Each day your little baby grows and learns a little more and before you know it, a year has passed and your little baby is now a toddler or a school kid and is a whole year older. Each year of growth, knowledge and delight is worth celebrating and so you want to give your child a birthday party. But where to begin? Read on for our kids birthday party planning list!
1. Date
Probably the most important detail to nail down early is the date. Setting the date early allows you to book in locations, entertainment and food early enough that you won’t miss out. Also giving family and friends enough notice ensures the people you want to attend haven’t already made plans and will be able to make it!
Most people will hold parties on the weekend as that’s when most people are not working and therefore, can attend. However, if you know the people you want to attend will be available there is nothing to stop you hosting a party during the week and it may even be cheaper to do so as many companies run discounts mid week when business is quieter.
You may want to hold the party on the date of your child's birthday. However, from personal experience it is much easier to hold a party around your child’s birthday rather than on the actual birthday. Consider how much there is to organise, prepare and clean up on the day of the party as well as then trying to contend with getting everyone including your child ready when he / she just wants to play with the new toys they got that morning.
2. Location
Once you have decided when you will hold your kids birthday party, you need to decide where. There are so many places and things to consider when choosing a party location that we will dedicate a whole post to this in the future. However, for the purposes of this post different types of venue you want to consider for your kids birthday party include:
Your house / backyard
A local park
A community hall
Kids party room or venue hire
A kids playcentre
Each different venue will have different benefits / features. Important things to consider when deciding on what location to choose may include:
The space you will need
The time of the year and expected weather
Your budget
Location features
3. Time
An extremely important factor to consider when planning a kids birthday party is timing! As parents ourselves we know that timing is everything with kids especially with our littlest ones.
If your child is still napping during the day ensure you plan the party to start around an hour after their last nap so they are refreshed and ready to enjoy their party but also have had enough time to wake up!
Although some kids (especially those fuelled by party food!) seem to run like energiser bunnies and seem to be able to go all day, they do in fact tire easily and need to take some time to wind down. Allow 1-2 hours for your party. Any longer than this and you will most likely end up trying to deal with an overtired child!
4. Invite list
Once you have decided, when, where and what time you will need to decide who you want to invite. For the younger ages, the invite list may be predominantly made up of your friends and family. However, as your child gets older, this list will start to include their friends from daycare, playgroup or school and your friends and family may drop back to just your immediate family and maybe some of your closest friends.
When planning your invite list, remember to not only consider who you want to invite but also how many to invite. Your chosen location may have space restrictions, your budget will have limitations and too many people can get extremely overwhelming for you as host as well as your child.
5. Entertainment
Now you have the bare bones planned its time to flesh it out with the party entertainment. How will you keep your child and the invited kids entertained? There are so many options out there these days for kids birthday parties. It is important, however to decide this early so that you can book your chosen entertainment without disappointment of lack of availability. For example, we can book out our packages up to 4-6 weeks in advance!
Different ideas may include:
Hire kids toys and party equipment from us at Little Monkeys Party Hire
Hire entertainers such as magicians, character impersonators or face painters
Hire a play centre or jungle gym
Host a party at the zoo, AQWA or Scitech
Go roller skating or ice skating or tenpin bowling
Make and host your own party games
6. Remaining things to consider
By this stage of the planning, you know most of the details of the party. Depending on where, what time and what entertainment you are planning there are just a few last things to consider for your child’s party:
Food and drink – Consider the number of guests and the time of the party - will light snacks, finger food or more substantial food be required?
Cake – do you want something small for just the kids or something larger so that everyone can have some? Do you want something simple or do you want to hire a cake maker?
Decorations – do you have a theme? Do you want balloons? There are lots of event decoration specialists in Perth that can help you set up the perfect party.
Party Equipment – do you need kids tables and chairs? Do you need a gazebo? Little Monkeys Party Hire have a range of party equipment available for hire.
Party bags – do you want to provide the attending children with party bags? If so what will you put in there and how much do you want to spend?
7. Last but not least …… Invitations
Now you have all the details finalised its time to send out the invites. Remember to do this nice and early so that you can ensure all the people you want to attend are available! Also include an RSVP date as you may need to provide numbers to your chosen entertainment and you will be able to more accurately predict food and drink requirements!
There you have it 7 steps to planning a kids birthday party! Is there anything we missed or do you have any different ideas that you would like to share? If so please leave a comment below! Thanks for reading.
Love the Little Monkeys Party Hire team! xxx
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