Most parents find organizing their child's birthday party a daunting experience you may still feel this even if you have previously organized parties.
For your child this is a major and very important event in his year.
For the first two years of your child's life you have been able to organize exactly what you want for his party as he has had no opinion as to what he wanted you to for this event.
A third birthday is different; your child will express his preference as how the event should be organized, what food he wants and where he wants it held.
This will all be influenced by the parties he has recently attended.
You have an enormous role to play in this important celebration.
You are the person who has to organize entertainment, food, the guest list and invitations and many other little things.
You don't want other parents to judge your party and not think it is good enough.
1.
The Fun Factor.
What is the point of a party? To celebrate your child's birth and to give him FUN time.
This should be your highest priority.
It doesn't matter if you have an odd cup or party bag this will not be remembered for very long.
What will be remembered is how much FUN the children had and this is what your planning should be centered on.
Plan his party with one thought in mind "FUN".
2.
Don't start too late Start early with your planning and avoid some of the stress that comes with leaving things till the last minute.
Remember entertainers get booked early, some need booking months in advance and if you want a particular one then book early.
3.
Don't be pushed by anyone into having every child in the class to the party.
A teacher at my local preschool informed the parents that all 25 children in the class should be invited to every party otherwise it would be unfair.
Parents were placed under pressure to invite more children than they really wanted to the party.
You know what finances are available and how many children you feel happy having.
Stick to this and don't be pushed by anyone.
4.
Have a set number of guests in mind before speaking to your child.
Have a number in mind means you are less likely to be pushed into having more children than you really feel comfortable with.
Be willing and open to a little negotiation.
5.
Plan your budget before you begin How do you want to spend the major share of your budget?Do you want to spend it on an entertainer, expensive food or really upmarket party bags? To keep spending in control set your budget before you even start planning.
Avoid giving in to your child's tantrums or sulks and spend more than your budget.
The amount of fun children have at a party does not necessarily relate to how much money you spend.
Aim for the FUN factor.
6.
Organize help Organize friends and other family members to help you.
Do this well in advance, making sure you have extra pairs of hands as someone is bound to be unavailable on the day.
Assign jobs to your helpers well in advance of the actual party day.
Make sure they understand what you need them to do to help you.
7.
Make the games short Bored children get into more trouble and mischief than entertained ones, watch them and see.
Parties are exciting occasions and children's short attention spans can become even shorter, therefore have short fun games.
Children like to win so try and make sure that everyone wins something.
8.
Have a quieter activity during the party Prepare a craft or other quieter activity that the children will have FUN being involved in.
The best time for this activity is before just before eating or after a noisy game.
Children enjoy taking the finished article home and will often talk about this activity a long time after the party.
9.
Keep control and have fun It can be very tempting to loosen your parental control because it's a party.
Don't do it.
Control and fun are not mutually exclusive; children will have more fun if there are boundaries in place.
Don't just stand and watch instead have fun by joining in the activities; this will also help you keep control.
10.
Get help cleaning up Cleaning up after a party can be one worst parts of the whole event.
Organize friends or pay local teenagers to help with this and do it well in advance of the actual party day.
Write a list of all the jobs that you know will need doing and allocate these to the people a couple of days before the party.
Have them written and attached to a surface where they can be clearly seen by everyone, this way you won't have remember everything once the party is finished.
Above all a party should be FUN and EVERYONE should enjoy it.