think bears!

Winnie the poo

Paddington

Teddy Bears Picnic

Nursery rhymes are good too!

Little Boo Peep

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Humpty Dumpty

Incy Wincy Spider

Hickory Dickory Dock

Age 2

Bubbles and Balloons

Thomas the Tank Engine

Fireman Sam

Peppa pig

In the Night Garden

Ben and Holly

Age 3

Dinosaurs

Fancy dress

Rainbows

Fairy tale

Diggers and Tractors

Cowboys

Age 4

Paw Patrol

Pj Masks

My Little Pony

Circus

Fairy Princess

Cars

Peter Pan

Age 5

Dragons and Knights

Pirates

Superheroes

Toy Story

Play Barn (take a year off!)

Disney Princess

Magic

Age 6

Lego

StarWars

Football

Monsters

Arts and Craft

Animals

Age 7

Myths and Legends

Aliens

Bowling

Harry Potter

Mermaids

Unicorns

Age 8

Disco

Laser Quest

Swimming

Nerf War

Make up

Fashion and design

Age 9

Pizza Party

Movie Night Sleep over

Ice Skating

Science

Mini Spa

Age 10

Record Studio

Cinema

Gaming

Ice Skating

Glamping

Junior Aerial Extreme/Go Ape

Age 11

Junior Paintball

Festival

Silent Disco

Tobogganing

As I said, these are flexible to use at different ages. This list is to the end of Primary school, but some themes can be used into high school, just be sure to check with your child as they know what they like.

VENUE Picking a location is really important, booking it in advance is essential. There are different options to choose from, aside from the obvious ones like swimming parties will have to be in a pool and cinema parties in a cinema. There are village, church or scout hut halls, fields and gardens and of course your own home. (To be recommended only if you're having less than 15 children round!)

Once you have your theme and location sorted it's on to letting people know when.

INVITATIONS

Obviously going with a theme the design is made easier. You can by shop bought or to make a saving, design your own. If designing your own though, be sure to have the following information clearly displayed for the grownups:

Name of your child and how old.

Location of party (include a postcode)

Time and date of the party.

RSVP -Just give your first name and mobile number for the parents to text. There's nothing worse than slips of paper being handed to you at school drop off or children forgetting to give it to your child.

Date the RSVP's so parents know if they need to reply by a certain point, then your not left hanging and get numbers locked down. Some people still won't respond at all unfortunately. If this happens then leave it as late as you can, before politely chasing. (It could be the invitation got lost in transit!)

Most significant is when to send the invites out, I'd aim for a month before, to give plenty of notice.

I am guilty though of dispatching one of my sons invites rather late. His birthday is today actually, it is a difficult time of year as we are not long back from the Christmas holidays and we aren't sure just how cold the weather will be. He can be a bit indecisive about what he wants as well, which makes it a bit tricky to pin down.

The time of the party is also quite important, especially for little ones, aim for around lunch time. Parties usually last an hour and a half to two hours. If you aim for the children to eat in the last hour then 11am is a great time. They aren't too tired, are fed at the usual time, and aren't running about straight after eating, as you can make sure the food is out at 12 or 12.30pm.

FOOD

Here is my go to list of party food:

Sausage rolls

Mini sausages

3 types of sandwiches (Ham, jam and either cheese or egg work best)

3 different types of crisps

Cucumber and carrot sticks and baby tomatoes (don't go over the top there will be some left at the end!)

Party rings

Mini rolls

Tea cakes

Chocolate crispy cakes

If you're having the party at your home and your kids are a little older, a barbecue or pizzas work best. Put mini chocolate bars, sweets and lots of crisps in big bowls and be prepared to top them up regularly!

Get cheap silver platters either way as they last years.

DRINKS Younger kids:

Blackcurrant Squash

Orange Squash

Water

Older kids:

Coke Zero

Diet Lemonade

Squash

Water

Please be prepared for parents! Most parents stay, they are all tired and ultimately want to get home, be sure to have tea and coffee for them.

CAKES

Make your own if you can, if you can't, then supermarkets do some decent ones these days! Bit of a cheat- if the cake from the supermarket is a little small, buy one of the tray bakes and top up the party bags with that.

If you read my recent post "Light and Fluffy Victoria Sponge" then you'll know how easy it can be. There is no need to rush either, as a well wrapped sponge can be made and frozen ahead of time, so too can all the little icing toppers, just keep them stored away until you're ready.

Here are some of the cakes I've made over the years.

If you want any tips on the icing process just comment down below or drop me a message on the contact page and I'll happily do a follow up post or answer any questions. As you can see some are better than others as it should be while I was learning, but my kids and friends loved them all and that was the most important thing to me.

DECORATIONS

Buy bunting, lots of it! Nice bunting will last you through many parties and will make your hall look finished every time.

If you can get some birthday banners, themed isn't necessary.

Buy table covers, they make the party look put together. Buy these to go with your theme or if you want to save money, buy plain coloured ones and stick themed plates, cups or decorations on the tables.

Plates and cups could be to your theme or plain colours that could fit with your scheme.

Balloons should be plain colours to match your theme tied to the table and around the room, but also loose as kids inevitably want to play with them! I like to buy helium, but it can all add up so tying them to a table corner in groups of three works well. One themed balloon tied to the birthday child's chair, which is helium filled, looks nice and makes them feel even more special. You can get these from the supermarket the morning of the party.

Party example: Paw Patrol party- cover the tables in Paw Patrol table covers, use red and blue plates and cups, alternating around the table. Use red and blue balloons around the room and on the table corners, and one Paw Patrol balloon on the Birthday child's chair. It looks a lot more pretty than it cost!

ENTERTAINMENT

There are so many options, varying with each theme. Some are obvious- paint balling theme=paintballing for entertainment. (It gets more self explanatory the older they get.)

Younger ones-you could plan some party games and do it all yourself, hire an entertainer, a clown, a magician or get a bouncy castle (if you can match the theme its even better, but try and haggle to get the cost down).

PARTY BAGS An end of party essential for little ones, party bags are great. I have always thought it's lovely for my boys to give out the party bags at the end. (If I can pin them down!) It gives them each an opportunity to thank their friends for coming and to say goodbye.

I like to put 3-4 activities or toys, a wrapped slice of birthday cake, a little chocolate bar, and a packet of sweets in each bag. A ballon and bubbles make up two of the activities in every bag and they are inexpensive which is pretty important when theres 30 bags to fill up.

THINGS TO REMEMBER Always take, blue tac, sellotape, scissors, string, knife, napkins, fairy liquid, j cloths, sponge, black bin bags, matches, kitchen foil.

Music and a speaker system.

If you're making drinks for adults then coffee, tea, sugar, milk.

Make a list of everything you need to do on the day and get in the hired space at least an hour before to set up.

Leave the hired space as you find it or cleaner!

Get a pen and paper ready for when the birthday child's opens presents then you can quickly make a note of who gave what, for thank you cards.

Hope this helps with any parties you have coming up.

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