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 [...]]]>

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 don’t want the kids to become bored and invade your house…

Keep the food simple:

Let your child help you decide about the food for the party but don’t go overboard with a lot of food. Two or three bowls of sweets, age-appropriate crisps and cupcakes will usually be enough. Add some mini pizzas or mini sausage rolls (easy to make as they can be bought ready made). Add to that some ice cream and the birthday cake and all the empty stomachs can be filled quite easily.

If there will be parents at the party, don’t go overboard with special goodies for them. Provide them with biscuits (bake your own or buy a few packets of fancy biscuits from a deli), add some cocktail sausage rolls and serve tea or coffee. The left-overs can be frozen or stored in a container so the family can enjoy it afterward.

Party Packs:

Finally let’s take a look at the party packs. There’s no need to go all out with these (don’t let your child pressure you into providing the “best party pack ever”. Many times party packs are taken home and forgotten. A few marshmallows, bite-sized chocolates, small packet of crisps and a sucker or two will be enough.

Novelty toys can be added, but if you are not careful, they can cost a fortune and normally they find their way to the back of a drawer after a day or two. Why not make a small gift yourself, something that will fit in with the theme of the party… but in most cases children just want to take home a small bag of sweeties to “show” that they have been at a party.