I don’t know about you, but I tend to get stressed when my daughter’s birthday is right around the corner. I’m always trying to find a balance between getting creative and adding personal touches to the party, without getting too ambitious. 

My daughter just turned 4, and we had a really fun party, so I’m going to share some ideas with you that made for a great party experience! (May I add her theme was “Princess-Fairy-Cowboy-Cowgirl” party – go figure?)

1. Party Location

We debated where to have our party, and finally decided to have it at our home.  Even though that meant a little extra work cleaning up the house, it was really fun having everyone in our backyard.  It felt very intimate.  However, choosing a location like a kids gym or a kids plays space is also a great option if you don’t want a house full of kids!  And many of these places include extras like decorations, goodie bags and even food!  It’s going to cost more, but sometimes that cost is worth it!  A park is great too, just find out if you need to make a reservation ahead of time!

2. Fun Entertainment

We’ve been to a lot of parties where there is face painting and magic shows.  We love all that, but this year we wanted to do something different.  We hired an amazing local kids band, Story Time Fun Land, to come play and they were a huge hit!  The kids were dancing and having fun, and “Ticket Taker Mindy” and “Train Conductor Daniel” were awesome.  Their songs are catchy, fun, and so kid friendly!  After the show, I had about every parent asking me for their contact info for their next birthday party! 

3. Yummy Food

In the past I’ve made all the food, and boy, is that a lot of work, so this year I looked into other options.  Membership clubs like Costco are always a good idea, but you still have to do a little work.  We looked into catering companies, but they were pretty expensive, so we decided on our local grocery store, Gelson’s, for the catering, and it was great!  All we had to do was order the food ahead of time and pick it up – easy breezy!  They had so many family friendly options like PB&J, fruit and veggie platters, kid-friendly chicken skewers, and everything was displayed so beautifully and tasted delicious.  I wasn’t stressed about making the food, and everyone really enjoyed it.   Checking out your local grocery store is definitely a good and easy option!

4. Creative Decorations

This year, I really had fun turning garment moving boxes into fun play spaces like “Sheriff Lily’s Jail” and “Lily’s Princess Fairy Castle.”  I found the idea online, and they were really easy to make.  My daughter had fun helping me, and the kids had a blast running in and out of them.  Once you have a theme, search the internet for creative ways to decorate – there are so many out there, and this can really make the party personalized, and make for great photo opts.

5. Goodie Bags 

One fun idea is to set up a craft area and then let the kids take that home as their goodie.  This year we found fairy wings and sheriff badges at the dollar store.  Another great place to look for inexpensive goodie bag items is the Oriental Trading Company: they have so much to choose from for almost any theme!

6. Lastly, the Cake

Every year my daughter helps me make cupcakes; it’s become a tradition that’s fun for us to do together.  Finding recipes that combine cake mixes with extra ingredients saves lots of time, taste great and gives box cupcakes a homemade feel.

I hope these ideas help you to create a party that your kids will love and remember!