Guest Party Blogger: Lei Rogers

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Hi! I’m Lei, mother of 4 party-lovin’ kiddos ages 1-9. I began planning “theme” parties for my children when my oldest turned 4, and have been addicted ever since. I grew up with the “perfect party planning” mother, so I learned firsthand what works and what doesn’t. But I also find a lot of my inspiration in my kids’ interests. If you have a child who is always trying to “help” you in the kitchen, throw them a cooking party. If they have a favorite movie or toy or book, chances are it can be turned into a great party theme. My almost 6-year old is enamored with a book called “Dino-train”, and has asked for the to be his party theme this year. So we’re making terrariums (with miniature plastic dinosaurs) and having a picnic at the local train yard. No”theme” (pun intended) is impossible!

It takes me about a month to get the juices really flowing on a party idea and a couple weeks to finalize the plans. So I recommend thinking of a theme a couple months ahead of time. One thing that is tricky about kids’ parties is filling your time well. You could either end up with too much free time or not enough time to do all that you’ve planned. Two hours is usually an adequate amount of time for everyone to arrive, warm up, participate in 3 short games or one or two hands-on activities, eat some goodies, and watch the guest of honor open their presents.

The timing of your party is also an important factor. Week days usually show less of a turnout (unless it is on a Friday), as a lot of kids have parents who work, or after-school activities and homework to contend with. I personally prefer a Saturday afternoon party. That allows people to have some Saturday to themselves and their families first. Another tip – confirm and reconfirm and re-reconfirm party reservations or bookings! I have had two incidents where a simple miscommunication has ruined a party for a child.

One of my favorite birthday parties was an art party I threw for my then 7 year old. She’s always drawing, sculpting and coloring, so when I suggested it for a party theme she was delighted with the idea. The invitations were homemade (this is one easy area to cut costs…) from white cardstock cut into the shape of an artist’s palette. I painted 4 blobs of color on one side and printed all the party details on the other.

The activities included a group mural, portraitures, and a T-shirt for the birthday girl. For the group mural I taped about 10 feet of butcher paper onto my backyard fence. They all wore smocks (purchased for $1 each) so they could let their creativity flow unabashedly.

The portraitures were especially fun. They each paired off and sat down in the grass and drew pictures of each other. We talked about details like curly hair and facial expression and some of their interpretations were really great!

We hung all the portraits up on a clothes line for an outdoor gallery feel and when the parents came to pick their children up, they browsed all the drawings, like they were at the museum!

The final activity was a T-shirt for my daughter. Each party guest dipped their palm in fabric paint and stamped it on a T-shirt for her as a memento of her party.

For goodies I let each guest decorate their own cupcake. They had a variety of colored icing and sprinkles to choose from. Then we lined them up and randomly stuck in 7 candles for the birthday girl to blow out! They each took home a $1 store art supply (I found an assortment of stamps/pads, paint brushes, pads of paper, clay, colored pencils, markers, etc.) as a party favor.

This party was a huge success because of it’s originality and continuous involvement for the kids. It was also cheap and easy to execute, which goes to show that it doesn’t have to over-the-top. Although, I have done over-the-top, too. This same child had a spa-jama birthday party when she turned 8. The snack table was decorated like a bed – complete with pillow, and a tablecoth turned down like a sheet! I served pillow-shaped pizza rolls and this fun sushi snack.