Tag: children

Get the party food just right

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An important part of planning a children’s party is the party food, and parents who are choosing to do the spread themselves will want to create a feast that is guaranteed to get eaten. Naturally, dishes you choose will be dependent on what kind of party your child is having but there are a few ways in which you can make sure that your party food goes down a treat.

It’s always fun to create your own fun dishes. You can get loads of ideas form the internet. No matter what you do it’s almost certain that some dishes will be more popular than others. You therefore should aim to create a spread that is a mix of good party food staples like cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, sandwiches, etc.…with ‘experimental’ plates like party themed cupcakes, food shaped as characters from a theme, etc.… Whilst planning the menu, make sure that you consider what leftovers you may have, and how you would use them too as there can be a lot of food left over.

With classic party food such as crisps and biscuits, buying multipacks and refilling will mean that any leftovers you have are fresh and easily used in lunch boxes and for snacks. With more ‘experimental’ dishes, make sure that you and your family will be willing to eat them if left untouched.

When sending out the invites, it might be suitable to request any dietary information from parents that will help you create a spread that can be enjoyed by all. Parents of children with severe allergies or special dietary requirements may already know they need to contact families prior to attending birthday parties to avoid issues on the day, but some will assume that they will be catered for or forget to mention it.

By asking families to provide details of special diets, you can include (or not include) certain dishes that means no one at the party goes hungry.

Of course if you’re making party food together as a family, before the party, then your kids will love this as it gets them involved in their party even more and it’s a fun activity to do with your kids.

 

Pigtastic days out

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Marsh Farm Animal Adventure Park, Chelmsford, Essex

All the family will enjoy their day out here down on the farm! There are plenty of fascinating animals and birds to see, meet and greet as well as brilliant indoor and outdoor children’s play areas, where the kids can go wild and have loads of fun!

Paradise Wildlife Park Farmyard, Broxbourne, Hertfordshire

For a wild day out with the family there is no place better than Paradise Wildlife Park! You can even get hands-on with the animals at the farmyard and help feed the goats, sheep and pigs. Kids can burn off excess energy in the various playgrounds around the park or you can take a relaxing ride on the miniature railway to see what is hidden in the woodland.

Vauxhall City Farm, London

Visit this free farm for a little piece of the countryside in central London! It’s not far from Vauxhall station and is home to lots of very cute animals to meet including Edward the beautiful piggy!

Farmer Palmer’s Farm Park, Poole, Dorset

This brilliant farm park is perfect for under 8’s and has plenty to keep them occupied from exciting attractions to seriously cute animals (and of course pigs).

Whitehouse Farm Centre, Morpeth, Northumberland

There’s plenty to see and do at this lovely family run farm, and lots of animals to meet including sheep, bunnies, alpacas and pigs. There is the chance to handle and feed some of the animals, and kids will love a ride on the bumpy tractor!

 

Best routes to bike or skoot

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Bournemouth Beach, Dorset

Enjoy an easy cycle along the promenade which runs form Hengistbury Head to Sandbanks. It’s 10 miles in total so a bit far for little legs but there are numerous car parks and cafes along the way that you can just cover a few miles, whilst enjoying the spectacular views across to The Isle of Wight, Needles and Old Harry Rocks. (You can’t ride between 10am-6pm in July & August as it’s too busy!)

Studland Peninsula Cycle Trail, Dorset

This is a gentle route that will take you across the peninsular, dunes and heathland, with picturesque view of Knoll Beach. The kids can even enjoy spotting some wildlife including deer, insects and birds! It’s 6.5 miles long.

Killerton, Devon

There are 2 safe family cycle tracks to take around the historic parkland at Killerton. You will see beautiful countryside views, plus get a great ‘tour’ of the estate including the House, stable blocks and chapel!

Ashridge Estate Buckinghamshire

There are various routes to take through woodland, over small bridges and lush meadows. The Duncombe Terrace route is perfect for families as it’s only 5 miles long and there are surfaced cycle paths through the forest which makes things easier for little legs and inexperienced riders.

The Bristol and Bath Railway Path, Somerset

This track along a former railway line links Bristol and Bath. It is 3m wide path with a  tarmaced surface all the way and is an attractive and easy route, with several opportunities along the way to stop for refreshments.

Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire

There is a flat cycle route through the forest, perfect for all abilities. Children will love passing through tree ‘tunnels’ and racing along the surfaced track which was the old Severn and Wye Railway line- you will even see some old stations! It’s 11 miles in total but with little ones you can always turn back after a few miles. The route starts in the Cannop Valley.

The Tissington Trail- Peak District

A 13 mile route mainly along the trackbed of an old railway line. It’s even suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs! It’s traffic free and kids will love whizzing under the railway bridges! Towards the Southern end (near Mapleton) there is a bit on a steep incline but the rest is totally flat!

 

Fun garden games

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Let’s go outside and make the most of the sun,

Play some garden games and have lots of fun!

From quoits, frisbee and hopscotch too,

You’ll be spoilt for choice at which one to choose!

1.Quoits (Hoop throwing Game)

This game involves throwing a rope or rubber hoop over a distance and land it around an object maybe a plastic peg that is coming out of the ground. Players take it in turn and the player with the most hoops around the object at the end wins.

2. Garden Golf

Garden golf is a very easy game where all you will need is a few plastic golf clubs or bats. Placing 9 or 18 cricket wickets or any sort of stick into the ground and number them using paper triangles (get the kids to make these)

Place objects throughout the course such as grannie in a chair or a teddy bear’s picnic making it into a challenge.  Get the children (the big kids as well) to take it in turns to putt the ball and hit each post.

3) Popcorn Drop

This easy relay race can work at a children’s birthday party or a family fun day with any number of players. It’s most fun with four to eight players.

First, you’ll need to make two pairs of shoe cups. Use a pushpin to poke holes in the bottom of plastic cups. Push a wide rubber band through the holes, and secure it inside the cup with a paper clip.

To play: Split the players into two teams. The first player straps cups on their shoes and fills them with popcorn from a bag at the starting line. Then going from the line head to the other end of the course and dump the popcorn into a bucket, after the popcorn is dumped head back, and tag the next teammate.

The race is over when one of the bags of popcorn is empty. Measure the popcorn in the baskets to see which team actually got the most in.

4) Frisbee noughts and crosses

Supersize tic-tac-toe is perfect for an outdoor children’s party. Flying disks and a shower curtain transform into an easy party game.

Use duct tape to block out squares on a shower curtain liner. Use more tape to mark which disks are Xs, or use colour to divide the teams.

Players stand behind a throw line and follow the rules of tic-tac-toe. If the disk lands off the board or in an occupied square, the player can throw again.

5) Hopscotch

An oldie but a great game none the less, just need some chalk, somewhere to draw and something to throw such as a beanbag or a small stone.

6) Pretend to be pirates

Let the kids imagination go wild with a bit of imaginative play. Dress up, put some blue sheeting down for ‘water’ and some cardboard boxes for ships and let the adventure begin.

7) Make Mud Pies

Let the kids imagination go wild with a bit of imaginative play. Dress up, put some blue sheeting down for ‘water’ and some cardboard boxes for ships and let the adventure begin.

8) Make your own Tin Can Alley

Collect up your recycled tins (with no sharp edges) and make your own tin can alley against a wall, throw either a small bean bag or ball. See who can knock over the most.

9) Garden Waterslide

This may be one for the long summer days but you never know, a super warm day may be just round the corner ? Set up this water slide in the garden for hours of fun for all the family. If your kids are ‘thrill seekers’ like mine, put this at the end of a garden slide for maximum slipping!!! Race down the slide using the swimming floats or on your tummy.

10) Children’s Croquet

Get this adorable croquet set for the lawn (it can be brought indoors in winter too). A great way to learn how to play croquet

 

Roller skating party idea

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This party was inspired by a family who hired out a hall for a roller skating party, loads of fun was had by all and of course it wore everybody out!!

Invitations:

Invitations were homemade and drawn skates on each piece of card shaped into a ‘roller-skate’. The time and venue were written and also the duration etc.

The venue;

A hall at the local gym is able to accommodate ‘roller-skating’ and because it was a council run sports centre it was really reasonable as in price.  It was £50 for an hour and we had to include the food etc. 40 Children were invited and the children’s party venue was just the right size – not too big and not too small.

Glow necklaces were purchased for each child and as the lights dimmed everyone’s glow sticks started to glow.  They played the standard skating rink games of limbo and the dice game and each winner was given a “prize”. They skated for 1 1/2 hrs and then it was time for cake.

Food:

They had pizza delivered and had a cake. For the cake they made a girl with blond hair and blue eyes out of fondant. It was made sure she had on a pair of skates and an outfit to match what the birthday girl was wearing that day.

At the end the guests got downloaded pictures of the day and on the pictures read ‘Thank you for sharing in my 6th Birthday’.

Cat party themes

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Is your child ‘Cat crazy?’  It could be anything from Hello Kitty or the cute furry things themselves. Why not create your very own cat party for your child?  Here are a few ideas that other people have done and we hope you are inspired to follow:

For the invitations you can always find pretty stationary with cats on them, you can write invitations on these and will be a lovely keepsake for anyone loving cats.

When your guests arrive why not face paint the guests as cats? You could paint a nose and whiskers and also think about headband ears made of felt and glitter, or get your guests to make a pair?

Now, what about games? You could play ‘pin the tail on the cat?’ or as cat’s love string you could create a sting maze. Attach a toilet paper tube to both end of 7 pieces (for approx. 14 guests) of string or wool, on one end, the tube has a picture of a cat, the other tube has a picture of a mouse. Maze them around the room, underneath chairs, tables and benches and each child has to find who is on the other end of their string.

For crafty children’s birthday party ideas you could buy a set of paper white plates with black card, pipe cleaners for whiskers and googly eyes, guess what these are going to be make into? Yes, you have guessed it, cat faces!!!

For food, make it fun with little sandwiches cut into goldfish shapes.  If you are feeling adventurous food bowls could be decorated with cat ears and whiskers!!  And don’t forget to serve milk!!

For the cake, you could obviously buy your own, but why not make a cake similar to your kids favourite kitty? Hello Kitty is a favourite, but if he or she has her own special cat why not model the cake around this?

Party Bags can be filled with chocolate cats or mice and cute cat stickers and anything you like that involves cats. This is sure to be a success and at a reasonable price too.

 

Children’s Parties on a budget

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Kids parties can be hugely expensive. With growing pressures to keep up with the Jones, kid’s parties can be a big stress if you’re on a budget.

The good news is that you don’t have to spend a fortune to give the kids a good time. In fact, we’d even say the kids will quite possibly have more fun if you don’t!

When it comes to parties, kids love simplicity! They don’t need loads of different things to have a good time. It’s amusing to see, that often the more lavish a party is, the less the children enjoy it. Quite simply because there are too many activities competing for the kids’ attention: a bouncy castle in one corner, entertainer in the other, then a face painter, a mascot thrown in for good measure and why not a popcorn machine? Sounds amazing but it’s too much!

Kids will become frantic and not be able to concentrate on very much for very long and it’s usually a big stress and panic to squeeze it all into the 2 hrs.

The first thing is to decide what you want to do for your kid’s party. Give your child a few options and ask what they think they might like.

  • Themed parties have loads of mileage and give you a lot of room for creativity at very low cost.

  • Costumes- You can have a lot of fun making your kids costume and it will cost you nothing. e.g. a pirate costume -get out the scissors and snip away at an old white shirt and tatty old pair of school shirts/ trousers, and a nice red scarf around the head.

  • Or what about fairy wings cut out from cardboard and covered in pink wrapping paper and sprinkled with a bit of glue and glitter. These give just a few ideas of how to make costumes from very little.

  • Party Invites – if you are computer savvy and have a bit of creative flair you could do your own cool invites on the computer, of just do an Internet search for party invites and download free templates available.

  • Make your own Cake – the sky’s the limit when it comes to cake ideas.

  • Decorations – balloons are very cheap and usually all you need to create a super party atmosphere. Just have lots of them!!! You could also make your own colourful paper chains, or get some reasonably priced party decorations from any online party store.

  • Entertainment – every party needs some sort of entertainment. You could of course do the kids party entertainment yourself but you’d need to be confident you could lead a group of kids through sufficiently fun activities for 2 hours. If you can’t then this is something you might want to budget for. if you are hiring a Children’s entertainer then this is likely to be where most of the cost of your party will go, but you needn’t spend a fortune – if you went for a weekday after school, then entertainers are far more likely to give better deals as weekdays are not as busy as weekends. or a morning slot like 11 am – 1 pm.

  • Food – parents can work tirelessly in the kitchen to create the most amazing party food but you’ll be surprised how little kids can eat at parties so do remember this before buying loads or going to loads of trouble. If you want to keep it cheap and simple, sandwiches and crisps and a few finger foods like sweets and small fruit like strawberries, grapes etc. is perfect. Finger food is always best. But if the creative guru in you can’t resist to try and dazzle and amaze, then you can be super creative and theme your food in so many different ways whilst still sticking to your budget.

  • Party bags often go in the bin or get left lying around the minute kids get home if they’re just cheap toys, so you might want to settle for a piece of cake and a small but decent quality toy.

 

Entertainers for Kids Parties

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Children’s entertainers were something of a rare treat at kids parties some twenty years ago. Now they seem to be a necessity for every children’s party. You’d almost be hard pushed to find a child that hasn’t had a children’s entertainer at some point, between the ages of 4-8. As this seems to be the most popular age for kids to have children’s entertainers.

Parents have realised more and more the benefits of getting a children’s entertainer for their kid’s party. Children’s party entertainers certainly help take the stress off of organising a party yourself. Many parents have retold tales of how they organised their own kids party, and whilst it went well they’d never relish the idea of doing it themselves again, owing to the levels of stress that went along with it. Plus, it seems rather a shame, that whilst the kids are having a great party, the parents have so much to organise that they don’t get to enjoy seeing how much fun their kids are having and all the fun activities that children’s entertainers do for the kids. After all a children’s party only happens once every year.

The advantage of hiring children’s party entertainers is that they know what they’re doing (well the good children’s entertainers should know what they’re doing!) and so it can take the stress off parents a great deal if they hire someone to take care of the children’s party entertainment for them. It is also much more likely that the kids are going to enjoy themselves a great deal more with a kid’s entertainer than if parents try to do it themselves (unless of course you’re a teacher that is used to handling 30 kids at once) but even then, a kid’s entertainer can usually offer a great deal of variety for children at a party.

That said, even with a children’s party entertainer, there can still be plenty of other things for parents to organise and worry about like the hiring of a venue, organising the food, getting RSVPs back. The best advice is simply to plan well in advance so that is doesn’t have to be done all at once. If done in good time, organising a children’s party should be a really enjoyable experience and dare it be said – fun! But if left to the last minute it can be a daunting and stressful task. All in all, leave plenty of time to plan a children’s party and try to enjoy it!!

 

Party games for kids 5+

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Musical Chairs or Cushions

Set up chairs or cushions in 2 rows back to back. Put out one less chair/cushion than there are children. Start playing the music and ask the children to walk all around the chairs/cushions until the music stops. When the music stops, the children must each sit on a chair/cushion. The child without a chair/cushion is ‘out’. You might like to have a bowl of sweets to offer to each child that is ‘out’ so they don’t feel too humiliated – but don’t make it so tempting that everybody wants to be ‘out’! Then remove another chair/cushion. If there is ever a tie, don’t spend ages making a decision, just replay that round.

Animal Musical Chairs.

The player left standing must pull the name of an animal, written on a piece of paper, out of a hat. Then, they must act it out while the other guests try to guess what the animal is. Start the music again and repeat the game until there’s only one chair left.

Musical Statues

Play some music, and watch the children dance and jump about. Without notice, turn off the music and the children need to freeze. If anybody moves, they are ‘out’. As with musical chairs, you might like to have a bowl of sweets to give to this child so they don’t feel too humiliated – but don’t make it so tempting that everybody wants to be ‘out’! Repeat until there is just one person left.

Hot Potato

Sit the kids in a circle and choose one to sit out wearing a blindfold. Begin by passing a potato around the circle, while the ‘blind’ child stands to one side. Everyone must accept the potato, and may not hold it longer than a second. At any point the ‘blind’ child can yell, ‘Hot Potato’, and whoever has the potato is out (Think about using that invaluable bowl of sweets again!) Continue to play until there is only one person left, and they are the winner. A really good variation is to follow the theme of your party. Use an appropriate item to pass around the circle instead of a potato.

Duck, Duck, Goose

This classic kids game is perfect fun for any kids party entertainment. Gather your guests to sit in a circle and let the birthday child begin as the ‘Goose’. They walk around the circle tapping each child on the head, saying ‘duck’ with each tap. When they are ready to choose the next person to be Goose, they say ‘goose’ when tapping that person on the head. That child gets up and chases the birthday child around the circle. If the new Goose does not tag the birthday child before they make it all the way around the circle and sit in the open spot, then the new Goose becomes ‘it’. If the new Goose tags the birthday child, then the birthday child remains ‘it’ for the next round and the game continues.

Decorate a Birthday Banner

Unroll a roll of unwanted wallpaper and mount it plain side up on a wall within easy reach of your guests. At the top of the ‘banner’, write ‘Happy Birthday (your child’s name)’. You could lay the paper on the floor if you’re worried some of the artists may mistake your wall for their canvas!

Provide a variety of crayons and felt pens and let the children create their own masterpieces. Don’t forget to ask each artist to write their name and age beside their drawing. You can even encourage them to write a special message to the birthday child. After the party, fold it up and save it, or if you’d prefer, take a close-up picture so you can tuck it inside your photo album later.

 

Pretty fairy parties

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So your daughter is living in a fairyland of sorts and is ready to grow wings and take a magical flight?

Get ready to start sprinkling the pixie dust because it’s bound to help get this girls birthday party ready.

Are you ready to transform your home into a fairy house and your garden into a family fun fairyland?  You could welcome your guests into a land full of flowers, colourful toadstools, butterflies and fairy decorations?  Little girls Fairy parties only come once in a lifetime and you want to make it one that your little beautiful fairy will remember forever.

 

Invitations.

Fairy party invitations can be fairy flowers, cards, or even a Fairy puzzle.  Make them super exciting with some hints on what to expect and include whether costumes are being worn.  Be sure to give the start time, end time, date and location of the Fairy Party.

 

Decorations.

Set the mood for your party with great decorations like Fairy posters, music, and character party supplies.  Cover the party table in blue, purple and other Fairy colours accented with streamers, balloons and confetti.

 

Party Games.

Fairies always love to decorate wings and wands.  Follow-up with photos of each child with the main character.

 

What Fairy party is complete without a Fairy party scavenger hunt and Fairy party games.  Games like Fairy Freeze Dance, Pass the Wand and Pin the Wing on the Fairy. Games add excitement to the party and provide fun for all the family to interact.

 

Costumes.

A Fairy party just isn’t the same without all the Fairies and Pixies dressed in their wings, flowers and wands.

 

Snacks and Drinks.

Don’t forget snacks and drinks for all of your Fairy friends.  Certainly snacks and drinks with Fairy names are always top of the list.  But sometimes it’s best to incorporate some healthy vegetable snacks.

 

The cake.

If you are a keen baker then making a fairy cake will be easy, lots of pink icing and everything that’s pretty, even a beautiful fairy on the top waving her wand to spell out your little princess’s name.  However, if you aren’t too clever in the baking way there are loads of suitable fairy birthday cakes to choose from in the local supermarkets.