Planning a Birthday Party - Introduction

If this is the first birthday party you have ever done for a child, you are understandably nervous. If you have done a few before and they always turn out to be a disaster, you are probably just as nervous.

The prospect of giving ANY party is a bit daunting. You want everything to be just right, and you want your guests to have a good time. 

If you are giving a party for a child, ages one through ten, you have the extra burden of planning a safe, happy and successful party for young children who may be cranky, wild, starving or just plain unruly on the day of the party. Many questions will arise like:

• Will you have enough food?
• How will you keep track of all those kids?
• What activities should you plan to keep the children entertained, busy and safe at the same time?

These are just some of the questions you will ask yourself as the day of the party draws near. 

Don’t leave any of these things to chance!

You will be happy to know that, with a little advance planning, and some creative ideas, you can make your child’s birthday party the hit of the neighborhood and schoolyard. It really isn’t very difficult!

In essence, a party planning involve 3 MAJOR plannings:
1.Venue (and decorations)
2.Food
3.Entertainment

Sometimes, the I have recommended parent to go to One-Stop Party places like MacDonald’s, KFC and other kid’s dining areas. These areas do plan all the above 3 for you. It’s almost a ‘sit-back and relax’ kind of thing. Even if you have settled with point 1 and 2, that’s more than 50% work done! If you want to save time, this is a good route to go and it is perfect for pre-school kids.

However, if you are looking at more elaborate planning, you should read on.

Here are some of the important topics that you should look at:

• It All Starts With The Plan
  
  Before you put your plan on paper, you have to think through the basics. At the end of this section, I will provide some sample ‘templates’ to capture all the information as you get organized. You can use these to develop your final plan for the party.
• Party Length And Schedule
  
  There are three major components to a schedule of a birthday party and you should plan them in the following order: Games/Activities, Food/Cake, Opening Presents
• Rent or Buy Services and Supplies
  
  Even if you are not planning to hire services or to rent supplies, you may want to review this section anyway. If you have the lead-time to order the packages online, you can avoid shopping for items to match your theme
• Holding Your Party Off-Site
  
  First thing to note: I don’t recommend holding an ‘off-site’ birthday party for very young children (1-3) as the chaos and unfamiliarity of the surroundings are bound to make your child or one of his guests cranky, shy or unreasonable.
• Parties on a Shoestring
  
  If you need to keep costs low but you still want a special birthday party for your child, there are a number of things you can do to stay ‘on budget’.
• Age Considerations
  
  Before you draw up your guest list and send invitations, be sure you consider the age of your child and the guests you are inviting. If all the guests at the party will be around your child’s age, the formula is pretty simple
• Invitations
  
  Invitations can be as simple and inexpensive OR as elaborate as your creativity and budget will allow.
• Guest List
  
  Now that you have decided how you want to handle invitations, let’s think about the guest list. Remember to consider the age ranges as you put the list together.