Kids’ Birthday Party Ideas

Kids’ birthday parties can simultaneously be easy and hard to pull off. On the one hand, most children are easy to please. They are happy as long as they get to play and hang out with one another. On the other hand, you may have to entertain adults or get your creative fill from a party, too. Here are some ideas for kids’ birthday parties.

Paint Kids’ Faces

You, a friend, a relative, or someone you hire can paint the kids’ faces (the adults’ faces too, why not?). Designate a face painting booth or two, and have fun with it.

You can choose pre-set designs for the children that relate to the party theme or let them pick practically any design. When you shop face & body paint, look for stencils, especially if you do not have much experience and are doing the painting yourself.

Encourage Cosplay

If you like the face painting idea and want to take it to another level, then cosplay works great. It is short for “costume play,” and the children dress up as characters from a book, movie, TV show, or some other type of project. Cosplay is easy to incorporate into a theme, too.

Throw a Sleepover

Sleepovers are excellent for kids to socialize with one another. They also make for fun activities such as spa hour, baking, makeovers, or art.

Set up a Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger hunts are great activities at a birthday party no matter what type of party it is. You can customize them with the party’s theme in mind, adapt them for varying abilities, and offer prizes. Keep consolation prizes on hand to avoid screaming, upset children. The hunts get kids moving and working together and perhaps out of your hair just a little bit.

Do Something Active

If you want to get even more active, you could have the party at a rock climbing gym, ice rink, roller skating arena, bowling alley, or putt-putt course. You can use games to show the kids new skills. For example, the Twister variation on a rock climbing wall has the kids doing everything they would for the traditional game except they do it on a climbing wall.

Trampoline parks work well, too, but the risk of injury can be slightly higher than with other activities.

Get Science-y

If you love science and want to spread knowledge about it, you can have a lot of fun with science projects at kids’ parties. Kids love playing with textures, tastes, and smells. You could make bath bombs or slime, for example.

Plan Around the Budget

No worries if you lack the money to host a celebration for the ages. As mentioned earlier, kids really just want to have fun and laugh. They do not care about how expensive a party is. Try to avoid going into debt or racking up huge charges because of a party.

The best and most inexpensive time for a kids’ birthday party is usually 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Guests do not expect a meal since the party is between lunch and dinner. Free activities for the party include hot potato, charades, freeze dance, Simon says, and duck, duck, goose.

If your child has a close friend whose birthday falls right near your child’s, you could consider a dual party. You and the other family split the budget and hosting responsibilities. This scenario won’t always fly, of course, but could be worth considering.

If your child is very young, then you are probably just fine hosting a small gathering for close friends and family. Save your money for something else, or put the money you would have spent in your child’s college fund or savings account.

Choose a Theme

If you’re struggling to come up with ideas and locations, a theme could be what’s missing. Themes really do wonders in unifying parties, opening up natural paths to food, decor, entertainment, and venues.

Many times, children have their theme preferences. Otherwise, discuss with your children what theme they might like. Rainbows, unicorns, and their favorite animals or TV shows are possibilities. Even a color such as pink can be a great theme.

Don’t Sweat the Goody Bags

If you love assembling goody bags and have the money for them, keep at it. They can be really fun. Some parents hate them, though. They may create unnecessary stress and financial strain, take time the parents would rather spend on other things, and may kind of get ignored by guests in the end, anyway.

In other words, don’t sweat the goody bags. Stop giving them out if they are more headache than fun for you.

Kids’ birthday parties can be amazing but do often bring their share of stress and hassle. Parents may enjoy hosting them more when they incorporate activities such as face painting or science experiments that the parents already like doing. If money is an issue, don’t stress over the budget, and wait until another year to throw a party for a very young child.