Birthday parties with a mixture of ages, especially with young kids are challenging for parents. One of the ways I have found to deal with this situation to make sure everyone has fun is to team younger kids and older kids together.

Outdoor birthday party games

Where the weather permits, it will be a great idea to play games outdoor. Your backyard or the park are some of the great outdoor locations for games.

Treasure Hunts
Treasure hunts are really fun because they are friendly at the same time competitive in nature. You hide your “treasures” before the hunt, obviously. One of the ways we have found that kids really get a kick out of is having them find naturally occurring items. For instance, give them a list of a torn leaf, roley poley bug, round rock and a feather and see who can find all of the items first.

Another way to play the game ‘intellectually’ is to have them find “treasures of knowledge”. Give each player a list of questions and a time limit to see who can get more of the answers or make it unlimited and the first to complete the list wins. These questions can be simple observation (ie: how many windows are in our home) to getting to know each other (ie: what is the name of the person to your right).

Red Rover
Ok, this might sound like an old game but the kids love to play red rover. I use this as a game in-between other games. The kids can play this to keep each other occupied while I am getting the next game set up. It gets some of the wiggles out of the littler kids and keeps the bigger kids from getting bored.

Make two human chains and stand opposite of each other. Then one team says in unison, “Red Rover, Red Rover send (insert kid’s name) right over.” They pick one of the people on the other sides name who they think will not be able to break through. Then they will run and try to break through your arm but you don’t want them too because you get to keep them if they don’t break through. When you have all the people from the other team in your team you win.

Indoor birthday party games

These are some of the games that you can play in the house.

Crowns/party hats
You will need party hats to go with your noise makers. Construction paper, glue, tape, glitter and a pair of scissors is all you need to make party hats or crowns for everyone. You can have the kids color the hats and even glue beads and flitter to them then you can take the tape, roll the paper up to make a circular band (to go around the kid’s head) and tape together in the back. If you want to make hats instead of crowns you should roll so that they hats are pointy like a snow cone cup. Elastic or yarn can be stapled to the sides so that the hat can be held on.

Noise Maker Craft
Once you have colored your pages the kids can use them to build a craft. We like to make noisy crafts if we are working with mostly young kids. Take two Styrofoam plates and a few beans; glue the plates together so that they are facing each other with the beans between them. Decorate with the colored pages, or other colored bits of beans, pasta, beads, paper or even glue and glitter. These can be used to make noise during the party.

Coloring contest
One of the simplest and most ‘hands-off game’ is to conduct a coloring contest. A coloring contest is a great game because it does take up time. Kids of all ages can color and then an appointed official (a mom or an older kid) can judge the art work.

It is important to understand that as your child reaches their second or third birthday, they are more than likely still be dependent upon their mother and not understand the full meaning of birthday party games. Your child will certainly be happy playing alongside others of his/her age group, but he/she may snatch toys, make other children cry without realizing why and even bite and kick. Although this can be quite embarrassing, it is normal behavior for a child of this age. Therefore it is vitally important that the correct party planning and birthday party game is selected.

An ideal birthday party game for children of this age would be something simple, but with prizes at the end for their best efforts.

Be sure of how many children are attending the birthday party. Purchase small gifts, enough so that each child receives two gifts each. Wrap the gifts in pretty paper and number each one. Cut out stars from cardboard and paint these also. Number them with corresponding numbers that are on the gifts, also place a small piece of magnetic tape on each star. Prepare some sticks, enough so that each child has one stick each, chop sticks or confetti sticks would work well, and place a small piece of magnetic take on the end of each one.

When choosing the gifts for the birthday party game, remember that things that will stimulate their imagination would be best. Things like Play dough, coloring books and pencils, child reading books etc are the best.

Take a bag of poly fiber and place it on the floor to represent a cloud and then place the stars on the bed of poly fiber. Each child has two turns each to catch a star. The number on the stars will correspond with the numbers on the gifts, therefore that child wins those two gifts. Be sure that the children are fully supervised and ensure that they do only have two turns each. Children do not understand rules too well, so it is important to make them understand when they have had their turn.

It is important to play the birthday party game early on in the day, as many children of this age are still customary to having an afternoon sleep. Also keep the birthday party quite short. Children will start to get bored after a certain period of time.

Fill in the gaps with short birthday party games such as ring o’roses, Simon says or dancing to music, which are great fun and pass the time. After all of their excitement, you could consider reading them a short story to calm them down before they go back to their own homes.

When shopping for birthday party supplies you will find the best deals by shopping with the large wholesalers and warehouses’ that will stretch your dollar.

Number One Party Supplies in Sun City California stores all the required birthday party supplies and birthday party favors, including decorations snacks and candy, or centerpieces for the birthday party table. You must visit through the week although; they are only open to the public Monday to Friday until 5 pm.

You might also try Crystals Craft in Bellflower, or Glow Magic in San Mateo also in California. A Star Jumps is also located in San Fernando California.

Californians may also save the lawn by renting a dance floor from California Portable Dance Floor Co. Inc in Camarillo.

If you are in Pennsylvania Bev’s Party Fun is on Grafton rd, Blairsville.

New York has some amazing party supplies out to grab your party favors from. You could try Party Points on Staten Island. Or perhaps Party Fair for favors and supplies in Brooklyn. Party Fair is ideal offering personalized ribbon and invitations or chair and table hire.

Utah is not forgotten for great party supply bargains with Piece Of Cake Party in Layton Hills Mall, Layton.

Florida has a wealth of choices with T -n -T’s Party creations on Metro Drive, Boynton Beach, and 4 Ever Party in Clearwater. Celebrations Nationwide is located in Winter Garden also in Florida.

Texans may get their party favors and birthday supplies from Party Biz in Converse. Perhaps you are looking for some way to entertain the kids with something from Scotts and Biggens Bounce About. For the balloon lovers in Texas Instant Balloon Stands is full of great party ideas, try a balloon sculpture for something really different and fun.

The Party manager 1793 is with 1800 Party Shop in 8980 east E F Avenue, Richland Miami.

If you in Vancouver and looking for a party with a theme, you could try Theme -Parties -In -A -Box in Powhatan.

Princess parties are perhaps the easiest children’s birthday party to decorate for and truly the perfect choice for a girl’s birthday party. The central table decoration could be a plastic play crown or tiara. Plastic tiaras also make ideal place holders when attaching a guest’s name. In fact dressing up the table for a princess party is made easy with the use of plastic wine glasses, (for the cordial of course), and plastic picnic ware produced to represent crystal. This might be the only children’s birthday party where a white or lace table cloth might be recommended. Sprinkle lots of glitter and bright shiny confetti shapes on the tales and tie big satin bows around the backs of the chairs. The chair of the birthday girl should be regal looking like a throne.

Reinforcing your princess party theme can start as early as sending the invitations. Make some princess theme birthday party invitations yourself or find some already made out n the shape of crowns.

On the day of the princess birthday party be sure to greet the guests in royal form, “Announcing the arrival of Lady Sara, or Master James”. All royal castles must have a King and Queen, i.e. mum and dad, and a court jester, the big brother. Get the whole family to dress up and enjoy the day and play the party games too.

Let the party begin with a few princes birthday party games. It is not pass the parcel, its pass the silver slipper. Before the little girls birthday party spray paint a large high healed shoe silver, place the party favors inside the shoes separated by layers of tissue paper in different colors. It is not pin the tail on the donkey, its place the crown on the princess. For a nice quiet birthday party game you could “pass the royal message”, i.e. Chinese whispers with a royal task to perform the last receiver. And don’t forget a game of “enchanted statues” a little like a game called red light green light, with the sound of a bell or the stop of the music every one stops still, anyone found moving after the cue is out.

When deciding on a theme like the princess theme for a little girls’ birthday party it is important to remember that your little princess may be suffering from a little over indulgence at the end of the day, but your little girl is just like any other. At worse she might need reminding that a perfect princess always has beautiful manners.

Planning a party can be stressful for parents, but there is so much help available. Be sure to ask a friend or two to help, don’t be shy about this, I’m sure you will be the first to volunteer when the glass slipper is on the other foot.

Balloons might be fantastic and they are usually considered standard kids birthday party decorating accessories. However balloons are not for everybody. In fact globophobia, the fear of balloons is a very real condition. Not to mention some people just don’t like balloons for no other reason than they JUST don’t like balloons.

Don’t dismiss globophobia , this can be a very life suppressing problem, imagine never attending a kids birthday party for fear of the natural presence of balloons. Well really balloons are a little bit freaky it’s just not right to find bright seemingly solid object floating in the air.

Even without the condition of globophobia, balloons can still be scary. The sudden loud noise they make when they pop is quite terrifying for many. The room suddenly goes quiet and jumps, the heart stops. This is not good at all for someone who might have a heart condition and very painful for someone wearing a hearing aide.

Parents of toddlers may also be concerned of the dangers a balloon might present at a kids birthday. A teething baby will bight down on anything that has their attention, certainly that bright soft ball has their attention. Perhaps a piece of the breaking balloon could catch in the babies’ moth. Babies will taste everything. An already broken balloon looks like something that might be yummy to try.

Balloons are NOT the only way to decorate a kid’s birthday party. There are many new and amazing ways to dress up the house or yard for a party.

Yard art or lawn decorations are an ideal decorating idea without having to use balloons. You can buy these ready made, commissions some to create some new ones in your theme, or even very easily make these yourself using heavy cardboard or light craft board.

Try some dinner plate sized smiley faces, or some cartoon barn yard characters, anything bright and colorful. If you have a kids birthday party theme, have some made in your theme.

Marking smiley faces on paper plates is the easiest way to go, but if you’re keen making your own yard art from the start is far easier than you might imagine. Draw or trace a few easy cartoon type images onto light craft board or heavy cardboard, paint them in and cut them out, then attach them to walls or stake them into the ground. When looking for great pictures try a few clip art images found on the internet or even pictures found in children color in books give great results.

Streamers at a kid’s birthday party are always popular. Unravel rolls and roll of streamers in all colors and simply scatter them everywhere. It’s best to have these in cut into strips of between 1 and 2 ft to lessen the chance of someone tripping over them. Hang them over everything from the ceiling fan and in trees. Don’t worry if some fall to the ground the disorganized color is what makes this work.

Bright color cellophane and tissue paper also looks amazing. To put this to use grab some wire coat hangers or shape come craft wire out to create shapes of squares, stars, circle, and even random blobs. Hang them around or plant then in pot plants and the lawn.

If you’re really feeling crafty you could make a few paper mache balloons a starting a few weeks ahead. You don’t need to make these thick and heavy; just a few layers of paper will do, and finish it off with some bright colored paint.

If your really looking to add some sparkle to your kids birthday party decorating don’t forget your boxes of Christmas decorations, a few pieces of tinsel wrapped around a tree truly livens up a party yard. Some plastic stars, or bright colored tree decorations, anything bright and shiny will do.

Beach balls are also an ideal way to brighten and decorate a room or yard for a kid’s birthday party. They are cheap and reusable. Simply blow them up and leave them everywhere.

Decorating a kids birthday party without balloons is not so difficult when just trying a little imagination, think bright and colorful and your half way there.

Its true creating your own birthday party invitation really is so much fun, and something you could do together with the birthday kid. If you’re not very crafty don’t feel like there is nothing to do but to buy some readymade invitations from the local store, there are so many birthday party invitation ideas on the internet you could enjoy finding these together.

If the birthday party you are planning has a particular theme, simply surfing the internet is sure to bring up a fan site or two. If your theme is a popular kids birthday party theme you will find that many of these sites even have birthday party templates ready for you to fill in and print. But certainly these sites will have clip art pictures that you may be offered for sharing and including on the invitations you can put together.

While looking on the internet for birthday party invitations you will very likely find some template software that will guide you step by step through the process. Template software gives you the best of both words, it is as easy to use as readymade invitations that you really get to create yourself.

With or without software templates making your own invitations is not such a difficult task. You could use MS Word, or even just your rich text editor found in all windows operating systems. Simply choosing large bright text and using a few of the clip art images you found on the internet makes for great looking presentations.

Certainly lots of colored cardboard, glitter and clue and having an old fashioned craft night in makes for beautiful, and personal treasured birthday party invitations.

The most important thing of your invitations is the information. Start with a nice big heading announcing the birthday party and be sure to include the theme of the party if you want to have your birthday party with a fun party theme. Pick a nice large bright font for this, but try to keep yellow for highlighting only, yellow is a little hard on the eyes. Then move on to the birthday invitation details.

. Whose party is it- First things first announce the name of the birthday boy or girl. Be a little bit creative “You are invited to Ben’s special day.”, “Sally would love you to come to her 5th Birthday Party.”

. How old- It makes so much easier for the parents of your child’s party guests when they are selecting cards and gifts.
. When- when putting in the date it’s a good idea to include the date in long form, i.e. Saturday 3rd June simply writing 3/4/07 may get confused with the 4th of March.

. Where- be clear, especially if the party is not at your house. This would be a great place to include a few easy directions using the school or a common known landmark as the starting point. Parents love maps, perhaps you could find one on the internet to include stapled on the back or just as a slip included in the envelope. If only needing a few streets you could even include the short map in a small area in the body of birthday invitation.
. What time- be sure to include both the start time and the end time. You seriously don’t want tired party kids still there long after the other kids have gone home.

. Theme- If you are having a theme, your birthday party invitation should reinforce this and perhaps include a couple of dress up ideas

. RSVP- For your own sake please remember to ask for an RSVP, there is nothing in the word more stressful in trying to plan a party not knowing how many kids you might be expecting. Including a special RSVP slip in with the birthday party invitation is a nice polite reminder to parents that you would really love to know as soon as possible.

. If you have any other information you would like consider writing it on the invitation instead of having to remember to tell everyone. If you would like parents to stay with their children, it’s not impolite to say so. If you would prefer parents just to leave their kids in your care due to room restrictions you are far better to say something here than go through the stress of having to entertain the parents while trying to host a kid’s birthday party. If you have a large space and lots of patience you might feel good about suggesting close age siblings may also be welcome.

Remember when sending out your birthday party invitations to keep a list of who has received theirs and check them off as they reply. Also most important, be sure to make up a couple more than you think you will need. Without fail you will have forgotten some poor kid, it’s just in the rules it seems.

Birthday parties for preschool age children can be challenging. Trying to plan activities and keep these small children entertained is not an easy feat.

Preschool age children are limited in what activities they can do. Harder games can be too much for them to understand. They also have shorter attention spans than the older children, which is an important thing to keep in mind.

The key to planning birthday party activities for preschoolers is to keep the activities simple and to keep the children busy. It can help to always have some back up activities in case an activity does not work out. A good back up is a coloring table or a movie. These things are usually always a hit with preschoolers and can serve to occupy them if needed.

You should be sure to have all activities set up and ready to go before the party even starts. Make sure you have all the supplies ready to go so you do not have to leave the party to go get something.

Good activities for preschoolers are activities that do not require a lot of explanation. They should also be fun and allow the children to do it by themselves. Preschoolers tend to be very independent so choosing activities that require little parental involvement will be the best choice.

Some good examples of activities for a preschooler’s birthday party include blowing bubbles, face painting, bean bag toss and water balloons. You can also use other party games, but you may want to alter the rules or simply make up your own, less complicated rules.

You want to keep the activities flowing. You never want a time when everyone is just standing around. Preschoolers are not very patient and they like to stay busy, so if you are not keeping them busy they will definitely find something to keep themselves busy and that could spell trouble.

Depending on the number of children at the party, you may want to break them up into groups. This will help to keep everyone busy and minimize waiting time. You may also want to use your back up activity for children to do as they wait for their turn at an activity.

For activities, like blowing bubbles, you should be sure to buy enough so that everyone can blow bubbles at the same time. This will help to reduce arguments and allow everyone to participate.

Also keep in mind that messy activities, like blowing bubbles or playing with water balloons should be saved for the end of the party. You should also inform parents if you think a child may get wet or messy so they can bring an extra set of clothing should their child need to change.

Preschoolers are at an awkward age where they are wanting to act grown up, but their bodies and minds limit them. Birthday party activities for preschoolers should allow them to express their desire to be independent and grown up, but also take into consideration their limitations.

Children born in the winter months miss out on the fun of pool themed birthday parties or even just being able to go outside during their birthday party. For you, winter birthday parties mean everyone is going to be spending most of the party inside, which can equal a lot more chaos and mess.

Planning a winter birthday party, though, can be just as fun as planning a summer birthday party. You just have to plan ahead.

If the weather outside is not too terribly cold and there is snow on the ground,, then going outside can be a fun birthday activity. Tell parents to make sure their child dresses warmly. You can build a snow fort, a snow man or go sledding.

If going outside is not possible, then you need to really plan out the party. You should have a general party area and make sure everyone knows that this is the party space and the rest of the house is off limits.

You will want to accommodate guests when they arrive by having a place for hats, coats, gloves and boots or wet shoes. If you wish to have guests remove their shoes then post a sign asking them to do so and provide a space for them to put their shoes. This way no one will leave wet foot prints across your carpet.

You will also want to lower the thermostat a bit right before the party. Once you get all the guests in the party area you will find the body heat will raise the temperature fast. To keep everyone comfortable, plan ahead and keep that area a little cooler then the rest of the house.

Winter birthday parties will likely need more activities then a summer birthday party. With a summer birthday party, being outside can allow for a lot of free play, but with a winter party and being inside for the majority or all of the party, it is more likely for guests to get bored.

Plan out some fun activities and hire some entertainment. You want to make sure you have something for guests to do every minute of the party. Have a schedule of events planned out so you can easily move from one activity to the next.

One major setback when it comes to a winter birthday party is bad weather. If the weather gets too bad you may have to consider canceling the party and rescheduling it. Depending on your area’s weather you may want to plan an alternate party date just in case of bad weather. Let guests know on the invitations and then call guests the day before or day of the party of you will need to reschedule.

A winter birthday party does not have to be boring or dull just because the weather outside is. You should make the winter party as fun as possible. If you pay attention to the special considerations of a winter birthday party then you should be able to plan one that is amazing fun.

Many times planning a birthday party also involves choosing food to serve. It can be difficult to plan a birthday party without having to serve something to eat. Choosing food for a child’s birthday party comes along with some extra considerations.

Food for a child’s birthday party can be difficult to choose. Not only are you going to want to make sure that everyone will like the food, but you will also want to be sure that the foods you serve are not too messy.

Every parent knows that food and child can equal a huge mess. The last thing you want to do after throwing a birthday party is having to spend hours cleaning up the mess left behind.

When choosing food for a child’s birthday party the key is to keep it simple. Do not go overboard. The children are not going to care how extravagant the food is, all they care about is the way it tastes.

Choose foods that are not messy. You want to stick with foods that are common favorites, too. This is not the time to try out a new recipe. You can get creative if you like, but be cautious about it.

Overall, you should aim to choose foods that will be easy to serve, too. You do not want to have to monitor foods as they cook during the party. It is best to choose foods that can be cooked prior to the party and then set up to be served when the time comes.

Good foods for a child’s birthday party include hot dogs, sandwiches, raw vegetable slices and chips. These foods are generally well liked, easy to prepare and serve and do not cause a huge mess.

The next food consideration is going to be cake and ice cream. One of the best ideas for serving cake and ice cream is to go with single servings. Serve cup cakes instead of slices of cake and serve individual containers of ice cream instead of scoops of ice cream.

Many bakeries now offer cup cake cake’s. The cup cake’s are arranged to form a larger cake. You then just take apart the cake and serve each child an individual cupcake. There is no cutting involved and the cupcakes can be eating without the need for a fork.

Depending upon the age of the party guests, you may want to consider serving individual juices instead of punch. Drink spills are often one of the biggest messes at a child’s birthday party. If you do go with serving punch in cups you might want to consider buying disposable cups with lids.

Child’s birthday party food should be satisfying, yet simple. Your goal is to provide food that every child will like and that will be easy to serve and clean up.

The food is not likely to be a main focus of the party, with the exception of the cake, so you can get away with keeping it simple. The children are going to be more interested in playing and having fun then what you are serving. So, save the extravagant food fair for your next adult party.

Throwing a birthday party for a young child means that the majority of guests will be young children too.  With a group of small children things can get out of hand very easily.  It can really help to have a plan in place that will minimize the chaos.

One of the biggest ways to minimize chaos at a child’s birthday party is to plan carefully.  You need to make sure you have every detail mapped out.

Chaos often happens when the party is not flowing smoothly.  Any time children are not occupied is a chance for them to go about doing whatever they want, which many times includes running around or just acting unruly.

It is very important that the party does not lag.  You do not want to allow the children to bored.  This can be a major cause for children acting up or getting out of hand. 

Be sure to plan activities that will keep the children entertained.  You should have everything ready for each activity before the party starts so you can easily transition between activities.

You should also make sure the party area is set up to allow children to go from one activity to the next easily.  You should keep the activity area separate from the entrance and the food serving area.

When it comes to party food you should plan for simple foods.  A good idea is to serve cupcakes and individual containers of ice cream.  This will eliminate the need for forks or plates and also make for easy serving and clean up.

If you are serving a meal then choose foods that can be eaten without the use of utensils, like hot dogs and chips.  You should also try to choose foods that are not messy and that are easy to clean up should they be spilled.

To keep the fun level up you should always have something going on.  You should also be prepared to entertain a child that may not want to follow allow with what everyone else is doing.  Keeping a couple coloring books or a movie handy can be a good way to occupy a child who is not wanting to be part of the group activities.

Children should also be made aware of the boundaries of the party.  If you are keeping the party contained to one room or to an outside area then make it clear to the children that they are to remain in the party area, this also includes the birthday child.

Lastly, make sure children know where the bathroom is and how to get to it.  It can help to designate an adult to be responsible for monitoring the bathroom.  If the bathroom is away form the party area it can be easy for a child to get lost or distracted and having an adult to chaperone bathroom visits can prevent this from happening.

When it comes to keeping chaos to a minimum at a child’s birthday party you have to stay on top of things.  The more children present, the harder this will be, but with careful planning you should be able to make the party fun and enjoyable for everyone - including yourself.