One of the key rules behind planning a home party is to keep it simple.
Here are just a few ways of helping you to make the party a great success.
Length of Party
Parties for young children should never be too long. Rule of thumb is 1 ½ to 2 hours for younger children and 2 - 3 hours for older children.
Number of Guests
Whilst it's a nice idea to invite your child's entire class, 30 children can be quite a handful. 8 - 12 guests is an appropriate number. Invite just enough to make the day enjoyable without making it chaotic. Older children also tend to handle larger groups better than those who are younger.
Party Food
These days it is a wise idea to check with parents of children beforehand in regards to any food allergies that their child may have. Stick with the staples such as plain chips, fruit plates, party pies, sausage rolls and dips. It is a good idea to have some meat free options for vegetarians and to serve heartier food first so guests don't go straight to a sugar rush.
Timing
The time of day you chose to have you party in depends on whether you wish to serve a meal or cut straight to the cake. If you aren't planning on serving a meal then 10 - 12 and 2 - 4 are ideal times, and serve lots of little snacks for the children to have throughout the party.
PLAN
Try to achieve as much as possible ahead of time by developing a good outline in the early planning stages and sticking to it. Don't forget to have a few back up plans in place just in case of unavoidable circumstances, such as bad weather of no show of entertainment. Good planning is essential to ensure you have a successful and hopefully stress free day.
Common Tips
- If needed recruit more parents to help out on the day.
- Make a couple of extra party bags for siblings of guests who stay unexpectedly.
- Make sure your party doesn't clash with any other important events, such as Mother's Day, Father's Day etc.
- Remember to have on hand candles and a lighter or matches for the cake.
- Label prizes for each game so that you know what goes with what.
- Keep party bags hidden until the end.
- Hide away anything breakable or of value before the party.
- Make sure you have loads of bin bags for the clean up afterwards.