Party Planning!
Princess Charlotte has just celebrated her first birthday and we hope she had a wonderful day!
Do you love planning your childrens birthdays or is it a stress filled last minute dash to get nut free birthday cake for the child you forgot was allergic!
We love birthdays at Funky Giraffe so we have written some of our top tips to help you out.
Plan ahead! Write down all the food so you can buy and prepare in advance. Write down a selection of party games and even the music you want played. You can never do enough preparation.
Involve your child in the planning of their party. Children love to be involved and may have some ideas that can help you. They will have been to all their friends parties too so will have a good idea of what they want to see at theirs. Although dont let them write the plan as you may find yourself having to say no to a circus or the entire cast of Frozen!
Delegate. Make sure you ask people to help and give them detailed instructions of what you would like them to do. Make sure you are on hand to return the favour and help out at their parties too!
Decide on a venue. Parties at home are lovely but you may find that hiring a venue and having an entertainer causes less stress for you on the day.
Keep the food simple and try and keep away from food that might cause problems like peanut butter sandwiches. Snacks the children are familiar with are a good idea and you can always turn sandwiches in to interesting shapes using biscuit cutters.
Dont be pressured in to inviting too many children. Older children handle bigger crowds better than little ones so dont overwhelm them. The general rule of thumb is that the number of guests should be the age of your child plus one once your child is aged three and over, although it is always good to have an even number of children so nobody feels left out.
Party games often dont last as long as you think they might so make sure you have a couple of emergency games to keep everyone entertained.
Think about hiring an entertainer. Entertainers do just that, they keep the children entertained while you can concentrate on other things. Themed entertainers are very popular right now so you could hire your very own Spiderman or Princess Elsa to run all the party games.
Open presents once everyone has left as this will be something to look forward to once the party has finished and everyone has gone home. This also means there is less chance of losing the card that comes with the present so you will always know who to thank.
Enjoy yourself and your childs delight! Your children dont stay little very long so make sure you are there enjoying your little ones party. Take pictures, play games and eat cake and treat yourself to a hot bath and maybe a glass of wine when its all over!
We would love to hear your tips and ideas about planning the perfect party so feel free to send us your suggestions or write them on our facebook page.
