Kids just LOVE birthday parties. They LIVE for them, especially as they are growing up, until they reach their teenage years (then it starts to get ordinary for them). So, as parents we want to make sure our children have the best and most memorable experiences through celebrating in essence, their life, their existence, and not just using it as an excuse to spend money. We understand that planning a party can sometimes be quite overwhelming and stressful so we have written a blog that will take you step by step through all the important aspects of a party and this will help you to organise an exciting party that’s fun for babies, toddlers and young kids. Let’s get creative!
Decorating Ideas:
1. First, choose a theme according to your child’s age. If your child is a newborn baby, a baby or a toddler, you would usually choose a pink or blue theme according to your baby’s gender. It would be a simple, minimal theme but classy. For the slightly older children, from around age 4 until 6, you can choose a more sophisticated theme like an animal-themed or a princess theme party. You can’t go wrong with an animal-themed party as it’s unisex and more importantly, who doesn’t LOVE animals!? As your children get even older, they start to have more interests and passions. You can base the theme on your child’s favourite cartoon or television character. Girls love Barbie or Peppa Pig so they would make a great theme! SpongeBob Squarepants is also a very popular cartoon, for both boys and girls. One of children’s all time favourites is Disney- you can never go wrong with that. From Beauty & the Beast or Frozen for your little ‘Elsas’, to Cars or The Lion King for your lions, you can get tons of ideas! Here’s a great website with a bunch of decorations and party items you can buy: https://partypieces.co.uk/search?page=3&q=disney&type=product
Decorations you can buy depending on the colour and theme of your party:
- Balloons
- Confetti
- Inflatables, for example in the shape of animals etc.
- Tinsels
- Ribbons
- Garlands
- Paper flowers/real flowers
- Banners/pennants
- Centrepieces
- Fairy lights, disco lights
- Paper and cardboard cut outs
- Printables like our birthday themed ones!
- Streamers
- Tablecloths, napkins, paper plates, cups & cutlery
- Party poppers
- Toys (soft toys for babies, and harder toys for the older kids)
- Party hats
- Party bag fillers like our adorable set of crayons
- Gifts for each kid to take home like our splendid mini bath bomb making kits
2. Find a professional photographer to capture the most beautiful moments that you can cherish forever. If you have a budget, then use your own camera and remember to take pictures, or if you are too busy enjoying watching your child then you can maybe get a friend or family member to take pictures for you.
Birthday party food buffet ideas:
Choose what kind of foods, snacks and treats you want to serve, whether you want to make it yourself. Here are some delicious ideas and recipes:
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Chocolate cornflakes cupcake: Here is a YouTube link on how to make chocolate cornflake cupcakes with hardly any effort! Perfect for kids! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oukKZDEdZ0U
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Mary Berry cupcakes: We mentioned this recipe in our Easter blog and added our own ‘Easter touch’ to it.
However, in the case of Birthday parties, instead of adding Easter eggs, you can add sprinkles on top or put mini candles in each cupcake. - Pumpkin cream cheese muffin: This yummy muffin recipe is loved by children and adults and recommended by grandmothers! After indulging in this muffin, you feel like you’re in cheese heaven!
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Tottenham Cake: The Tottenham Cake is a popular cake originating from London in the 1800s. ‘It was created…as a cheap treat for local children. The vivid pink icing was traditionally made using mulberries from trees in the Quaker burial ground’ (Leah Hyslop, the food director of Sainsbury’s magazine). Now, instead of mulberries, raspberries are used as well as food colouring.
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Sausage Rolls: Who doesn’t love oven cooked sausages, especially when combined with puff pastry!? This recipe is great for everyone, even kids because of it’s creative swirly shape (rather than the boring, typical sausage roll). The perfect finger food for your kids’ birthday parties!
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Cookie cutter sandwiches: This is probably the simplest but creative way to make food for kids. All you need to do is make sandwiches, for example a cheese, sliced ham/chicken and lettuce sandwich with some mayonnaise.
Once you’ve made the sandwiches, you can use cookie cutters to make fun shapes, for example in the shape of a heart, a star or even an animal! You can buy cookie cutters from lots of shops and supermarkets but here is a link for the specific cookie cutters from the picture above.
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Birthday cake ideas: Some cake recipes take longer than others so if you are prepared to spend time and effort to make a really cool cake, we have the perfect link for you! From mermaid cakes to a Pirate ship cake, your kids will love these fabulous creations!
Children’s games for parties & entertainment
Here is a list of games and activities your children can get up to as well as entertainment, from very simple games that don’t need much effort to slightly more challenging games:
- Button Button- A very simple game and all you need is a button! It’s most suitable for ages 3-7 and it’s a great game as it makes them use their minds and gets them to think.
- Piñata- Best for ages 4 and above and for any occasion. A really fun game of bashing and hitting the piñata until you get the prize!
- Musical Chairs- Count how many children are at the party who want to play this game. There should be the same amount of chairs as there are children, but take away 1 chair. Arrange all the chairs in two rows, back to back and play some fun music. The children have to walk/move clockwise in a line, around the chairs and when an adult pauses the music, the children have to quickly sit down in a chair. The last person standing (who wasn’t able to find a chair) loses and has to sit out of the game. After each round, 1 chair has to be removed until there's only 1 chair left with 2 kids walking around it.
- Musical Statues- This game is challenging but really exciting and slightly similar to the previous game. The children have to spread out around the room and dance/move around as the music is playing. When the music stops, the children have to stay as still as a statue! Whoever moves loses.
- Pass the Parcel- One of the most fun games, traditionally played at kid’s birthday parties. This link shows you 4 different ways of preparing/playing this game.
- Pin the Tail on the Donkey- similar to the Piñata, you have to also be blindfolded in this game.
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Bouncy castle- You can either purchase or hire an inflatable bouncy castle as part of outdoor kids’ activities, if the weather is decent of course. Everyone loves bouncing around and having fun, even adults! So a bouncy castle is perfect for family fun! You can also hire a clown to entertain the younger ones, and show them magic party tricks!
- Face painting- click here for our blog about face painting.
Best gifts for children:
Kids absolutely love getting presents, whether or not its their birthday (greedy little monkeys!).
So their birthday present should extra special such as a multi-sensory playing mat for babies, cuddly toys and riding toys for toddlers or games and consoles for the older kids.
Click here for a separate blog about a list of toys you can buy for your child, depending on their age.
At the end of the birthday party, you can prepare party bags for each child filled with sweets, toys and other products like crazy colourful crayons, hand made bath bombs etc. as a keepsake for all the kids to remember the fun times they had and will go back home even happier!
You know what's a great way to end your child’s birthday? To express how thankful we are for how the day went. So take some time in the evening before bedtime and write in your Mindful Dreams notebooks together about how much joy you’ve experienced today and what your favourite moments were!
We hope you got some ideas and inspiration to prepare your own fabulous party!