How to plan your children's party

Make it Fun!
Having a children's party can be enjoyable or stress-full , here, I hope you will find tips and ideas to to not only make your party great, but to also make it an enjoyable experience from planning the party to the event itself.

Do you remember how exciting it was to have a party when you were a child?
Well it is exactly the same for your children, so why not get them involved? There are so many things you can do with your children to prepare for the party like making decorations, picking a theme, making a cake and so much more.
Birthday parties are a tradition but have you ever thought of having a Christmas children's party? You are decorating the house anyway so why not have a Christmas eve party?
Christmas Eve is a very long day for children and parents alike because there is so much to get ready and of course there is a special visitor expected.
So have a party, get in the Christmas spirit and spend time with your loved ones.

1

Setting a Budget for your Party

This is really important, how much can you afford to spend on your party? This can depend on the celebration, for example christmas parties can be done quite cheaply because more than likely you have already bought quite a lot of food and your house is already decorated whereas birthday parties are a once a year event (per child) and depending on when the birthday falls can influence your budget.

My advice - make out a short list of party expenses and allow a little room for extras. Make sure to include everything you need from party table wear to invitations, party food and any extra expenses such as loot bags and costumes if its a fancy dress party/

2

Pick a Date for Your Party
Choose a day that you know you will suit most people - its not much use to plan a party when many of the guests (or their parents) will be unavailable.
I always give myself at least three weeks planning time to allow plenty of notice to be given to guests (but not too much that people will forget) and send out invitations two weeks before the party. I also like to pick a day that I know I will have the day before the party free to make the final preparations.

3

Choosing a Party Theme
I always do this early to make sure I give myself enough time to gather the party supplies I need, and generally for the best range I buy online. There are thousands of party themes available, a much better selection than you can find in your local store. Recently I discovered a great selection of party supplies, its a box set of everything you could need for your party. Here are some of their most popular Ultimate Party Packs.

Toy Story 3 - 3D Ultimate Party Pack
The toy story 3 ultimate party package includes:
(8) invitations, 3D dinner plates, 3D cups, forks, spoons, activity placemats, (16) 3D lunch napkins, Toy Story 3 - 3D tablecover, 3D centerpiece, foil balloon, (18) balloons (3 colors), crepe paper rolls (3 colors), curling ribbon (3 colors), star confetti and cake candles. Also includes 8 pair of 3D glasses to view the 3D items

Birthday Princess Ultimate Party Package
The Princess Party Package includes:
8 invitations and thank-you notes, dinner plates, cups, forks, spoons, activity placemats, 16 napkins, tablecover, centerpiece, foil balloon, 18 balloons (3 colors), crepe paper rolls (3 colors), curling ribbon (3 colors), confetti and cake candles. You'll also receive the piñata and fillers, 8 boxes with favors, princess goblets, silver wands and tiaras, princess watches and dessert plates


See the Full Range of Party Packages Here

4

Planning a Party Menu Decide on the party food you are going to serve well in advance. Make out your party food shopping list and plan the day you will need to shop for these items.

5

Send out The Party Invitations You can make your own invitations with your children, they will enjoy helping or alternatively you can download printable invitations from many websites or if you are stuck for time you can buy invitations, but try and stick to the theme of your party especially if its a fancy dress party so your guests are aware of the theme.

6

Choose your Party Decorations
Go with your theme here, decorations can be as simple as colourful balloons and streamers or you can use childrens posters of their favourite characters to brighten up the party room.

7

~Enlist a Friend
This is not essential but it can be a great help. Extra adult helpers for the day can help organise the party games, help mind the children or help serve the food. I always like to invite my guests parents along to the party, some parents are more comfortable staying with young children too.

8

The Day Before the Party
The day before the party is the day I like to do the food shopping so nothing spoils, I also prepare any food that can be easily stored, clear the area of anything that is not necessary to the party and ring around to check attendance.
This is also the day I bake the cake or cupcakes etc, my children love the day before, they love to help with the preperations, even the tidying!
We put on some music, bake our cake (sampling as we go) tidy and clear away anything we dont need and put up any decorations for the next day.

9

The Party

The big day at last and to be honest there is not always a lot left to do, this is where your enlisted friend can be most usefull! A short visit to the park or playground with their aunt/friends mother helps the children relax before the party and makes the wait for them much shorter,
This is also your chance to relax a little and sit down before you finish the preperations.
The last things I do before the party are really just setting the table, cook the food (if I am serving hot food) make the sandwiches and fill the party bags for later.

So thats all there is to it! Ok it can be a lot of work, but hopefully you will enjoy making the plans and of course the party itself.

Remember relax and have fun, we adults need an excuse sometimes to unwind and let ourselves enjoy life and nobody knows how to do that better than our children so copy their example and enjoy!

Party queen cakes

Ingredients

225g soft margarine
tsp baking powder
225g self raising flour
225g castor sugar
milk
Method

Preheat oven to 200c
Sieve flour and baking powder into a bowl
Cream the margarine and sugar in a separate bowl
Beat the eggs
Gradually add flour and eggs to the margarine and sugar
Beat well
Add a little milk if mixture is too dry
Divide mixture into bun cases
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes
you can decorated the queencakes with any different icings, or serve warm with icecream or cream

Homemade chicken dippers

This is a really easy recipe and a good one to let the kids help with
One medium chicken fillet makes 4 to 5 dippers

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts/fillets
1 large egg
50g plain flour
breadcrumbs

Method

Slice the chicken fillets into strips
coat each strip in flour
dip each floured strip in the beaten egg and then coat with the breadcrumbs
bake in the oven at 190 degrees c for 20 to 25 minutes
serve with dip