Planning parties for children is all about having fun. As an adult we can become too preoccupied with being sensible, but children's parties are where we can really let loose. A successful children's party is one where the little ones fall asleep in a heap at the end of the day, and you are right there next to them! Planning the party can however seem overwhelming, but by following a simple party checklist, those feelings can be substituted with the joy and excitement that the party has to offer.
These seven steps will leave you feeling in control and ready to start the planning process.
Theme Party Ideas:
As with any party that you plan, it is a good idea to have a theme, and children's theme parties are incredibly easy. Your child may have a favourite licensed character or hobby that they would like to incorporate. If they are old enough, just ask them what their preference is and they will give you lots of ideas. You could end up with a Dora the Explorer, Bob the Builder, Fairy or Pirate party. The options are endless, but once chosen it will set the entire scene for the party and make all the preparations easy from this point forward.
Places to Throw a Party:
The easiest solution for the party venue is to hold it at your home, but if the thoughts of having a lot of children running around your home or garden is incredibly unappealing, you may wish to think of alternatives.
Depending on the weather you could look at going to a local park, or maybe hire a hall. If hiring somewhere, you would need to check on the cost and whether food is provided in the cost or as an extra.
Party Decorations:
Party decorations are easy to do once you have chosen your theme. You may have decided upon a colour or a character, so build all your decorations around that idea. There are many party stores that have a huge range of themed decorations, so take a look and see what will suit your party.
If you are a little bit crafty, you may like to make your own decorations. Home made decorations are a great idea for keeping down the party budget, and can be made to look just as you want them. If you decide to do this, make sure you have it planned out in advance so you are not stressing in the last few days before the party.
The decorations are incredibly exciting, so why not involve your child in picking them out or even helping to make them. It will help their excitement with the lead up to the party and also keep them entertained as they are helping to arrange them on the day.
Party Invitations:
Choose a suitable date and time for the party that is not going to clash with any school camps, or important sporting events. Set the scene of the party with choosing an invitation that meets the theme chosen. As soon as the children receive the invite you want them to be excited to attend, so spend some time getting this right. For children under the age of eight, a two-hour party is generally long enough, so decide on whether a morning or afternoon party is more suitable depending on the events described above.
Birthday Party Food:
Try not to get too serious about the food, and remember that it is a party for children. They don't need things to be fancy and cost a lot, so relax and have some fun with it. There are plenty of easy party food recipes that are quick and easy to make and friendly on the party budget.
As tempting as it may be to make lots of sweet treats that look gorgeous, try not to overload the children on sugar. Include some healthy snacks and with some creative layouts these will also look appealing to the children. Try to include a range of foods to give the children a good balance.
For the drinks, try not to go overboard with the fizzy drinks as these are full of sugar. Offer some choices of juice and always have lots of water ready. A way to get the water looking attractive is to have a small bottle for each child and personalise it with a water bottle printable. You can bet they will drink their water if it looks like the theme of the party!
If you find the thoughts of catering for the party completely overwhelming, there is the option of hiring a catering company, but again this will depend on the party budget that you have set yourself.
Party Games for Kids:
It is a great idea to have a plan of action when it comes to the party activities. Whilst at first it may seem easy enough to go with the flow, once all your child's friends arrive and are running about, you will soon wish that you had a schedule of activities. Organised games will ensure that you remain in control and stay as calm as possible for the duration of the party.
There are so many games that you can choose from ranging from pin the tail on the donkey to pass the parcel. All you need to do is Google children's party games and you will find a huge selection to choose from suitable to the age of your child.
If you feel that arranging party games is not something you are comfortable with, you may decide it is easier to hire some entertainment. This may be in the form of a bouncy castle, face painter or clown. These do ultimately come at a price, so it will depend on your party budget as to whether this is a feasible option for you.
Party Favours:
Party favours are something that we don't always think of at adults parties, but are common place at children's parties. These could include anything you want and don't have to be extravagant. They could include some lollies, bubbles, balloons, and a small toy. You may even wish to include a piece of birthday cake. It is a token gift and something to make the children feel special. There is no need to go overboard and spend a fortune as the children will be just as happy receiving a bag of small cheap items as they would at receiving an expensive toy. Simplicity is the key here! One thing to remember is to make enough for each of the children in attendance, but also have some spares for unexpected guests.
As the party day approaches it is very easy to worry about whether you have planned the day to be special enough and whether you have put in enough effort. Try not to worry, because children enjoy the most simple of things and they don't need to be showered with gifts and extravagance. If you have ever sat back and watched a child play with a balloon you will know what I mean here. You have created a special children's party and one that they are going to remember, so don't beat yourself up about all the things you could or should have done, and enjoy the things that you have done. You have followed the party checklist and you can be confident that everything has been covered. If you enjoy the day, then so will your child!
Jumat, 30 Juni 2017
Rabu, 14 Juni 2017
Planning A Surprise Party - 12 Hot Tips For Smooth Sailing Party Preparation
Have you ever planned a surprise party for someone and it has ended in disaster? Or perhaps you would like to hold a surprise party but have no idea how to go about it? If this sounds familiar then you have come to the right place. With some guidance anyone can plan a surprise party that will be the talk of the town, and both you and the surprisee will be guaranteed to have a truly memorable experience.
Planning a surprise party is not for the faint hearted. It takes a lot of planning, organisation and know how. It is definitely not one of those parties that you throw together at the last minute and it WILL require your care and attention right up until the very last minute.
For some people, planning a surprise party is an incredibly fun affair, but for other's it is their worst nightmare come true. The aim is for everyone to experience the fun and by following these 12 simple steps, it will be just that.
Don't say a word!
For people that are good at keeping secrets, this part won't be too difficult, but for those that find secrets hard to keep, this will be slightly challenging. At the end of the day, a surprise party is a surprise because it has been kept a secret... so a secret it MUST be!
The party details must not under any circumstances be mentioned to the surprisee. For this reason it is imperative that the party is not spoken about when the surprisee is anywhere near the vicinity of the conversation. This means that guests also have to keep quiet when the surprisee is around!! Make sure you explain this to your guests, because quite often people need to be told the obvious!
Choose the guests carefully:
Remember that this is a party for the surprisee and not for you. So think about who you are going to invite. Don't invite just everyone that the surprisee knows; but instead invite those that you think the surprisee would want at their party if they were to organise it themselves. For instance, they may not want work colleagues present unless they are particularly close to them.
RSVP's must be kept secret:
When setting up your RSVP, make sure that this is not to a joint phone or email account and make sure all RSVP's are kept private rather than public in places like Facebook, Google+ and Twitter. Make sure you stipulate on the invite that it is a surprise party and it should be kept that way.
Make sure the suprisee has the day free and doesn't organise their own plans:
It would be pretty devastating if you had organised a surprise party and the surprisee went off and organised their own event for the day. You don't want the suprisee heading off to another party or going to work, so be sure that the day and time you have chosen will be convenient before you arrange it! When you are planning a surprise party it does need to be a surprise, but it does also need to occur!
Decide a party theme:
Choose a theme that will be appropriate for the surprisee. This maybe their favourite colour or centered around their hobby or interests. This party is for them and not you, so make it as exciting as possible for the surprisee rather than a theme that you would like to plan.
You want the party to be memorable to both guests and the surprisee, so make the party stand out and be original.
Find a suitable location for the surprise party:
The location can often be the trickiest detail to organise when planning a surprise party. If the surprisee lives with you, it can be difficult to hide decorations, invitations and especially the food. If this is going to place too much stress on you, consider holding the party at another venue, maybe a friend or family members home. If again this is not possible, the other option would be to hire a venue.
Organise a Chaperone:
Someone needs to be in charge of staying with the surprisee whilst all the party is being set up. You want to have someone close to the surprisee and it needs to be a natural occasion. For example if the chaperone asked the surprisee to the pub for a few hours (which is completely out of character) then the surprisee might start to suspect something is going on.
The chaperone needs to take the surprisee on a fun outing and most importantly keep them away from the party location for the entire time required. This may take some thinking on the chaperone's feet if the surprisee wants to go home early! Likewise if the party is being held at a different location, the chaperone will need to think of a good story to get the surprisee to the specified location.
Another important point to note here is that the chaperone needs to take notice of time. It is their job to ensure that the surprisee arrives at the party ON TIME!
Undertake party decorations:
Consider the party theme you have chosen when organising your decorations. You want the decorations to be visible only on the inside of the venue because you don't want the surprisee to rock up and find balloons tied to the letter box. Don't give it away after all your hard work!
Ask some friends to come and help you out and have a plan of action before you get started. You will have a limited time frame, from the time of the surprisee leaving to returning, so you will need to act FAST. Having some extra pair of hands will make this job a whole lot easier. Only however have friends present that you know are willing to help you. If you have to twist their arm to be there, the chances are they do not really want to help out. With the limited amount of time you have, you don't want people present that don't really want to help!
Think about where people will park:
Another common mistake that people make when planning a surprise party is that the party is given away at the last minute. It would look a little bit suss if the surprisee returned home to find their street covered in cars... especially cars that they recognize!
Ask your guests to be considerate when the park and park away from the home. If the cars are out of sight, then there will be no reason for the surprisee to suspect anything out of the ordinary.
Fake a party:
It may be that your surprisee really wants to hold a party and the thoughts of letting the occasion go by without any acknowledgment may be quite upsetting for them. If this is the case, you may need to organise a 'fake party'.
For a fake party, you would need to organise a date and let the surprisee know what is happening. If they are a 'hands off' type of person, this would work well because you can plan party details for the real party and essentially forget about the fake party! If however you have a 'hands on' type of surprisee who likes to get involved with the party planning, this will be a bit more tricky. If this is the case you may need to have their input into decorations and food, but try to keep this as minimal as possible, as you still want added surprises on the day of the party... not just a change of date!
Capture the surprise:
Make sure that either yourself or a designated other has a camera at the ready to capture the moment of the "surprise". After all the hard work, you definitely want to make sure that this moment has been captured and it would be wonderful for the surprisee to also see the look on their face when they walk into the party.
Tips for the day of the surprise party:
If there are events that are always held by routine on the day of the party, make sure that these still occur so not to arouse any suspicion. This may be a child's sports event or a weekly catch up with friends. Everything needs to remain as normal as possible!
Make sure you have a plan of action for the day so you are not running around stressed once the surprisee has gone off with the chaperone. If you have a running sheet of what you need to do, this will make your life a whole lot easier and you will have an enjoyable surprise party!
So there you have it. We have discussed 12 party checklist tips for planning a surprise party, that when put into action will ensure you have an enjoyable party planning experience.
Planning a surprise party is not for the faint hearted. It takes a lot of planning, organisation and know how. It is definitely not one of those parties that you throw together at the last minute and it WILL require your care and attention right up until the very last minute.
For some people, planning a surprise party is an incredibly fun affair, but for other's it is their worst nightmare come true. The aim is for everyone to experience the fun and by following these 12 simple steps, it will be just that.
Don't say a word!
For people that are good at keeping secrets, this part won't be too difficult, but for those that find secrets hard to keep, this will be slightly challenging. At the end of the day, a surprise party is a surprise because it has been kept a secret... so a secret it MUST be!
The party details must not under any circumstances be mentioned to the surprisee. For this reason it is imperative that the party is not spoken about when the surprisee is anywhere near the vicinity of the conversation. This means that guests also have to keep quiet when the surprisee is around!! Make sure you explain this to your guests, because quite often people need to be told the obvious!
Choose the guests carefully:
Remember that this is a party for the surprisee and not for you. So think about who you are going to invite. Don't invite just everyone that the surprisee knows; but instead invite those that you think the surprisee would want at their party if they were to organise it themselves. For instance, they may not want work colleagues present unless they are particularly close to them.
RSVP's must be kept secret:
When setting up your RSVP, make sure that this is not to a joint phone or email account and make sure all RSVP's are kept private rather than public in places like Facebook, Google+ and Twitter. Make sure you stipulate on the invite that it is a surprise party and it should be kept that way.
Make sure the suprisee has the day free and doesn't organise their own plans:
It would be pretty devastating if you had organised a surprise party and the surprisee went off and organised their own event for the day. You don't want the suprisee heading off to another party or going to work, so be sure that the day and time you have chosen will be convenient before you arrange it! When you are planning a surprise party it does need to be a surprise, but it does also need to occur!
Decide a party theme:
Choose a theme that will be appropriate for the surprisee. This maybe their favourite colour or centered around their hobby or interests. This party is for them and not you, so make it as exciting as possible for the surprisee rather than a theme that you would like to plan.
You want the party to be memorable to both guests and the surprisee, so make the party stand out and be original.
Find a suitable location for the surprise party:
The location can often be the trickiest detail to organise when planning a surprise party. If the surprisee lives with you, it can be difficult to hide decorations, invitations and especially the food. If this is going to place too much stress on you, consider holding the party at another venue, maybe a friend or family members home. If again this is not possible, the other option would be to hire a venue.
Organise a Chaperone:
Someone needs to be in charge of staying with the surprisee whilst all the party is being set up. You want to have someone close to the surprisee and it needs to be a natural occasion. For example if the chaperone asked the surprisee to the pub for a few hours (which is completely out of character) then the surprisee might start to suspect something is going on.
The chaperone needs to take the surprisee on a fun outing and most importantly keep them away from the party location for the entire time required. This may take some thinking on the chaperone's feet if the surprisee wants to go home early! Likewise if the party is being held at a different location, the chaperone will need to think of a good story to get the surprisee to the specified location.
Another important point to note here is that the chaperone needs to take notice of time. It is their job to ensure that the surprisee arrives at the party ON TIME!
Undertake party decorations:
Consider the party theme you have chosen when organising your decorations. You want the decorations to be visible only on the inside of the venue because you don't want the surprisee to rock up and find balloons tied to the letter box. Don't give it away after all your hard work!
Ask some friends to come and help you out and have a plan of action before you get started. You will have a limited time frame, from the time of the surprisee leaving to returning, so you will need to act FAST. Having some extra pair of hands will make this job a whole lot easier. Only however have friends present that you know are willing to help you. If you have to twist their arm to be there, the chances are they do not really want to help out. With the limited amount of time you have, you don't want people present that don't really want to help!
Think about where people will park:
Another common mistake that people make when planning a surprise party is that the party is given away at the last minute. It would look a little bit suss if the surprisee returned home to find their street covered in cars... especially cars that they recognize!
Ask your guests to be considerate when the park and park away from the home. If the cars are out of sight, then there will be no reason for the surprisee to suspect anything out of the ordinary.
Fake a party:
It may be that your surprisee really wants to hold a party and the thoughts of letting the occasion go by without any acknowledgment may be quite upsetting for them. If this is the case, you may need to organise a 'fake party'.
For a fake party, you would need to organise a date and let the surprisee know what is happening. If they are a 'hands off' type of person, this would work well because you can plan party details for the real party and essentially forget about the fake party! If however you have a 'hands on' type of surprisee who likes to get involved with the party planning, this will be a bit more tricky. If this is the case you may need to have their input into decorations and food, but try to keep this as minimal as possible, as you still want added surprises on the day of the party... not just a change of date!
Capture the surprise:
Make sure that either yourself or a designated other has a camera at the ready to capture the moment of the "surprise". After all the hard work, you definitely want to make sure that this moment has been captured and it would be wonderful for the surprisee to also see the look on their face when they walk into the party.
Tips for the day of the surprise party:
If there are events that are always held by routine on the day of the party, make sure that these still occur so not to arouse any suspicion. This may be a child's sports event or a weekly catch up with friends. Everything needs to remain as normal as possible!
Make sure you have a plan of action for the day so you are not running around stressed once the surprisee has gone off with the chaperone. If you have a running sheet of what you need to do, this will make your life a whole lot easier and you will have an enjoyable surprise party!
So there you have it. We have discussed 12 party checklist tips for planning a surprise party, that when put into action will ensure you have an enjoyable party planning experience.
Langganan:
Postingan (Atom)