Tips for hosting your child’s birthday at home
Our twin girls will be six years old next month, and they’ve asked to have a birthday party at home this year. As daunting as this sounds, I’m actually really keen on this idea. However I’m more than aware that I’ll need to organised and put a few rules in place.
For example certain rooms will be off limits and I’ll definitely have to empty our living room of valuables and toys that we don’t want broken or to go missing.
There are many benefits of having a children’s birthday party at home. For starters, it won’t cost the earth and you can easily supervise them all if they’re in one room!
However, having never hosted a birthday party at home before, I decided to ask some fellow bloggers for their tips.
Here’s what they said:
Kati who blogs at How to rock at Parenting says:
Make it no longer than 2 1/2 hours long, including at least 1/2 hour for food and another 1/2 hour for free play and dancing games. I’ve hosted a fair few parties at home and after that time limit the kids tend to get bored. Make sure plenty of food and drink options are available (nothing too outlandish or it will be left, as I learned the hard way over the pumpkin juice I made!) and keep the games short and sweet. Oh, and don’t forget to specify whether parents are welcome to stay or just drop off and collect as you may well run out of space/ food/ attention otherwise!
Sophie who blogs at Soph-Obsessed says:
Instead of doing party bags I always give out children’s books. I think it’s much more useful and no worries over small toys etc.
Pete who blogs at Household Money Saving says:
Try to fence off as much of the house as possible. There’s nothing worse than having kids disappearing into different rooms. This does partly depend on how big your house is though!
Amy who blogs at All About a Mummy says:
Don’t invite too many children. Less is more when it comes to home parties. It keeps the games focused and in control plus you can do more detailed games and crafts.
Beth who blogs at Twinderelmo says:
If parents drop their kids off, make sure you have a contact number for them in case anything happens on your watch
It happened to a friend where someone dropped off their son and then didn’t pick him up at the end as they’d got the time wrong so they had him an extra hour as didn’t have the dads number!
Katie who blogs at Mummy’s Diary says:
You can hire just soft play for your living room might save them running off and pulling all the toys out.
Debbie who blogs at My Boys Club says:
We’ve done a few home parties. Pizza or hot dogs for food, popcorn and a short film plus games and toys but limited it to about 6/7 friends at a time. Always have a definite end time too.
Emma who blogs at The Money Whisperer says:
Here my tip for a great old school game which all the kids loved but had never played before at our home party – the one where you take turns to throw a six, then put on gloves, scarf and hat and eat a chocolate bar with a knife and fork until the next person throws a 6. They LOVED it!!
Carol who blogs at Virtually All Sorts says:
If you’ve got an outdoor area, ask their parents to bring wellies. If the weathers decent they can go outside for a few minutes to save your sanity and give you a breather!
Veronica who blogs at My Parenting Journey says:
Prepare a playlist of songs to play while having games or whenever it gets boring. One funny game to play is stop dance. You can throw candies while everyone is on stop to make it more exciting.
Victoria who blogs at Starlights and Stories says:
Perfect the teacher glare and speak with authority. Children know if you expect them to listen especially if they are in a group, or if you are nervous.
Jess who blogs at Tantrums to Smiles says:
Tidy away any breakables and toys your child may find really difficult to share or that could be easily broken! With so many kids in the house things are easily broken (my son had his friends over and they all managed to smash to pieces his massive LEGO castle set!).
Michelle who blogs at Time and Pence says:
Be sensitive to any children with allergies. Don’t be afraid to invite them. They still like to be included and feel ‘normal’ so let their parent know what food/party bags/ treats you intend on giving so they can bring substitutes.
Thank you to everyone for your tips. I’ll definitely be using them when planning our twins sixth birthday party!
Have you ever hosted your child’s birthday party at home? How did it go? What are your top tips? Let me know in the comments below.
