Kids love a theme, so plan their birthday party around their favourite pastime or TV programme. If that means you have to dress up as Teletubbies, turn your back garden into the Wild West, or transform your living room into a kind of pink and purple marshmallow with spangles then you will have to grit your teeth and do so — it’s their big day!
It goes without saying that tablecloths, paper cups, hats and goody bags should all follow through your theme, so try not to do anything too obscure.
Little girls generally love the opportunity to don party frocks and shiny shoes, whereas little boys hate being trussed up like little turkeys in waistcoats and miniature bow ties (it goes along with being made to kiss aunties). Make sure that if you are having a dress code (e.g. fancy dress) that this is made clear on the invitation.
If you are planning any particular activities, make sure you let the parents know, especially if the activity requires any particular items of clothing (e.g. swimming costume, sensible shoes). The last thing you want is to end up taking 15 little girls in frilly dresses horse riding.
Wall-to-wall entertainment is key. Consider hiring in a professional entertainer — puppet shows and clowns go down well with tiny tots, whereas the older, more sophisticated child may prefer a disco or pottery painting.
Create your own "girly heaven" party by getting in boxes full of nail polish, eye shadows and hair accessories, the pinker and glitterier the better. Or transform your house into Hogwarts using Halloween decorations, and send the kids off on a treasure hunt, with various traps and pitfalls along the way of course!
Taking kids out for a party is often a good option. Swimming, soft play, or a trip to the zoo can all be fun, providing you have enough grown ups for crowd control. Or stick to good old fashioned party games like musical statues, pass the parcel, pin the tail on the donkey. The beauty of these is that you can "fix" the outcomes so the kid who isn’t really good at anything can win.
For kids' parties, it's best to stick to finger food, with tasty, healthy morsels to appeal to the pickiest of palates, such as miniature sandwiches, carrot sticks and cherry tomatoes. Of course, no birthday party is complete without sweets and crisps, but no parent will thank you for giving them back a child high as a kite on sugar and E numbers, so try to strike a balance.
Food can be themed to go with the rest of the party, whether by colour (pink jelly, pink icing) or by using clever names (Tubbie Toast, Every Flavour Beans).
Make sure you find out about any allergies beforehand, and as a rule of thumb it’s best to steer clear of nuts.
Offer a selection of cartons of fruit juice, smoothies and water. The cartons will minimise spills from paper cups that are incredibly easy to knock over even for grown ups, and smoothies can be mixed in different colours to match the party theme (pink for girly paradise, purple for Harry Potter).
| 1. | Two Little Boys / Rolf Harris
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| 2. | Remember You're a Womble / The Wombles |
| 3. | Angels with Dirty Faces / Sugababes
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| 4. | Spinning Around / Kylie Minogue
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| 5. | Barbie Girl / Aqua
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| 6. | Can We Fix It? / Bob the Builder
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| 7. | Sk8ter Boi / Avril Lavigne |
| 8. | Say Eh-Oh! / Teletubbies
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| 9. | Year 3000 / Busted
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| 10. | Tragedy / Steps
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