So as you guys
know, Cub turned four!! Thank you all for your lovely wishes :-). So as I
promised, here are some details of Cub’s party.
This is the first
time we a proper party for him, usually it’s just us and a cake with
candles and some gifts. Since he’s actually got some friends now, we decided to
do more this time.
An important
point was budget – I didn’t want a huge mega-bash for him. ‘Frugal yet Fun’ was
my motto throughout. Here’s a breakdown of what I did, which might help if
you ever want to plan a party for kids.
First off, I made a
plan which listed
1. Guests – How many kids? (and parents,
if any; I left the parents out :-), but included siblings). Apparently, the
thumb rule for number of guests is age of the birthday child + 1. I ignored
this and there were around 10 kids at Cub’s party :-).
2. Theme – I wanted a theme, but he’s in a
transition phase from trains to construction vehicles – he hasn’t let go of one
and isn’t a 100% into the other. So I decided on a general ‘Birthday’ theme :-).
Getting supplies to
match your theme is a bit of a challenge in India
- Animals – Jungle, Farm
- Cartoon characters - Dora the Explorer, Ben10,
Chota Bheem, Mickey etc
- Superheroes – Super/Spider/Bat man. (Iron
Man/Green Lantern would be a challenge)
- Cars
- Princess
3. Invitations – I printed out these from
the internet:
Of course, if you
have a theme, go with it. There are some brilliant suggestions by Poonam here.
Online kids stores
are a good place to try for supplies - First Cry, Disney, Hoopos are some
options.
4. Party Supplies – I got candles, party
blowouts, paper plates, paper cups, napkins and plastic forks from a local
store, but ordered these party hats from FirstCry.com:
You can of course,
go the whole hog and buy everything in matching sets online, especially if you
have a theme. I opted for the store, because I got stuff cheaper there.
5. Decorations – Again, go with your
theme. I reused some decorations we already had, including the Happy Birthday
banner. All we bought were packs of balloons. Whatever your theme, balloons are
a MUST. The kids had a lot of fun playing with them.
6. Food and Drink – An important point to
remember here – do not overestimate kids’ appetites. And keep it as healthy as
you can, with something unhealthy and yummy thrown in for balance. This is what
we served:
- Chicken nuggets (Can be
substituted with potato smileys/wedges)
- Chocolate Chip cookies
- Homemade vegetable sandwiches
- Small bananas
- Fruit Juice
- And of course, cake
I tried to keep a
balance between sweet and savory. Try to avoid colas, they do nothing but harm
kids’ bodies. Also, be sure to ask parents beforehand about any diet
restrictions.
7. Party Games – Again, go with your theme. Since ours was simply ‘Birthday’,
we opted for classic Birthday Party games:
For the Donkey game, I used the donkey and tail from here. Here’s how poor Eeyore looked
after he was all printed and pinned up.
For the Animal Farm game, I made little slips of paper with
pictures of animals (since some of the kids were too young to read) and the
kids each took a slip and began making the corresponding animal sounds to
locate their partner. I collected some animal pics from the internet and it
looked like this:
P.S. You can download it if you want, I don’t mind :-).
For the prizes, I used inexpensive stuff like little plastic
lunchboxes, pen stands and fun photo frames. Keep in mind that games like Animal
Farm will have two winners. Also safe to keep a gift or two handy for ties :-).
Don’t forget the music!!! You’ll get loads of suggestions for
kiddie music online, but here’s my top pick :-) :
I also put on a kiddie CD on DVD for the kids to watch while
they ate.
8. Goodie Bags – Not necessarily theme dependent.
We made the goodie bags out of newspaper and ribbon. We downloaded little ‘Thank
you’ tags from the internet and filled our bags with these:
- Little Play doh
tubs ( I bought a Play Doh Party pack)
- Paint Boxes
- Chocolates
- Bookmarks
Other good options are stationery, crayons, little wind up
toys. Or you could give just one toy or book instead of a bag of little stuff. I
learnt to make the newspaper bags from here.
9. Gifts – We’re the kind of
people who open all the gifts after everyone’s left :-). Whatever you choose to
do, make sure you have a designated space for the gifts and a time to open it
up. Cub got a huge haul, with all kinds of stuff from this:
to this:
and loads of things in between :-). We gifted him blocks – ‘My First Lego Set’, ordered from
First Cry. They have quite a lot of stuff and good service.
Cub is totally into legos and it is turning out to be a
really good buy. I think we’ll get some add-on sets later; for now, this is a
really good starter set and I would recommend it to anyone just starting out on
legos.
Important points to remember:
1. Try to get someone to help; I did this all by myself, and
I could’ve really used a helping hand.
2. Keep your camera charged the day before.
3. Start planning a month in advance. That way you can score
the best deals and have enough time to receive your online shipments.
4. Consider a little extra for everything. You don’t want to
disappoint anyone :-).
5. Plan for more games than you think are necessary – it’s no
fun for the kids to sit around doing nothing!!
So that was how Cub’s birthday party went!! It was a lot of
fun – all the planning, organizing and shopping. But the best part was seeing
the kids really enjoy themselves and get involved in the games – it really was
worth it!! And here’s a pic of the delighted birthday boy about to cut his cake:
11 comments
Once again Belated Birthday wishes Cub...aaw..look how happy Rayan looks in the last pic...loved the tips (though I may need it only after 10 years or so :p)
ReplyDeleteHe he he...Well, I'm sure these tips are relevant even after all those years :-D....Yes, I love that pic too, he's so excited to cut the cake!!
Deleteu did a great Job Fab! belated birthday wishes to the handsome lil fellow! :D And thank you for the mention :) .... btw the birthday party posts are amongst the most viewed on my blog! haha!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Poonam!! I loved all your birthday posts too!! It's no surprise they're so popular :-)
DeleteCub is looking handsome and all happy :) your efforts have turned out so beautiful :) loved everything from the paper bag to the lego set...
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ramya!! I considered buying ready made loot bags, but this was more eco friendly, economical and wayyyy more fun!!
DeleteBelated birthday wishes to Rayan...he looks so adorable in the pic :D
ReplyDeleteI loved the fact that you actually took the time and effort to make most of the stuff instead of buying them off the shelves. Cub sure had a great birthday :)
Thank you, Swarnali!! It was a lot of fun, the DIY and all, I especially enjoyed making those little paper bags!!
DeleteOh cub looks mighty delighted! Oh the joys of childhood birthdays :))) I hope he had the happiest of birthdays and has a even better year ahead. the Legos look so cool!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Holly!! Yup, the legos are really getting their due of playtime!!
DeleteMy daughter loves her lego set too and how cool are those newspaper gift bags! Great idea Fab!
ReplyDelete