Hosting a successful children's party doesn't happen by magic. Like any other type of entertaining, it takes careful planning and organizing. It is a great idea to involve the birthday child in the planning, but as children don't have the experience in party planning, it will be up to you to guide the plans. And a lot of it will depend on your powers of persuasion!
A successful children's party must include the children's favourite food and lots of fun and exciting game time. Both the food and games will vary according to the age of the children. When planning the party, consider the four basic age groups: under 3 years; 4 to 6 years; 7 to 12 years; and teens.
The under 3 toddler may still be a bit shy. The party should consist of grandparents, relatives and friends with a child around the same age as the birthday child. To make little ones feel more secure, invite them to bring along their favourite teddy bear to the party. Use a paper table cloth and supply the children with crayons to draw or scribble on the cloth. The perfect cake for this age group is the cone cupcake. It's easy to make and decorate and easy for small hands to handle. Use the flat bottom cone and cook the cake batter right in the cone. You may also want to have a regular size cake for the adults.
The 4 to 6 year olds are now starting to make friends at school. There still may be a few that are shy, but most will be outgoing and look forward to fun and games. A reliable game is always the pin the tail on. Make up your own variation game by having an artist friend or family member, (or yourself) draw a fish to pin to a picture of a lake, or a dinosaur picture to pin the tail on. For girls, have a paper doll drawing taped to the wall and have them pin on her hat. The 4 to 6 year olds also like action games. Have them march to music doing actions: hands on hips, hands over their head, hand on their head, walk backwards, walk on tip toes, baby steps, giant steps, etc. Children love to dress up, so you could have a dress-up box and give them time to pick out something to wear. Let them parade around in a circle and have someone judge them. Give out prizes for prettiest, funniest, scariest, etc.
The 7 to 12 year olds may wish to have all girls or all boys at their party. They will have made a lot of friends at school and will likely have a long list of friends to invite. You may want to cut the list off at 8 or 10, unless you have a friend or relative to give you a helping hand. This age group is full of energy, so you will need to run the party at a good pace. The 7 to 12 year olds are competitive by nature, so have several team games planned such as relay races. You can use pretty much anything for a relay race. If you have more than one relay race, be sure to re-choose the teams for the second race. Have ribbons or some little prize for the winners. This age group loves pizza, so surprise them and let them make their very own pizza. Start with mini pizza shells, and 3 or 4 toppings to choose from. They will love making their own and this will be the highlight of the party!
For any of these parties, a novel idea is to include some entertainment, such as a clown to carry out some of the games or a story time for the younger children. A sketch artist could sketch the children, or a guitarist or an accordionist could conduct a sing song.
A birthday party is made even more special with lots of decorations. The more festive it is, the more exciting the party is for the children. Colorful balloons, streamers, paper hats or picture cutouts to create a theme can be used to enhance the day.
Always have lots of favours and prizes as children love to win something. And don't forget the customary loot bag for your child to hand out to the children as they depart. Use some of my ideas above to have a super fun party for your child!
by Lesley R. Nuttall, from The Country Register, May/June 2006
The Cone Cupcake recipe is on the site with other party and game ideas to try.