Every parent wants to give their child the absolute best in life, so it’s no wonder that some parents go overboard when it comes to planning birthday parties. Junior’s sixth birthday party should not include a red carpet. It should also not cost you six figures. You don’t need to go that far to have a party your kid and their friends will remember fondly for a long time. You can have a party that’s nice to both your child and your budget. Here are three tips for throwing a birthday party that will be unforgettable in all the right ways.
Make it Active
Party planning is exhausting, so it’s tempting to just grab some cake and punch and call it a day. But you don’t want a dozen kids consuming sugar and then running around your backyard without anything to do. Give them a little more structure by making it an active birthday party.
There are several ways to do that, depending on the size of your home and yard. If you’re living in the suburbs, for instance, you can look up bounce house rentals in NYC and allow kids to burn off energy in a fun bounce house. If you’re in the heart of the city, that’s a little trickier. You can start the party at home and leave to do something like apple-picking. Ceramics studios and factory tours are also possible, depending on the age and interests of your child and their friends.
Your child can sit around and eat sugar any day of the year. You probably don’t let them, and that’s good, but doing something active will ensure your kid has plenty of fun memories to get them by until their next birthday.
Take Plenty of Photos
You’ve got a smartphone and a ton of photos to take, but imagine this: Your kid is blowing out the candles when your phone flashes the “No storage left” message.” That’s frustrating at any time, but it’s especially bad if it happens during a birthday party. You should clear out some space on your phone and also get a photo manager that automatically backs up your photos for you.
Your phone can store a few hundred photos before it starts yelling at you to delete stuff. But a good photo manager can store hundreds of thousands of photos. You could take photos of every birthday party from now until your kid turns 40 and never have to worry about backing them up. As a bonus, many photo managers also let you share photos without posting them all over social media. You’re proud of your kids, but it’s understandable if you don’t want to plaster their face over Twitter or Instagram. A photo manager lets you send photos to important people like grandparents, aunts and uncles, and your favorite coworkers.
Remember Your Manners
When you’re having a party, it’s understandable to worry about your kids’ behavior. Will they remember to say thank you for every gift, even the smaller ones? Will your child eat too much cake and start a fight with a classmate? Those are valid fears, but as a parent, you’ve got some obligations to live up to as well.
Deciding who to invite is one area that gets a lot of parents into trouble. One rule to consider is either inviting less than half your child’s class or the entire class. That may sound extreme but think back to when you were a kid and felt like everyone got invited to Ashley’s birthday party except you. Don’t make a kid feel bad because you weren’t thinking.
Be sure to avoid springing invites on families at the last minute. Your child’s best friend may love the idea of going to a birthday party in three days, but that’s going to create unnecessary stress for the parents. Invitations need to be sent no less than two weeks before the day of the big bash.
