Many people have asked me about my process for planning a kid's birthday party. Since I am in the process of planning Juliette's four year old party, I will take you along for the ride... This party hasn't happened yet; in fact we haven't even set a date, so be prepared for things to change!
Step One: Choose a Theme
For me, choosing a theme is a really important part of planning a party. This is not so things will be cute, will photograph nicely or so that I can advertise to the world how beautiful everything looked at a one-year-old's birthday party. (If you know me at all, you know how terrible I am at remembering to take pictures at any event. And obviously I am terribly inconsistent about blogging. Oh, and I can barely figure out how to use a computer.) There are tons of pictures online of beautiful birthday parties for children. I don't throw those kind of parties. I'm much more interested in children having a fun, age-appropriate time than having things impeccably beautiful. Plus, I am on a pretty strict budget. And these are kids. I think they are mostly interested in fun. For me, a theme keeps me organized and gives me direction. It keeps me on budget as well.
To me, a theme should ALWAYS be about what interests the child, not what's trendy. This is not a party for me; it's for my child. My kids are ALWAYS involved in the whole process of party planning, especially in choosing the theme. Sometimes my kids come up with the ideas themselves. Sometimes I peruse the internet for ideas and then give them choices, but they are always very much involved in this process. This is not to say I haven't rejected their ideas. Barbie has been rejected. So has ninja. And Ninjago. And pretty much anything involving weaponry. Or other children moving into my house. Or taking copious amounts of children to Disneyland.
Here are some of the different themes we've used:
Monkeys and Frogs (Annalise's two year old party where she wanted a bounce house)
Water Play (Zachary's two year old party. In July. It was hot. An obvious choice.)
Hearts (Juliette's second birthday, held on Valentine's Day)
Cooking (A's third. Lots of work. Both Mom and Mom-in-law vowed to never help with a party again. I learned to simplify.)
Zachiator Springs (Z's third. He was obsessed with Cars. We had bike races in the cul-de-sac. It was awesome.)
Construction (Z's fourth)
Fancy Nancy (A's fifth. Paraded in our finery around the cul-de-sac for our brand new neighbors. One thought I was the Rose Queen - from a distance, but still. I love her.)
Cheerleading (A's sixth. The high school cheerleaders did most of the work for me. Brilliant.)
Pirates (Z's sixth)
Treasure Hunt (A's seventh)
Camp Out (Z's seventh)
Carnival (A's eighth)
Disco (A's tenth)
For Juliette's fourth birthday party, I pinned a bunch of ideas on a general "Party" board on Pinterest and then let her decide. Since she is obsessed with artwork right now, an art theme became the obvious choice. And I think she loved the visual of the rainbows. So a rainbow art theme it became. Note! I saw the rainbow theme first, which I thought was beautiful, but what does one do with a rainbow theme???? I didn't really have any ideas for activities. A theme does not help me unless it gives me ideas for what the kids should do. If things look good but there's nothing to do, my house just gets destroyed. And that's not fun. Well maybe for the kids, but not for me. When I saw art-themed parties, I thought it would be great to combine the two ideas.
Step Two: Gather Ideas (The More the Better!)
Once we decided on the theme, I started pinning away. Here is a link to the Pinterest board I created:
http://pinterest.com/mellowlane/rainbow-art/
If you click on this link, you will see a lot of beautiful parties and other rainbow ideas. I have learned that my execution is rarely as beautiful as things are supposed to be. For example, there are some beautiful layered cakes on there. This would inevitably take me three times as long as it should to execute and will look much uglier than in should. I know my limitations. I will not attempt that cake!! If I were, I would assign it to someone else, like my unsuspecting sisters-in-law who were "asked" to make a pirate's chest cake. Also, the key to that cake is the slicing and I do not want a bunch of three and four year olds at my house who have had a slice of a six layered cake. With frosting. Gives me the shivers just thinking about it. Also, with a rainbow theme, there is a lot of food coloring involved inevitably. I could make my own dyes from beet juice and cherries, but I'm not that good. There will be food coloring in the cupcakes and maybe a drizzle on the popcorn if I do that. There will not be a candy bar with beautiful apothecary jars filled with multi-colored candies. Uh uh. Not going to happen. Looks beautiful. Takes lovely pictures, but, uh, no. Cupcakes are plenty.
Before Pinterest, I got a lot of ideas from this website:
http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com
It has a ton of themes and different real parties with invitation ideas, decorations, favors, activities, etc. I still use it, especially for activity ideas.
I write down (or pin! God bless Pinterest.) every good idea I see; way more than I will ever use. Better to have lots of ideas and have to narrow down than try to come up with ideas at the last minute.
This is my jumping off point. I usually do this much well in advance and then sit on the ideas for a while. I'm a sloooooooow thinker. I like to let ideas marinate for a while before I make decisions. Also, I almost never come up with my own clever ideas. I copy, copy, copy! Shamelessly! I use and abuse other people's ideas all the time. And I'm so not embarrassed to admit it. I take other people's brilliant, clever, creative ideas and make them my own.
Step Three: Make Lists
Making a list of food, activities, favors, etc. will help you focus on what you want to do at the party. It will help you see where you have holes and where you need to narrow down. Here is my list, so far, for Juliette's party:
Juliette’s Rainbow Party
Food Ideas
Rainbow
Cupcakes
Rainbow
of Fruit
Rainbow
of Raw Veggies in Ranch Dressing Cups
Rainbow
Popcorn
Cloud
Shaped Mini Sandwiches
Activity Ideas
Paint
Canvas for Juliette’s Room
Paint
Individual Canvases
Sand
and Chalk in Jars
Beaded
Bracelets
Homemade
Play Dough Table
Chalk
on the Driveway
Macaroni
Rainbow Art
Jar
Lid Ribbon/Button Streamers
Decorated
T-Shirts
Decoration Ideas
Rainbow
of Balloons
Tied
Fabric Rainbow Wreath
Fabric
Bunting
Rainbow
of flowers
Rainbow
Streamers
Homemade
Confetti Tablecloth
Favor Ideas and Take-Aways
Apron
Melted-down
Crayon Shapes
Sidewalk
Chalk
Box
of Crayons
Individual
Canvases
Bracelets
Rainbow
Book
Homemade
Play Dough, Rolling Pin and Cookie Cutter
Sand/Chalk
in Jar
Obviously this is way more ideas than I plan to do and maybe some brilliant idea will come to me in the meantime and I will do that instead. But you get the idea. Also, I'm really a pencil and paper kind of girl. I'd much rather use a notebook than a computer. However, I've learned that if I type things up, I can easily add a website right into my notes, click on it and there it is. I will probably eventually add a lot of links to this list to make my life easier when it comes to copying other people's brilliantocity or ordering supplies online.
I think that's enough information to get you started. Next I need to decide on a date and time, a guest list and invitations. I'll let you know if I get that far!
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