Organizing a child’s birthday party can be a stressful task; however, once you know what the theme of the party is going to be, it can be easier to arrange.

Children that love playing sports are likely to want a birthday party that relates to the [...]]]>

This is a sponsored post written by Robert Lobitz

Organizing a child’s birthday party can be a stressful task; however, once you know what the theme of the party is going to be, it can be easier to arrange.

Children that love playing sports are likely to want a birthday party that relates to the activities they enjoy.

If your child loves hockey, there are a few things you can do to plan an exciting hockey themed birthday party.

For any party, you need to invite your guests one way or another.

If you’re going to send out paper invitations, you could send hockey themed invitations to prompt the guests to guess what type of party it’s going to be.

If your child has many friends who also enjoy playing hockey, this could be the perfect idea to encourage as many people as possible to turn up to the birthday party.

Decorate your house with pictures of hockey players, teams and anything else hockey-related that your child likes. They’re likely to have a favorite team – if this is the case, buy some posters or print some pictures of the different players to stick on the walls or use for other purposes.

Air hockey tables are the center of attention at a hockey themed parties.

If you don’t already own an air hockey table, you could rent one or borrow one from a friend.

Fans of hockey will find this extremely exciting, and the guests will spend all night competing against one another on the air hockey table.

Finally, put together some hockey party bags to give the guests before they leave.

Try to get some small hockey player figures or games related to hockey and put them inside the bags. You can also include traditional things such as birthday cake, stickers and bubbles.

Robert Lobitz is an air hockey and theme party enthusiast.

Disclosure and/of Material Connection:   Sponsored posts are written by others and may highlight services or products that I have not personally tried myself. The author and/or  company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Aside from the games and prizes, one of the things that children look forward to when attending a birthday party is the food.

Kids will eat whenever they have a chance and at a party, they normally eat more just because there is food available that is not normally served.

To ensure that [...]]]>

Kids Birthday Party Food

Aside from the games and prizes, one of the things that children look forward to when attending a birthday party is the food.

Kids will eat whenever they have a chance and at a party, they normally eat more just because there is food available that is not normally served.

To ensure that they will enjoy the food, plan a menu that includes the usual foods that children love to eat such as cake, ice cream, chicken, pasta, cookies, barbeque, and cupcakes.

Of course, if the party has a theme, it will play a role in the kind of food you are going to serve, but will not necessarily dictate it.

For instance, if you have a beach party in your backyard, you will probably decide to serve fish nuggets and potato chips in the shape of fish.

Your sandwiches and cookies will most likely also have fish or other sea creature shapes. However, you can just as well have a fish braai/barbeque with a mixed salad served in  individual crispy cracker bowls. (link opens in a new window)

Yes, kids do like salad, believe it or not.  You can always make up  “names”  for the ingredients that will fit the theme of the party and they will definitely eat it.

The time of the party will also play a role in the kind of food that you are going to serve. If the party is held in the morning (10:00 am – 11:00 am),  light snacks are ideal as the mother would most probably expect the child to eat lunch when he arrives back home.

From 11:00 am to 12:30 pm you can rather go easy on the snacks and serve a light meal like macaroni and cheese or a pasta salad followed by a piece of  cake or ice cream.

Depending on the children’s ages at the party and your child’s wishes, you may choose to make cupcakes and save the birthday cake for a family birthday dinner. Cupcakes are quicker and easier to serve and more times than not will be fully eaten. When it comes to ice cream, stick to the basics, chocolate and vanilla. It will save many headaches in trying to figure out who wants what.

If there will be other parents  present at the party, you can either make different food for them or you can plan the kids’ menu to include food that the parents would also enjoy.

On the other hand, do not stress too much about preparing a reward-winning feast. The party guests will be thrilled just as much with a bag of chips and dips and something to drink.  Keep them busy with lots of games and activities and serve a piece of cake or ice cream just before they have to go home, and they won’t need more.

Remember, although food do play a big role in the success of a child’s birthday party, the important thing is to have fun. Relax and enjoy the planning of your child’s party.

Your turn: What influences your decisions about the food you are going to serve at your child’s birthday party?

I happened on a free label maker yesterday and spend quite some time there trying out all the options they have.

Although the site provides options for beer labels, you can quite easily make personalised labels for your child’s [...]]]>

With all the free online resources available today, it is easy to create items for your child’s birthday party.

I happened on a free label maker yesterday and spend quite some time there trying out all the options they have.

Although the site provides options for beer labels, you can quite easily make personalised labels for your child’s party.

The “Sea Punch” label on the left  (just one of 5 labels I made during the time I was on the site), can for instance be used to decorate clear glass jugs, drinking glasses or paper cups when you host a mermaid party.

Take a look at Labeley (link opens in a new window) and have fun when you design your  labels.

Ideas to use labels at your child’s birthday party:

• Personalised bottle labels – water, juice, bubbles
• Personalised labels to wrap chocolate bars – not the same as the normal candy wrapper
• Decorations for favour bags
• Food labels – print labels with descriptive names for the food, cut out and attach to lollipop or paddle sticks, insert into food
• Name and address labels for invitation envelopes
• Party Favours – labels for diaries, school books, etc.

Another label I made with Labeley’s templates and graphics

Share your ideas: How do you use labels for your child’s birthday party?

As always, have fun!

By now you should have decided upon the date, time and the location of the party. You should also have decided upon a theme for the party and finalised the guest list.

The next step in your party planning is to decide about the party invitations. The invitations should [...]]]>

So, how’s your kid’s party planning coming along?

By now you should have decided upon the date, time and the location of the party. You should also have decided upon a theme for the party and finalised the guest list.

The next step in your party planning is to decide about the party invitations. The invitations should fit the theme of the party and should contain all the details about the party.

You can find a list of these details in the 3 Tips for Party Invitation Planning as well as information on when you should send out the invitations.

As you will see, it is not necessary to send out the invitations more than 2 weeks before the party, however, don’t wait until that time to start with the invitations.

It is all too easy to forget about the invitations and before you know it, your child’s birthday party is just around the corner and you will find yourself without any invitation cards (and worse, no guests!)

Once you start thinking about the party invitations, you should also decide if you are going to buy them or make them yourself.

Of course it is easier to buy them and you will be able to find something that will just be right for the theme of the birthday party. In most cases party supply stores stock the whole range of a party theme, from the invitation cards and envelopes right through to the decorations, plates, napkins, cups and cutlery.

On the other hand, it is so much more fun to make the invitations yourself. You can make them as plain as you like or you can put in some extra effort and come up with something totally different from the everyday, normal printed cards.

An invitation card needs an envelope! Move away from boring white or plain coloured envelopes by decorating the party invitation envelopes with paper shapes.

Not in the mood to fold envelopes from scratch and then cut and glue paper shapes to it?  Download my tutorial to fill envelope and  stamp templates with your own images.

With all the coloured paper and card stock on the market, it is easy to make invitation cards that will delight your child and the  party guests.

• Decorate plain coloured cards with different shapes cut from plain paper and arranged into patterns.

• Design shaped cards by drawing round a template to make all the cards the same shape – the party’s theme will be obvious from the shape of the card.

• Party extras like paper hats, crowns and masks can be sent as the invitations to be worn to the party.

• Write invitations on deflated balloons or beach balls with instructions to bring it along to the party.

• Write a message in secret code or with invisible ink for a mystery or science party.

• Use music sheets to write invitations to music parties or make drums from small empty coffee tins and place invitations inside.

•  For a safari party you can make binoculars from two empty toilet rolls painted in green and yellow and attach the invitation to the binoculars.

• When you host a spa party for your daughter, you can write the invitations on squares of pastel tissue paper.  Place each square in a small box, add a small soap or fizz ball/bath bomb as well as the invitation. Close the box and tie with a narrow ribbon.

With a little bit of imagination and some creativity, you can ensure that your child’s birthday party invitations will be remembered for many weeks after the party.

Your turn: What was the most unusual invitation you ever made for your child’s birthday party? Were the party invitees impressed with it when you delivered it?

Tell us about it, please.

One thing you should do is to decide  how many children you are able to handle and then use a little [...]]]>

Further to the previous post (link opens in a new window)  about 3 tips for the time, guestlist and location of your child’s birthday party, let’s take a more in-depth look at the guest list.

One thing you should do is to decide  how many children you are able to handle and then use a little bit of psycology to get the upper hand… sneaky?  Yes, I know, but sometimes necessary.

Talk to your child and explain to him that he can only invite a certain number of friends (be wise and give him the least amount of kids you can handle comfortably.)

For instance, if you only see your way open to have 10 young energetic party guests at your house, first tell your child  that he can invite 6 guests. In this way,  if he wants to invite one or two more, you will still be within your limit and he will feel as if the final call was actually his.

While you are busy compiling the guest list, you should also keep the ages of the kids your child wants to invite, in mind. If  the party guests’ age group will be, for instance, in the 3-4 year age bracket, there’s no need to invite little Johny’s  two elder sisters of 9 and 11 as well.

The same goes for your daughter of 12. There is no need for her closest friend’s brother who is 18 and already out of school, to attend her party!

You should also decide if you are going to need help looking after the guests during the party.  If the birthday party is for a toddler, you should really specify that the mother or a grandmother or another adult should accompany this child to the party.

You will be able to give attention to more important things like food and games and not having to keep an eye on the children the whole time.

A good rule of thumb with toddlers is to take their age and just add one and invite no more guests than that. For instance, if your child turns 4,  the most number of guests you would invite would be 5.  The average party guest list is eight children for children over the age of six, so do not feel like you are shortchanging your child by not having more.

As your child turns older, the number of guests would normally become more. However, as you are paying for the party and also have to take responsibility for the guests, you really have the right to decide about the final number of guests.

Don’t invite the whole school or all the children in the neighbourhood just to keep up with the neighbours across the street!  Maybe your son of 13 just wants to “hang out” with one or two of his closest buddies, watching a movie while snacking on some popcorn and talking amongst themselves about the new girl in their class.

A birthday party is after all, all about your child and like I have mentioned quite a few times, talk to him/her and decide together about all aspects of the party including the guest list.

I’m curious… how many children can you comfortably handle when you and your child decide about the birthday party and the number of guests?

Avoid weekend parties:

If you plan a small party for your child, it is best not to have it on a weekend. You will find that the brothers, sisters and even cousins will tag along and you may have to budget for more children than you originally planned for. Friday afternoons [...]]]>

Post It Notes - www.fuzzimo.com

Avoid weekend parties:

If you plan a small party for your child, it is best not to have it on a weekend. You will find that the brothers, sisters and even cousins will tag along and you may have to budget for more children than you originally planned for. Friday afternoons can be quite a good time to have a smaller party as all the extramural school activities normally run from Monday to Thursday.

However, if you do enjoy huge parties and family gatherings, have the party on a Saturday and enjoy it!

Keep the guest list short:

It is not necessary to invite everyone you or you child can think of. You can limit the guest list to your child’s close friends and family members if they live nearby. Don’t worry if the mother of one of the children not included in the list, feels offended. It is your child’s party and if he or she is not friends with this other kid, let it go. The mother will also get over it in time.

Budget for a venue or entertainer:

If you can afford it, book a party venue of some sort – many times these venues include party food for the kids and would also serve coffee or tea to the adults. All you have to do is to provide the birthday cake and a few snacks for the parents that accompany their children. Another plus point is that entertainment is on site and they also clean up afterward.

If the party is being held at your house, be prepared to keep the kids busy with games or some other form of entertainment. A professional entertainer like a clown or a magician is always a great hit with the kids but if your budget does not allow it, you should have plenty of party games up your sleeve.

You should also be able to move the party inside should weather conditions change suddenly.

Your turn: When do you think is the best time to have a party?

How many guests will you invite?

Where do you think is the best place to have a party? At your house or at a venue?

Remember the time when you realised that there was nobody who could fetch the birthday cake you ordered 4 weeks ago, or what [...]]]>

If you have ever planned a theme party for your child, you would know that it can be a lot of work; the more so when you do not plan everything in advance.

Remember the time when you realised that there was nobody who could fetch the birthday cake you ordered 4 weeks ago, or what about realising that you promised your child a balloon artist and you never got around to booking his services. Imagine the disappointment on your child’s face!

If you have always scoffed at the idea of making lists when you have to plan a party; now is the time to change your whole attitude about checklists. Without a list you can be sure that something will go wrong on the day of the party so begin your checklists the moment you sit down with your kid to plan the birthday party. (At least 4-6 weeks before the actual day of the party).

Use separate pages/lists for each category of the party planning to write down all the things you have to decide upon. (Link opens in a new window)

You should also compile a general list that includes things like extra batteries for the camera, some help on the day of the party, whether it is to help looking after the party guests or to clean up during the party…  just write down things that come to mind that you feel is important regarding your kid’s theme party.

After the initial brainstorming, you can now compile shopping lists for the lists mentioned above, for instance, write down the ingredients you will need if you are going to prepare the party snacks yourself. If you are going to make your own party invitations, make a list of the materials you will need.

It is also good practice to break down all your lists into time lines and keep to it. In this way you can assure that everything goes according to plan:

Here is a good time line to use:

• 3 – 4 weeks before the party
• 2 weeks before the party
• 1 week before the party
• 2 days before the party
• 1 Day before the party
• The day of the party

Something else that will help you to keep organised during the planning of your kid’s birthday party, is to keep all these lists together in a folder. Nothing can send you into a panic attack as fast as a list that has disappeared.

It may seem like a boring and unnecessary task to compile and follow your party planning checklists but parents who host one successful birthday party after another for their kids will tell you that checklists are the secret to these parties.

Don’t let your unwillingness to compile checklists, keep your child’s birthday party from being the success it should be.

The Important First Steps

There also instructions to make the salt dough, tips and ideas for baking, painting and varnishing the salt dough items as well as instructions to make [...]]]>

The last few days I have been busy updating my Squidoo lens where I have a step-by step photo tutorial on how to make a nativity scene from salt dough.

There also instructions to make the salt dough, tips and ideas for baking, painting and varnishing the salt dough items as well as instructions to make a stable to display the nativity figurines.

You can also download a pdf. file with images of salt dough Christmas tree ornaments that fits well with the nativity figurines.

Every year from October to mid-December there are a lot of traffic to this lens and visitors are asking questions on how to use salt dough to make Christmas ornaments and gifts.

I love salt dough! Even though it is often only thought of as something to keep kids busy with on rainy days, adults can enjoy playing/working with it just as much as kids do.

Way back in October 2006 I started my first blog centering on “cheap” gift ideas. My first post was about the  nativity scene (on the photo) and Christmas ornaments I made from salt dough in 1993.  (We still use this nativity set every year at Christmas time although the figurines are starting to show their age now.)

For one reason or another, this gift blog evolved into a salt dough “creations” blog that lasted well into 2007. The more salt dough items I made to feature on the blog, the more ideas I came up with. So for nearly 7 months I had a wonderful and fulfilling salt dough crafting life.

Here are some of the salt dough items I featured on my ezi-gifts-galore blog:

Ok, to come back to salt dough for party activities and party favour purposes…

There are so many recipes for salt dough on the internet, but the one I like to make for children to play with, is the cooked version. It is very pliable, keep the shape of items better and also keeps longer in the fridge.

Whenever I use salt dough to make gifts or ornaments, I use the “normal” salt dough recipe where you just mix 2 cups flour and 1 cup fine table salt with one cup water. During the years I have worked with salt dough, I made a few changes to the original recipe, like adding another cup of flour to the basic recipe. Sometimes I like to add white glue to the water, sometimes a little bit of oil to make it more pliable…sometimes I just use the salt, flour and water mixture. After a while you really “feel” if the dough will work well or not.

Here are recipes for the two versions of salt dough as well as a  mashed potato edible play dough.

So, to incorporate salt dough into your party preparations, a few ideas:

• You can make playing with the salt dough, part of the party activities and then each party guests can take their salt dough back home after the party, or…

• You can make one or two batches of salt dough, divide evenly into balls and hand it out as party favours at the end of the party. You can put it into ziplock bags with a cheery bag topper together with  one or two cookie cutters.

• You can also start making small salt dough items a week or two before the party (enough time to bake, paint and varnish) and then just slip it into the party favour bags.

Smart Idea: Why not have a salt dough theme party and let all the kids make their own salt dough and items. It is a good time to teach them about the origins of salt and flour, texture, colour and shapes.

Obviously there will not be enough time for them to bake and paint the items, but they will have a great time playing with the dough. You can also offer to bake each guest’s “creations” for them afterwards. Your child can then go and deliver these when he or she delivers the thank you cards a few days after the party.

You don’t have to keep only to salt dough for this party. Let them make edible playdough too and eat their “creations” later.

Salt Dough Party Favour Ideas:

• Alphabet Animals – make the first letter of a child’s name with salt dough, form a small animal and join to the letter before baking.
• Paper Weights, Pencil Holders and Pencil Toppers
• Photo Frames and Framed Handbag Mirrors
• Hanging Wall Ornaments like clowns, dolls, animals
• Earrings,  Bracelets and Necklaces
• Brooches and Badges
• Jewellery Boxes or Smaller Trinket Boxes
• Potpourri
• Mobiles

Don’t forget to watch the video to see some examples of the above-mentioned party favour ideas.

That’s it for now, so go and be creative with salt dough for your child’s next birthday party!

The following two books are filled with heaps of salt dough projects. My children and I spend lots of enjoyable hours making many of the projects featured in them.  I can recommend them with confidence if you would like to learn more about salt dough!

Have fun when you start on your journey with salt dough!