Feeling the pressure to throw an amazing, Pinterest-worthy birthday party for your child this year? Try to put aside the traditional mom guilt for a moment and remain calm.
There are ways to make sure your child has a memorable, awesome day with their friends without killing yourself sitting up all night crafting hand-made invitations and sophisticated themed decor. With the right approach you can throw a party your kid will love without throwing yourself into a nervous breakdown.
1. Get one central entertainment piece
If you’re throwing a party for younger children, there’s no need to spend a fortune on multiple entertainment stations or vendors to keep things exciting.
You can choose one investment rental, like a kids jumping castle sydney, and you’re pretty much guaranteed a group of deliriously happy children.
As long as they can bounce up and down for an hour or so and then refresh themselves with lots of treats and drinks during strategic breaks, everyone’s a winner and you’ve saved yourself a fortune.
2. Choose a non-home venue
A lot of the stressful side of party organisation comes from the setting up and cleaning up, right? That’s why holding a child’s party at an away-from-home venue can be a good call.
You may have to spend money on soft play centre for the morning or a local hall, but you’ll save yourself a huge amount of trouble when it comes to vacuuming snack fragments out of your carpet.
Not all venues have to cost money either – if you’re lucky enough to have a summer child, just head to a park, set up a picnic and have your party for free.
3. Don’t go overboard when they’re tiny
Those first few birthdays can feel really exciting as a parent, but it’s worth remembering that your children are very unlikely to remember them at all. Unless you’ve got a huge budget and love planning parties<, this is the best time to keep things low-key.
Invite their favourite baby buddies over, throw on some kiddie tunes, set up some age-appropriate snacks and bring out the cake and candles for the big photo moment. Think of it as a big play-date with more photos and you’ll feel a whole lot more zen about the whole event.
4. Simplify the guest list
Once your child is school-aged, you shouldn’t have to worry about who to invite. It’s generally appropriate to invite your child’s whole class group to avoid any hurt feelings, so simply ask for a contact list from your child’s teacher and send out bulk invitations with RSVP requests. This way you’ll know exactly how many people to expect and can plan accordingly.
5. Limit the time-frame
Kids don’t tend to do well with long parties. One of the most anxiety-inducing aspects of your child’s birthday party often comes on the day itself – when you’re attempting to keep a group of kids entertained and happy all while trying to make sure your child has the best day ever.
This is much easier if you have a time limit on the event. For smaller children, limit the party to just a couple of hours – any longer and you’ll be dealing with whiny toddlers ready for a nap instead of a group of happy children.