Category: Parties

Party Themes Both Boys and Girls Will Love

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Throwing a children’s party for your little ones should be an enjoyable experience. However, it can be surprisingly stressful, raising questions such as ‘should I invite the whole class?’ and ‘how can I pick a theme that everyone will enjoy?” Many small children will have both boys and girls as friends, and, of course, if you do decide to invite the whole class (often the most diplomatic solution) it will usually be a mix-gendered group. With many common party themes, such as princesses or pirates, being gendered, it can be difficult to decide on a theme that will please everyone.

To give you a helping hand, here are three of our most popular unisex themes. 

Sea Life

Ever since Finding Nemo splashed onto our cinema screens in 2003 (has it really been that long?!) kids have been fascinated by the colourful characters in our oceans. This party theme provides plenty of opportunity for creativity and is suitable for all ages.

Fancy Dress

Ask all of the children to come dressed as a sea creature – whether that is whales, sharks or fish. It may be helpful to theme the fancy dress on Finding Nemo, so that each child can come as their favourite character.

The outfits don’t have to be overcomplicated. For example, you can create a great clown fish costume by pairing an orange t-shirt and tights, attaching fins made from orange painted cardboard and getting creative with face paint. Alternatively, you can try this great fish face painting ideas.

Decorations

To create your underwater kingdom, try hanging tissue paper streamers from the walls in different shades of blue and green. Buy seashells online or from craft stores (or pop down to the beach if there’s one close by!) and dot them around the room.

A fun activity to do with the kids is making fish streamers – cut out fish and starfish shapes from coloured card, and then stick them to streamers of blue tissue paper to hang around the room.

Games: Going Fishing

This game requires a little preparation but is well worth it.

–  Before the party, make a fishing rod by tying one end of a length of string to a magnet and the other to a pole.

–  Cut out fish and at least one paper octopus from coloured card, and attach a paper clip to each one.

– Place all of the fish in a large container and blindfold each child when it’s their turn to ‘fish’. Whoever manages to ‘catch’ the octopus gets a prize.

Party Bag Fillers

For an ocean theme, beach buckets are the perfect containers for party bag fillers.      

What Not to Do

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Sometimes the best way of doing something well is to learn a few things that you should avoid doing. By discovering certain practices and helpful pointers, you can make your whole children’s party planning process a lot less stressful and you can ensure thing go as smoothly as possible.

Whether you are organising a celebration for your child’s birthday, a party to wash away the winter blues, or an event for any other occasion; here are some things you may want to avoid.

Inviting Too Many Guests

The stresses involved on the day of your party are likely to be directly proportionate to the amount of children you invite. Whilst it’s often a good idea to invite everyone in your child’s class, to avoid anyone feeling like they have been left out, this will ultimately depend on the space you have available and the amount of other parents you have managed to rope into helping you out. If the party is going to be staged in a small room or you only have limited help available, it may be wise to restrict the number of little guests so that things are a bit more manageable on the day.

Eating too early

One of the most anticipated and important parts of any kid’s party is the food, but if you offer this up too early then you could struggle to regain order amongst the troops. Instead, it is a good idea to build up to the food and have it near the end of the event. This way if anyone spills anything down them they haven’t got to sit through the rest of the party in dirty clothes, and you won’t have to try and get them settled again before they go home to their parents.

Trying to Do Everything Yourself

Although you will be proud of the party you have planned, there is a danger that doing everything yourself will make it a much more stressful process. This is especially true on the day. After you have put in all the effort prior to the occasion, why not take some time to relax during the actual event?

Ignoring The Wishes of Your Child

Although you will be doing most of the planning, the main aim of the party is to give your child the best time they could wish for. This means that you should think about them in every decision you make. There is little point in wasting money on expensive decorations and gourmet food if all they would like is a few balloons and their favourite snacks. It’s always a good idea to ask them their preferences for the party – maybe give them 3 or 4 suggestions to choose from so it helps with the decision making process, and then you can guarantee they are going to love whatever you plan for them. More importantly, it also means you’ve involved them in the process and it makes them feel much more like it’s their party. Try to avoid going to the other extreme though and allowing your child to have all the say, and giving them too much choice, or you may struggle to make any decisions about the party.

Plan a Treasure Hunt

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Give your child an adventure from your own home with an exciting treasure hunt! It’s a great way to get them exploring and using their imagination, with lots of treats and games thrown in! They require a little preparation to plan the perfect clues, but they’re a great addition to any children’s birthday party and it will all be worth it when you see their little faces light up every time they find a clue or prize!

Planning the Clues

You could just have a free-for-all like a traditional Easter egg hunt, where there are no clues and the kids just explore the house and garden for small hidden sweets or prizes, but we think it’s more fun when the kids get together in teams to work together and solve a puzzle. Then the excitement can really build whilst they work their way to the grand finale!

You can make riddles and rhymes to point them in the right direction of the next clue, and you can vary the difficulty of the clues depending on the age group of the party. Perhaps you could try a word game where each location has a riddle with the first letter of each answer spelling the location of the final treasure.

Themes

Basing your treasure hunt around a theme all adds to the fun and gives the adult planners some inspiration for coming up with the clues and prizes! Here are some examples of how you can incorporate a theme, or take a look at the themes of our children’s parties here for more ideas.

Pirates

A pirate theme is a classic where the kids have to find clues to take them to the final treasure chest, which is full of treats, party food, and more games to play. You could try making a map on tea stained paper of all of the clue locations and then they have to work out the final location from the clues.

Fairies

Make a list of clues to find lots of fairy friendly items and whoever collects all of the items first wins a prize, with runner up prizes for the rest of the kiddies. Some things they could look for are little toy fairies, flowers, fairy dust, leap frogs and magic bracelets.

Magic

Have the magician conjure the first clue to unveil the treasure hunt and then get the kids to find the pieces of their own magician outfits. They could find magic wands, top hats, capes and toy rabbits. The winner is the first person to get dressed!

Science

Split the kids up and get them to look for different ingredients and when they’re all found they can form part of a science experiment! Or you could use food ingredients which get stirred together to bake a cake or make some cookies which the kids can eat later on in the party!

Themed Parties

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Themed children’s parties are a fantastic way to celebrate a special occasion, especially if your little one is particularly obsessed with a certain character, film, or has a favourite hobby or interest. As children’s interests are usually as equally popular with their friends and classmates, hosting a themed party for kids is usually a great way to get guests enjoying themselves. We’ve come up with some suggestions for creating a themed party.

Invites and Fancy Dress

Asking guests to come in fancy dress is a great idea for a themed party. If your child wants to be the only one dressed as their favourite character, specifying this on the invites is a must! Do so in a polite way rather than appearing to demand that no one else dresses the same. A great way to do so would be to refer to your child as their character choice, like so: ‘Spiderman (Joe) would be delighted if you could join him for his superheroes party…’

Decorations

Decorations complete a themed party, so make extra effort here. Why not get the whole family involved and make your own decorations? It’s a great way to save money, and spend some quality time together, and may even make good use of your child’s excited pre-party energy!

Make banners and signs that include favourite characters and use a colour scheme that relates to your theme. Football fanatics will love it if their team colours form the basis of the party’s decoration, and those interested in all things aquatic will think that a room decorated in blues and greens with plenty of drawings of fish and sea creatures is wonderful.

Games

Rather than coming up with completely new games, organise common party games that children love, with a twist. Change the names of the games, or alter the rules slightly so that they incorporate the theme. For instance, if hosting a science party, play ‘pass the thermal reactor’ instead of ‘pass the parcel’ and have a science related prize.

You could even describe musical statues differently. Explain that there is no gravity when the music plays so you have to dance like astronaut, and that once it stops, the gravitational pull is so strong that no one can move!

Entertainment!

Entertainment can really be the cherry-on-top to a themed party, especially if the entertainer arrives in fancy dress or has some brilliant ways to amuse the guests! Have a look at our directory of children’s entertainers which will help you out a little so you can put your feet up and enjoy!!

Girls just want to have fun

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Invite your friends for an extra cool sleepover girls birthday party!

Crafts, Make-Up, DVDs, Midnight Feasts, Birthday Cake, Sleeping Bag Races – what more can a birthday girl ask for? The girls are coming round for a sleepover! Girls just love to make things with their friends. Get creative and make something really special like a funky t-shirt or some cool jewellery:

T-shirt painting is always a popular kids crafts activity and a great idea for a sleepover. Give them a blank white t-shirt and a bunch of fabric pens and paints, some sparkly bits and pieces to stick on and see what new fashion they can design. They can really let their imagination go wild with fabric painting.

Having a ‘girlie night in’ means only one thing- time to get your nails painted, create cool hairstyles, have fun putting on each other’s make-up and get all dressed up ready to show off your artistic expression ‘ designed by yourself’ new T-Shirt.

Roll out the cat walk, load the music, flick on the spot lights and have your very own
fashion show!! Catch it all on camera for some great memories.

Time for Dinner:

Why not make your own Pizza? The kids will really enjoy making the pizza dough (most supermarkets have an easy packet pizza base mix that takes 5 mins to mix up) and then add lots of great toppings e.g. tomato, ham, pepper, pineapple, pepperoni, olives and lots of cheese. Children love to eat their own homemade dinner.

Chocolate Fountain Dessert:

How about the kids cutting up lots of different fruits and dipping them in some scrummy melted chocolate!!

Get cosy:

Grab your sleeping bags and pillows, get comfy in your pj’s or onesies and settle down in front of the TV to watch a great movie for a little quiet time and don’t forget your popcorn!

Have a great party!

Princess Themed Party

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Favourite Princess Character

If your daughter can’t get enough of a princess in a favourite movie or book, base her party around that character. Use tableware that matches her favourite princess and decorate with matching colours. Some well-known princesses are:

Aurora of Sleeping Beauty
Rapunzel
Tiana from The Princess and the Frog
Cinderella
Snow White
Little Mermaid, or Ariel, from The Little Mermaid

Tea Party

If your little girl likes having tea parties with her toys, she’ll love one even more with her friends. Ask each guest to bring her favourite doll or stuff animal to join in on the festivities. This party can include:

Pink princess tea
Cupcakes arranged on a tiered stand
Small slippers made of clear plastic filled with treats

Shabby Chic Garden Party

If you’re on a budget and want to indulge your little lady, a shabby chic party lets you unleash your creativity and save money. By mixing and matching beautiful elements, your little one will remember her fabulous garden party for the rest of her life.

Party ideas include:

Headband crafting table with silk flowers and ribbons
Using brown craft paper for tablecloths and doilies for decorative accents
Small wire birdcages filled with treats or flowers
Pretty butterfly buntings

Princess Party Food

Food for princess parties are generally items that you’d associate with high tea or an elegant garden party. The guests will love anything cute or dainty.

Pink drinks: Princesses love pink. Serve soft drinks like pink lemonade, strawberry milk, fruit tea or berry smoothies in princess cups.
Tea sandwiches: Keep the main course simple by serving kid-friendly tea sandwiches. Popular sandwich fillings include cheese and tomato, cucumber, chicken salad, and ham and cheese.

Children’s parties for everyone

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Birthday parties don’t have to break the bank. In fact, you can throw a successful and fun children’s birthday party, no matter what the age, in your very own home.

Invitations

These are fairly cheap on their own, and you can usually find some fun options at your local newsagents. But if you’re more into customization, online printing services like Vista print are a great option, and usually have a fast turnaround time. If you’d rather get crafty, go to your local hobby craft store and pick out some fun paper and stamps to put your own personal touch on them. This may take a little more time and isn’t the most budget-friendly, but are definitely has a personal touch!

Venue

Obviously the cheapest venue will be in your own home. If your party is in the warmer months, definitely take advantage of any outdoor space so everyone can run around. If you’re stuck inside, try moving many of your bigger pieces of furniture out of the main area to make room for activities. Line the edges of the walls with chairs and tables with refreshments. Or set up a buffet in the kitchen or dining room and shuffle the guests into the main living area to enjoy them. Be creative with your space. If you’re willing to use a little more of your budget on the venue, have a look at your local bowling alley, soft play, or go-cart companies, that help you avoid the mess at home! 

Decorations

This is definitely the fun part, and where you can let your thrifty creativity shine through! You can save money by choosing solid colours for plates and cups, rather than spending a lot of money for 10 Frozen paper cups. Streamers and balloons are a great traditional choice for decorations, and won’t break the bank. You can even get creative with construction paper to make birthday banners, party hats, and more!

Entertainment

Entertainment is the best place to spend your budget, since you’ll be hiring professionals to make your party amazing. Balloon twisters or face painters are great additions to any party, while a visit from a princess, super hero, or favourite character can take it to the next level! There are other interactive options like children’s musicians, puppet shows or magicians, too. For kids with endless amounts of energy, try a bouncy castle hire.

Being creative with your budget can help your party go a long way! After all, what will the kids remember more…the Cinderella party plates or that Cinderella actually showed up at their party? It’s all about the memories and we’re here to help you make them.

Games for a boys 10th Birthday

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Boys around the age of 10 are sometimes difficult to entertain because they are no longer “little kids” and they aren’t yet teenagers either. If you want to throw a fun kids birthday party for a 10-year-old boy, plan some activities that are suitable to this age group. By engaging the kids who come to the party, you will make the experience fun for everyone, including the birthday boy.

Backwards Relay; This activity gives your partygoers a chance to race each other in a non-typical relay game. Set up two obstacle courses before the game. Draw a starting line on the ground with spray paint. Place cones in a line extending from the starting point, being sure to leave about three feet of space between the cones. Use at least 10 cones for each line. Divide the kids into two teams.

Explain to the teams that each runner must race through the cones, alternating in and out of the cones in a zigzag fashion, until he reaches the last cone. When he circles the last cone, he must go back through the cones in the same manner until he comes back to the starting line. Upon crossing the starting line at the end of the course, he tags the next person in line to go. The catch is that everyone must complete the course by running or walking backward. If a cone is knocked over, the person must start over. The first team who moves all of its players through the course successfully, wins.

Mummy Wrap Race; This game works especially well for birthday parties that fall close to Halloween. Divide your party goers into groups of two to four people. Give each group a few rolls of toilet paper.

Instruct the teams to choose one person to be the “mummy.” When you give the signal to begin, the teams race to see which can wrap its mummy from head to toe within a certain time limit. Give the groups three to five minutes to wrap their mummies. When the time is up, let the birthday boy choose which team’s mummy is most thoroughly wrapped.

Gummy Worm Bobbing; This game offers a chilly twist on the traditional bobbing-for-apples activity. Fill a metal tub or similar container with water and ice.

Sprinkle in a pack of gummy worms. Have the boys take turns sticking their heads into the icy water to grab a gummy worm with their mouths. Make sure the water isn’t too deep, since the gummy worms will sink to the bottom of the container. You can turn this into a competition by giving each player 30 seconds to see how many worms he can retrieve. The player who gets the most worms wins.

Toddler parties on a budget

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Let us help you find budget-friendly alternatives to an over the top toddler birthday party..

1. Sensory Party
If your tiny guests are in the early stages of exploring, consider throwing a fun children’s party centered around helping them explore. Find large, shallow clear boxes at your local diy shop. Fill them with different textures and colours, such as shaving cream, sand, water, marbles. Anything you can think of. Place them in an area that will be easy to clean, hand out plastic art jackets and let them go to town.

2. Princess and Superhero Parties
There is no doubt that you have glass slippers or capes haunting your dreams right now. That is one of the many perks of toddler parenting. Even though you’re well aware that they may not remember their early years, you still want to make their birthday special. Cut your budget by making your own crafts!

3. Dance
Toddlers love to dance and parents love to watch. Hire a Children’s Musician for a birthday celebration that will keep a smile on everyone’s face! Since it’s a Dance Party and the centre of the party is music, you don’t really need a theme. Go to your local party shop, grab some brightly-coloured party supplies and arrange them on a white table cloth to bring it all together. Give your cake a musical theme and congratulations, This party is a success!

4. Circus Party
Even without elephants or acrobats, you can still bring the circus to your garden! Think small-scale entertainment and keep decorations simple with a red, white, and yellow theme. Frost your cupcakes with red and white icing and arrange them into coordinating stripes, then top them off with tiny yellow flags made from toothpicks and card stock. Create your own Puppet Show stage using cardboard boxes and paint. There will be so much to do that toddlers can run free and have a good time! Hire a Face Painter or a friendly Clown.

No matter what your budget is, it is always possible to have an extra special fun party. With a little hard work and some creativity, use your budget savvy to make the best party of the year and still have enough leftover to treat yourself. You’ll need it! Make your kid’s birthday one you will all remember and include some birthday traditions.

A Circus Party

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Roll up, Roll up, you are invited to a Circus party!!!

INVITATIONS;
Use white card and envelopes. Use red cardboard paper to make a big top for the front of card. Square base and canopied top. Square base to be glued on sides and bottom, top to be left open to create a pocket for admit ticket.

DECORATIONS;
Keep decorations simple. Use red/white crepe paper to make a canopy (big top) . Hang paper clown faces from the ceiling. Bright tableware can be placed around the cakes. A lion cake and a clown cake for example.

GAMES;
Put felt tips, glitter, glue etc. around and lots of coloured card paper so kids can make their own circus/clown pictures.

A must would be to have a ‘face painter’ which can paint each kid’s face, take a picture and print each one off before the party ends and stick it in onto their party bags.

Another children’s party game could be throwing darts at different coloured balloons. Whatever colour they pop, they get to pick from that “colour” toy pile. Each toy in different coloured bags so the kids know which one they will win from.

Then an elephant game where the kids have to hook a ring around their trunks. Each child puts on an elephant mask and tries to pick up hoops with the end of their nose. Of course no party is complete without the clown piñata.

PARTY BAGS;
No children’s birthday party is complete without party bags so fill them up with sweets, colouring pens, and candy floss bags.