The Imperfect Mom's Guide to a Perfect Birthday Party

By Kathi Walker

It’s a common tale... your child dreams of a memorable birthday party but the thought of planning such a party makes you want to run for the hills. Don’t take off just yet! This book will give you the tips and tricks necessary to throw the party of the year without losing your savings or your sanity. How do you keep a houseful of children from getting bored and wreaking havoc on your house? Check. What’s the best party structure for each age group? Check. How do you throw a great party without having to become a pinterest guru? Check. How do you prevent (or deal with!) the meltdowns that are so common at children’s birthday parties? Check. I’ve also included party themes for each age group that build on my tips and tricks, with creative ideas for invitations, decorating, games, activities, treat bags, and more! Plus, they’re easily customizable, so you can use the theme as is, or mix and match... whatever works best for you. This guide brings the fun back into birthday parties, both for you and for your child!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kathi Walker
• Release date: Feb 25, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370377688

Book preview

The Imperfect Mom's Guide to a Perfect Birthday Party

Published by Kathi Walker at Smashwords

Copyright 2017 Kathi Walker

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Introduction: To Party or Not to Party…That Is the Question

Chapter 1: What Goes Into a Successful Party, Anyway?

Chapter 2: The Party Schedule

Chapter 3: Timesavers for the Busy Mom

Chapter 4: Perfect Parties on a Budget

Chapter 5: Perfect Party Themes

Babies and Toddlers

Games

Singing Games

Hand Rhymes

Preschool Children

Arts and Crafts Party

Bug Party

Doggie Party

Fishing Party

Old MacDonald’s Farm Party

Grade School Children

Circus Party

Dinosaur Party

Fairyland Party

Pirate Party

Upside-down, Backwards Party

Preteens

50s Sock Hop Party

Age of Aquarius Party

Arts and Crafts Party

Back to the 60s Party

Harry Potter Party

Teens

Backyard Beach Party

Glamour Shots Party

Hawaiian Luau Party

Murder Mystery Party

Survivor Party

Chapter 6: Outside Party Venues

Conclusion: Breathe a Big Sigh of Relief

Appendix: Additional Resources

About Kathi Walker

To Party or Not to Party…That Is the Question

A couple of months ago, I was approached by my 9 year old son. Mom, he said, Do I get a birthday party this year?

I had the overwhelming desire to reply something to the effect of, Honey… I’ll have a dozen 9 year olds running around my house sometime after pigs learn to fly. I didn’t, of course, but the desire was there.

I love birthdays; I love my birthday and I love my children’s birthdays. It’s a time for celebration, for remembering the wonderful, unique gifts each of my children brings into my life. Why, then, does the thought of throwing them a birthday party fill me with such dread?

As parents, we’ve all had our share of bad birthday party experiences. (If you’re reading this and you’re not a parent, I don’t mean to exclude you; I’m sure you’ve had bad experiences, too!) Children who burst into tears in the middle of a party (either their own or someone else’s) … outdoor parties that should have included an ark… games that sounded like a blast but turned out to sink faster than the Titanic. What is a mother or father to do?

Well, as I investigated my birthday party dilemma, I realized that there are tricks to making a child’s birthday party less stressful - in fact, it could even be fun! Thus, this book was born. Our children deserve fun, creative birthday parties, and we deserve to be sane at the end of them. So here’s a complete guide to making your child’s next party the best one ever… for both of you!

Chapter 1

What Goes Into a Successful Party, Anyway?

Shannon decides to have a birthday party for her four year old son, Alex. An hour into the party, ten four year olds have broken a lamp, two figurines and torn a hole in Alex’s favorite stuffed animal. Alex has retreated into his room in tears, the presents are lying in a half opened heap on the floor, and Shannon is on the verge of tears. What went wrong?

Most birthday parties fall apart as a result of poor planning. Shannon just didn’t know enough about birthday party plans to keep the party from degenerating into chaos. This chapter examines the various parts of the birthday party: How many children should I invite? What games should I have? Should I hire an entertainer? Do I serve lunch or just cake? I’ll give you some things to think about, as well and tips and tricks to make your party turn out just the way you want it.

What’s this Party About?

Every party needs a theme…something to build the decorations and games around. The extent that you use your theme is completely up to you. Some people like to choose a theme and make everything from the decorations to the game to the cake fit with that theme. Others find a basic theme for decorations, and maybe the cake, and leave the rest to their imagination. Either way, a theme helps to pull the party together and give it structure.

You can use just about anything for a birthday party theme. The important thing is to involve the birthday child as much as possible. Obviously, a toddler isn’t capable of making party decisions yet, but you know your child and what he or she likes to play with. Center your theme around dolls, or bears, or maybe Sesame Street…whatever your child seems to like the most. Older children are perfectly capable of telling you exactly how they want their party to be. Usually in exhausting detail. You may or may not be able to incorporate all their ideas, but it’s important to involve him or her in the planning process. There’s nothing worse than a disappointed birthday child who wanted a dinosaur party and ended up with fire trucks.

Who Should I Invite?

There’s a general party rule that states you should invite as many children as your child is old. For example, if your child is turning five, he or she should invite five children to the party. You and I both know that it won’t exactly work out that way, but it’s a good guideline and it helps keep the party manageable.

When it comes to children’s parties, more is definitely not better. Entertaining a handful of 8 year olds is completely different than entertaining the entire school class. The older your child gets, the more say he or she will want in the guest list. But it is your job as a parent to put on the brakes if the guest list keeps multiplying.

When looking over the children to be invited, make sure they know each other. When I was young, I invited children from my neighborhood to my parties, and we all knew and played together. In today’s world, children have friends from many different activities, such as dance, soccer, school, etc. If your child invites one little girl from dance class and the rest from her school class, you’ll have a potential problem on your hands. Its best if each child invited knows at least one other child, not counting the birthday child. That way, everyone will have a friend to talk to and socialize with, even if they don’t know everybody at the party.

Many families invite cousins or friends of the family to their birthday parties, especially if they are close to the same age. This works best when children are young and don’t have a strong preference as to who they want at their party. As children get older, it’s a good idea to let them decide. Let your child choose their friends and their guest list, and your party will be much more peaceful.

How Long Should This Shindig Go On?

A common birthday party mistake is planning the party for too long of a time. Children, especially small children, don’t have a very long attention span. It’s better to throw a short party where everyone is occupied and having fun rather than to have a long party with restless, bored children.

Toddlers and preschoolers lose their focus quickly. Games rarely last more than five minutes each, and small children do not play together well for long periods of time. One hour birthday parties are perfect for this age.

Younger grade school children, about ages 5-7, play together better and can concentrate on games longer. Still, 1½ hours should be plenty of time to have a fabulous birthday party.

Older grade school children, about ages 8-10, possess the social skills necessary for longer parties. Two hours gives them time to play and have fun, while not overloading you, the party planner.

If the party has been planned correctly, preteens and teens pretty much take over their own parties, with minimal effort on your part. Celebrations for this age group can last anywhere from 3 hours to overnight…whatever you’re comfortable with.

How Do I Get People There?

Obviously, if you don’t invite anyone to your party, no one will come. Invitations, in whatever form you choose, are an important ingredient to a successful party.

Invitations can be as easy or as complicated as you want to make them. If you’re short on time, party stores have a great selection of pre-made invitations that you just fill out. Of course, that type of invitation isn’t as personal as something you make yourself. But only you can budget your time and energy: perhaps your energy would be better spent on another element of the party. Whatever type of invitation you choose, make sure they say the date of the party, the time of the party, where it is, and a phone number for them to RSVP if you would like them to. Also, be sure to mention that it’s a birthday party. You’d be surprised at how many people forget that.

If you are including children that don’t know exactly where you live, it’s a good idea to include a map to your house. It doesn’t need to be complicated…in fact, the easiest way would be to visit Google Maps and print out a map with directions. You can create one general map, or if you have ten extra minutes you could go the extra mile and print out individual maps with precise directions from your guest’s house to yours.

Although it’s tempting to just send invitations to school with your child, this rarely if ever works out well. Invariably, someone will feel hurt and left out. It takes an extra step, and a little bit of money for postage, but mailing the invitations to each guest’s house works much, much better.

The party invitations should match the party theme. Obviously, if you are buying your invitations, you go to the store, fill out the information, mail them, and you’re done. But if you want to go the extra step and make your invitations, here are a few ideas. In addition to the ideas below, all of the party themes in this book contain specific ideas for invitations pertaining to that theme.

If you are giving a party with a popular character, such as Blues Clues or Sesame Street, you could put together a coloring book for your guests. Go online and find coloring pages for the character. Print them out, add a box of crayons, and you’ve got yourself an invitation. Your children’s party guests are bound to remember that one for a long time!

Another possibility would be to blow up a balloon, write the party information on it, and deflate the balloon. Put it in an envelope and mail to your guests. They’ll have a balloon, which children love, and they’ll