Decorating for children’s birthday parties has come a long way since pink and white gingham for girls and trucks for boys. Contemporary parties often represent the imagination and ideas of the guest of honor and features thematic imagery and interactive decorations. Involve your child in the birthday party-planning process, and set aside a special do-it-yourself project for the children to complete, such as painting a treasure chest gold, personalizing a long birthday banner or scattering sequins over the place settings.
Types
Most children’s birthday parties center around a theme. Children often opt for party decor that integrates cartoon or movie characters. Other common choices include western, princess, fairy, animals, transportation and pirates. Consider settings for children’s party decorations as well, such as under the sea, farms, the beach, city streets, castles, rainbows in the sky, the circus, carnivals or the enchanted forest. Cultures can also inspire party decor, with decorations celebrating places from around the world.
Features
Most children’s birthday parties feature the classic elements of balloons, streamers and a decorated cake. Have fun with these basics by populating the room with animal balloons or staging a water balloon fight. Create a tent of streamers or allow the children to wrap the room in streamers during the party. Rather than settle for a single cake, allow each child to customize a cupcake with toppings, such as colored icing, gummy worms, crushed cookies, miniature marshmallows and small candies.
Function
Make your birthday party decor inviting for guests by creating interactive settings. Hang a simple painted backdrop of the party’s theme over a table or on a wall and set up a picture-taking station. Make a large picture on poster board or cardboard and cut it up for the children to assemble. Give each child a few art supplies so she can create tissue paper flowers, glittery wands, pirate ships or other thematic pieces to decorate the party.
Benefits
Party decorations personalize the event. You don’t have to rely solely on purchased decor. You can mix and match a purchased decoration, such as a pinata, with child-created artwork and banners.
Potential
Consider decorating a birthday party with a contemporary theme. A Lego party can center around building structures. A forest fairy party can take place in a natural setting and involve building fairy houses. Throw a “High School Musical” party with microphones, instruments and a karaoke machine. At a garden-themed birthday party, children decorate small flower pots to take home.
Photo Credit
- pirate flag white image by Tomislav from Fotolia.com
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