Parties at Home

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A selection of ideas for parties at home.

We want to give you some useful links and information on planning a party for your children at home. Parties for younger children are generally quite different from those who are older, so we have approached the topic by age range, hopefully giving you some good tips on party games, different themes, presents etc......

Click Here for our suggestions on Baby & Toddler Parties,Pre-Schooler Parties, Primary Schooler Parties and Secondary Schooler Parties.

Getting Organised

Invitations - About three weeks before the date of your party you should send out your invitations to the party with all or some of the following included:

Your child's name and which birthday they are celebrating.
Your address and phone number.
The date, start and finish times of the party.
If you're having a themed party, your invitation should make it clear if the guest needs to dress up.

You may need a small map if you're inviting children whose parents haven't been to your home before - the same applies if you’re holding the party at a venue that may not be familiar to all guests.

It’s also a good idea to ask on invitations for mums to make it clear if their child has any allergies or special dietary requirements – remember to follow this up when you’re organising the party food on with the seating arrangements on the day.

Personalised invitations made on your home PC are terrific fun. If you are having a themed party, set the scene right from the start with the party invitation.

Setting the scene - decor & music - Set the scene with music and decorations, either ready made or, if you’re feeling creative, homemade ones.

Music: A party without music just isn’t a party, especially if you are a child! If you’re holding the party at a venue away from home don’t forget to take your portable CD player. There are lots of children’s compilation CDs about or you could make your own compilation of your child’s favourite music. Children’s TV theme tunes are usually a popular choice.

Buying decorations: Balloons, streamers, banners, themed paper, tablecloths, paper plates and cups, spray streamers, party hats and so on all help create an instant party atmosphere. Look out for piñatas, a traditional Mexican party tradition in which a colourful papier mache object (such as a star or a donkey) is filled with sweets and treats and then hung from the ceiling to be bashed with a piñata stick until its exterior is weakened and all the goodies fall out. They provide a great end to your party and are available online from various suppliers.

At guernseymums.gg we have teamed up with Balloonees in The Arcade to offer 10% discount to all readers of guernseymums. Just click here to download your voucher to take into the shop and get your discount on party supplies, every penny counts so we hope this helps.

Homemade decorations - If you are feeling brave and have the time you may want to make some of the decorations yourself.

There are lots of useful items (maybe from the recycling) for making your own decorations, which you can keep at the ready in a box for when the occasion demands.

It may be worth investing some time making a few decorations that you can use again and again. If you're having a birthday party, for example, you can make a birthday banner saying 'Happy Birthday' then it can be used for anyone in the family. Good old Fabric bunting, made from recycled old clothes or material also adds a nice touch and can be re-used.

Party Food - One of the consistent tips we found when reseraching this topic, was that you should keep the food 'bite size' when planning what to give at parties. This way children can have a handful of everything and not leave platefuls of leftover food with two bites taken out!
Children love to choose their own selection of items from an array of plates, but if it suits you better, they will be happy if presented with a ‘happy meal’-style box filled with a tempting selection of goodies. You can get these from party supplies shops, why not take advantage of your 10% off at Balloonees by clicking on this voucher

There are endless possibilities with Party Food,we have made some suggestions that you can read by clicking here

Party Themes - Children love themed parties and dressing up so it is definitely worth considering as an option. They can be more budget-friendly than buying in entertainment, too, as you can devise cheap ways to make traditional games, like treasure hunts, really exciting. All it calls for is some imagination!
But equally you can keep things as simple as you like - you only have to theme one or two really obvious things, like the invitations and what your children wear. They can also be time consuming as you may have to come up with decorations to enhance the theme, and be creative and imaginative, devising games or things which children can make, such a pirate hats, for example.
You may also like the party food and cake to follow the theme of the party, so this may call for some additional work on your part. Complex themed parties will be lost on very young kids, so keep it simple with children under 4 years old; the optimum age for themed parties is probably 5-8 years.

If you are thinking of having a themed party here are some different ideas to get you thinking...

Treasure Hunt Party

Invite kids to a ‘desert island’ to find buried treasure and ask guests to dress up as mermaids/pirates/explorers etc. A classic treasure hunt is the central activity. Great one for many of our lovely beaches. See our beach party section for more ideas on this.

Princess Party
Little girls will love being invited to the ‘king and queen’s ball’. Pink and glittery food and decorations will enchant the invited ‘princesses’.

Pirate Party
A classic party theme, always popular with little boys…treasure hunts can also feature alongside parrot piñatas and the liberal use of eye patches! Cover bits of cardboard with foil and make it look like treasure, scatter them around the house or hall and ask the Pirates to find them, the one with the most wins, with prizes for all of course!

Alien Party
Go space-age with lots of silver balloons and tin foil…alien games such as ‘treasure in the moon dust’ can feature.

Mermaid Party
Put an invitation in a plastic bottle, requesting the company of mermaids, pirates and sea creatures. Turn your home into a watery wonderland using crepe paper.

Harry Potter Party
Harry Potter fans will love the idea of playing wizards and making magic potions. If the children are old enough you could ask them to all think of a magic trick that they could do at the party and put on a magic show with all the wizards performing in the show!

Party Games

Party games are a great way to break the ice and help shy children feel more comfortable and involved in the party, especially children who may not know any of the other guests.
Games should be age appropriate – remember that the younger the child the less able they will be able to concentrate for long periods of time (and sit still!) so keep things simple and easy to understand for young kids.
Older children will enjoy ‘brain teaser’-style or memory games, such as ‘What’s On the Tray’ and Charades.

Tips for breaking the ice
A great way to make everyone feel welcome and relaxed is to play ‘The Name Game’ at the beginning of the party. To do this you will need to write out the name of each guest on a piece of card before the party begins. Colour the letters and cut out each one. Then prepare another strip of card with a piece of sticky-back Velcro attached to the back.
Finally, make a chart of all the children's names and pin this to the wall - just in case they don't know how to spell their names. Scatter the letters throughout the room and, as the children arrive, ask them to hunt for the letters of their name. Once they have found them, ask them to stick them on to the piece of card with Velcro on the back to make their own name badge. Now everyone will know each other’s names and the ice should well and truly be broken!
Another idea to warm the party up is to hunt for stars. Buy some packets of differently coloured little stars (or make some yourself) and hide them around the room before the party begins. The children need to collect as many pairs of the same colour as they can – the child with the most pairs wins.
Alternatively, set up a simple craft exercise which will help the kids to get to know each other; something like colouring hats, for example. Cut out hat shapes and put them on a table with crayons or felt tipped pens for the kids to colour. The hats can be themed to match the party (e.g. pirate-shaped hats/princess tiaras).

Choosing a themed party you can hold at home or in a church hall is a fun way to make your child feel special. Most children love the chance to dress up so if you're holding a pirate party, for example, this calls for plenty of pirate hats, eye patches and the like! See our section on themed parties.

There are countless number of games to list so again we found some useful ones on www.partyplan.co.uk and click here to view the game suggestions.

Let us know your suggestions by email: info@guernseymums.gg or share your advice or experience on the Grapevine.

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