With their own hip-hop style, girls, especially around the age of 8, love the Bratz pack, so don’t be surprised if your birthday kid wants to celebrate in Bratz style. If you are looking for ideas on this theme, take a look at the official Bratz website – which will give you a good idea of these characters’ fashion power and what they are all about. Also, there are games, activities, and product information that you may find helpful with planning your party. Your kid may end up showing you this destination site anyway.

Here are some  Bratzy party ideas: Read the rest of this entry »

A reader offered the following tip for unique party favors…and it will be a big hit with chocolate lovers!

Visit Chocographic and order customized party favors from them. If you call them you get a better deal and their chocolates are delicious.

The chocolate CDs and lollipops look fun as a unique party favor for the kids. It would also serve as an excellent goody for that very special “Sweet 16″ party.

Although my birthday falls in the middle of summer, I always felt bad for my friends born around the big holiday season. We all know these are the kids who generally have to either have a holiday birthday party, or just sort of get “overlooked” with all of the holiday shuffle. Their birthday gifts mingle with the Christmas ones, and there really is no unique birthday celebration.

Recently, a friend related to me that her mother always insisted on having her December birthday party be the annual Christmas party. She longed for a summer birthday party, and even ended up donning a sundress one year for the annual birthday/Christmas party. Her mother was completely appalled, but it says something about those kids having parties in December. They would really like to have their own celebration that is detached from the holiday business. Even if it isn’t possible each and every year…it is good to shake things up a bit and throw a unique party in December. As much as the birthday kid will appreciate it, the guests will enjoy as well.

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So, your pre-teen and/or teen wants to revisit those groovy 60s days for their next party. I am sure parents, even the Gen Xers who also enjoyed wearing tie dyed t-shirts and taking road trips in VW vans as their own taste of that retro-time period, will be able to come up with some fun ideas to help their kid groove to this theme.

Of course, my parents actually lived through the 60s and seemed to have no idea that all of the “fun” that was going on around them. We used to ask, “How was Woodstock?” and the common response was “Snoopy just wasn’t that popular back then!” Ok, go figure. Even growing up in that context, I have a few ideas for you: Read the rest of this entry »

Some parents spend thousands of dollars on their kids’ birthday parties, while a majority spend somewhere between $250 and $750. Are these “over the top” parties really more fun for the kids than say a party within a smaller budget? Both provide many delights and thrills for the kids.

I broke down the elements of a “Carnival” themed party…one that would cost parents $5000 and one that would cost $250. Now, with the difference in cost, how could these parties be at all similar? Well, take a look…they’re definitely more similar than different! Read the rest of this entry »

If you are putting together a goody bag for your next party and you want to do something a bit different to bubbles and raisins, here are a few ideas:

1. A popular and inexpensive idea is to burn a CD for the guests with all of your kid’s favorite songs. Add a personalized CD cover and this is an easy goody that the kids will enjoy listening to.

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