Kids love birthday parties. They love having them. They love going to them. Next time you need to plan a party, harness that excitement, and get your kids involved. They can help plan their own or their family members’ parties. Their ideas might not always be perfect, but they will be full of love and energy.
Theme
Kids can be creative. You might be stuck on the traditional primary colors and balloons theme. Kids spend a lot of time thinking and dreaming about parties. Maybe they recently read about a great idea in a book or thought something up in a recent day dream. Kids are aware of the latest trends. They can ensure that you choose a cool, acceptable theme.
Invitations
If your kid loves crafts, enlist her help in designing and making invitations. Craft stores are full of papers, stickers and stamps in every theme and color. Purchase some supplies and give her full responsibility, if you trust her. Her creative license may compel her to make more extraordinary invitations than you had planned, but the challenge will give her some empowerment, and you will end up with special invitations.
Food
Get kids involved in the food preparations. Find out what kind of snacks the guests might enjoy. Pick out ingredients for a trail mix. Such ingredients might include dry cereal, dried fruit, small hard candies, chocolate and other flavored chips, small crackers and nuts. Let your child measure out how much of each ingredient he wants and mix them in a large bowl. Kids can also pick out a cake from the local bakery or help you decorate one–with careful supervision.
Activities
Kids know themselves and their peers better than you do. Consult with them to determine what they think kids would like to do at the party. What you think sounds like a fun idea for everyone could be rather lame. A clown might not be as cool as a lizard keeper and a bouncy house might be so last year. Talking with kids will guarantee your guests will be delighted by your party activities, rather than bored and antsy.
Reining In
Kids have great imaginations. Unfortunately, their dreams are not always attainable. Give your child a number of options from which to choose. This works especially well with little partiers who may be overwhelmed by the number of choices. Make it easier for them by limiting the choices.
Photo Credit
- birthday party image by Liz Van Steenburgh from Fotolia.com
