Guide to Planning a Birthday Party

Preparation Period

To be able to pull an exciting birthday party together at a relaxed pace, you need to plan about 4-6 weeks ahead. This time frame will also help you buy the party supplies as part of your shopping trips and not cram at the last minute to buy them.

Theme

The theme will give the framework for your child’s party. It will also serve as your guide as you plan the flow of the party. The theme should be appropriate to your child’s age and interest.

Date

It is best to hold the party on a weekend, preferably a Saturday so you’ll have the Sunday to rest. Although a Sunday party will give you more time to prepare, though. You just have to start it in the afternoon so it won’t conflict with church activities. A weekend party will surely be well attended than a party held on a weekday.

However, you have to have to check the date on your child’s guests to make sure that most of them are available. There’s nothing more disappointing for a child than to have a party with only a few friends in attendance.

Venue

You can choose to have the party at home or at an outside facility. You just have to consider potential safety issues. You need to balance convenience and safety. A home party is convenient because supplies are close at hand and the guests are familiar with the place. They will easily engage when the activities begin. The only concern is the cleaning up afterward. A party held on an outside facility like a park or a picnic ground may be more fun but may take more of your crowd control skills to make sure that the party goes as planned without anyone getting hurt or damaging something.

Duration

Some parties may be ideal for an hour or two especially if the guests are younger kids. But for a birthday party with older guests, three hours is usually the ideal length of the celebration. It won’t feel rushed or dragging. It will give you enough time to do all the prepared activities but not too long that guests become bored and unruly.

Guests

Guests should be determined by your child to make sure that it will really be a memorable event for him/her. Although you can add some kids on the list, if ever some of your child’s friends won’t be able to make it. It is also good to invite the siblings and parents of your child’s friends to make the party livelier. Also, do not forget to RSVP so that you can prepare appropriately the food and space.

Activities

A child’s party is mainly composed of Games, Activities and Food. When it comes to food, children don’t eat much so do not allocate a lot of time in the program for refreshment time.

Budget

You can allot about $5-20 per child. The cost depends on the type of party you’ll have. The cost is higher if you do it on a paid outside facility, hire entertainers, serve full meals and give elaborate prizes and favor bags. But if you choose a freelocation and facilitate the activities yourself and limit refreshments to ice-cream, cake and drinks, the cost per child will be lower.