The thought of a children’s party at home, a huge dread, right? It doesn’t have to be, I promise!

Personally, I have at least one of my children’s birthday parties at home each year. One of which is definitely in June.

We’ve just had my sons 4th birthday party, and again it was at home.

Whenever I speak to other parents and say it’ll be at home, they seem to gasp in shock. ‘Oh rather you than me’ ‘All those children in your home? That’s a little crazy’ ‘But what about the clean up?’ ‘I could never have a party at home’.

I never think this. Speaking to a friend this afternoon, she said her son LOVED his time here on Saturday. The traditional games, the BBQ food, the freedom of the children to run around and do their own thing, making their own fun most of the time. I heard that from so many of the Mums. Happy days.

Every year I hear that the party goers have had ‘The best time ever! The best party they’ve been to!’. This will always surprise me as I have such high exceptions of myself and I’ve worked out now that I’m actually a bit of a control freak, which I never expected myself to be. But knowing the children have no expectations and that they just have had such a super fun time, that makes all the stress worth it.

But I’d like to blog a little on my tips for a successful, simple birthday party. I’ll leave lots of links throughout this blog from the places I used and I’m very happy with to help you find what can help you.

Balloons and decorations.
Buy in advance. Our party in June I always sort buying for in January. This way I don’t notice the money I’ve spent on it. A few pounds here and there doesn’t make a big difference. PLAN AHEAD!
You can never, ever go wrong with balloons and every party needs them.
The children will love holding them, popping them, playing catch with them and kicking them all over the place! I tend to buy a ton of them but I also like to save money so this year I purchased all of mine (around 150, but different kinds) from Amazon. This years theme was Plants VS Zombies.

Piñata.
Everyone loves a piñata, right? We have one every year and it’s always been a smash. Get it? Smash? Ok, ok, I’ll get my coat.
I order mine from eBay. I’ve always found a perfect party piñata to suit the theme thankfully, but did you know you can make it yourself too? I don’t want the huge plastic waste and toys that will be played with for 5 minutes, so I put in a bunch of sweets, enough for the amount of children attending and a few over.

Entertainment.

I keep my entertainment simple. This way the children can come and go as they please. One thing I always opt for is a party Face painter. 99% of children at the parties I hold will want their face painted, and if they don’t then there is always the option of body paint.
This year I decided to pay the extra for the lady who model balloons too, and what a hit they were. I hired Nikki from DazzleDust Face painting and not only was she a hit with all the little ones, but lots of adults had some painting done too. I had body art, and friends had some flowers down their faces.

The Cake.

 

The cake to me is the main part of the food table. I personally love an outstanding party cake. I love it to match my theme, and taste out of this world. The very talented Faridah from Jams Joint has made my last two years cakes and every invited to our party loves them. We always get a ‘WOW! That cake!’ and even though I’ve not made it, I definitely get proud haha! Don’t forget the candle!

Party Bags.
Keep them simple, don’t fill with a load of rubbish because it’s just more wasted money spent and the children won’t really bother with it for long. I buy paper bags and have stickers put on.
This year, they all received a balloon as always however, this time they had a balloon animal head! It’s simple. The pack includes the balloon, the cardboard stand for it to stay upright plus the stickers to make their face. It gives the child something to do when they get home and they seemed to really love it.
they had 2 sweets, a mini finger torch and an animal mask. Never any whistles here, my friend! What a nightmare they are.

Food.
BBQ. Always a hit. No one can complain about a good old fashioned BBQ, right? Burgers, Chicken drummers skewers, a delicious salad, pasta and nibbles. Everyones happy! Don’t forget the chocolate fingers, fairy cakes and chips! Classic. Also, remember your paper straws 🙂

Party games.

It’s fantastic for the children to run about and play on the slide etc, but I also love a traditional party game or 5!
Games I always plan for are Pass the parcel, musical bumps and musical chairs. the children love it, and it’s always something to bring laughter for them and the parents. It’s awesome to see how competitive the children are. I also added ‘Pop the Balloon’ this year. I added bits of paper inside with dares on like ‘act like a monkey, pretend to be your Dad’ ‘pull a face like a fish’. The children that did them, earnt a treat.

So as you see, it’s pretty simple. Written out, it looks a lot more but it’s really not. Buy ahead in little batches and store away.

When all is done, grab the bottle of wine you stored, head to the garden soak up the fact it’s all over until next year.

Don’t forget those birthday photos. It’s not just 1 year olds that need their birthday portrait, bring me the bigs! 

Simply message me today to discuss your session and I’ll be right with you.

Aimee.