Whether you have done this a thousand times and need some fresh ideas, or are a complete newcomer to this whole puerile celebration scene, this post is for you. Here are our top tips to making your children’s day memorable.

1. Timetable

Carefully plan every stage of the party and give yourself the advantage of a timetable from started to finish. Consider the amount of time each phase of the party will take. Depending on the amount of guests you are inviting, you may find that the piñata takes less time than the cake serving. One very common error is to go from the entertainment straight to the cake, leaving a lull in the plan between cake time and parent’s pick up. This means a crowd of sugared-up youngsters are going to be crawling the walls in extra high spirits and this can be chaos.

Better to go from entertainment to a 45-60 minute game or other relaxing activity after the entertainment to bring those high spirits into a semblance of order. Then go to cake and sugar highs before jumping back into the last 15 minutes of entertainment before the parents come to pick up kids. The flow of this party will delight kids with never a dull moment and sense of adventure from start to finish – and moments of unstructured chaos will be kept to a minimum.

2. Entertainment

Ensure the entertainment is age appropriate. This small miracle will take some thinking to get right. We once had a party for a crowd of kids from 8 – 9 years-old. But, the music ensemble booked for entertainment was far better suited to a crowd half that age. The first number had not concluded before the youngsters disengaged from the entertainment and the party did not improve much after that.

The good news is that you can get a lot of information just by shopping around. Describe your audience as well as you can to potential entertainers and find out what you can from each one. Ask what makes each specific troupe a good option for your festivities. Collect 3 -5 answers and select the one you feel the best about.

3. Don’t always rely on the big brands!

Just because you can’t turn a corner without running into a “Star Wars” or “Frozen” themed party does not mean you should follow suit. Even if your kids say they want one, this is only because of the massive coverage and sheer lack of options in their limited experience. Just remember that there are still a thousand of other ways to theme a kid’s party and by taking it slow considering your audience and throwing in a splash of ingenuity you could accomplish something amazing. In all truth, I felt a tinge of delight when I heard my five-year-old raise her little eyebrows with exasperation and lisp, “Another Frozen Party?”

Nothing says party like a selection of glow toys, let the kids entertain themselves for a while with Premier Glow, the source of every LED toy imaginable.

4. Remember why you are holding a party

It is so easy to use a party to outdo the other parents, or simply keep pace in the social scene, but wait. This is actually a celebration of the simplest and most sincere form and you will make it better. Furthermore, your kids will not notice the gold tipped candles and probably won’t appreciate the foie gras as much as you do. A good party is all about inviting the right people, picking a good theme, striking up the right band and organizing all this properly.

5. Create party bags that have something for keeps

Party bags are often passed out as staples without much thought. You saw Kimberly’s party and now you really ought to do that too. But, many of these party bags will go straight to the trash can because any smart parent is limiting sugar intake and cheap plastic toys are really not funny. So, don’t waste and contribute to the trash on the planet. Think of something a bit more meaningful and long lasting. We like the idea of choosing a book that is connected to the party in some way so that whenever this book is read it conjures up fond memories.