By Daughter's Birthday Party. I Need Lots of Suggestions and Ideas.

I have lots of ideas. I would personally if you really do not want the kids over for a birthday party just tell the parents that you normally dont throw a birthday party and that you keep it a family thing and you were planning on going out to dinner of your daughters choice. For my daughters 3rd birthday she only had one friend over and they just played. Tell her that you are waiting until she turns 5 to throw her first birthday party. I hope this helps you, if decide to have a party and you need Ideas e-mail me I would love to help. I am a 23 mom of two I stay at home for now I am getting a divorce right now and he doesn't help much either.if you would like talk here is my e-mail ____@____.com

L.

I can help u with ideas, I have 3 kids age 5-15 and tons of ideas. My daughter just turned 5 with an at home party in Ariel theme (her favorite, I always go with their favorites and build upon). She had 4 friends over. I decorated the table in Ariel colors, had giant glitter all over with a blue lava lamp to give an ocean feel. My daughter has a stuffed Sebastian, and other related Ariel toys that I also put on the table as a sort of centerpiece. I also had strawberries and grapes on hand at the center of the table. I made 2 large french bread sandwiches (1 turkey, 1 ham) and cut them up in squares with party toothpicks inserted. I had a tub filled with 3 kinds of caprisuns, water bottles and ice. I made her birthday cake in a rectangle pan, colored the vanilla icing to match the sea color and decorated it. Walmart's bakery let me buy an Ariel on a rock for $5, they use them on their cakes too. For games we had 'pin the fin on Ariel', an Ariel pinata, musical chairs, etc. We also have the dvd 'Scene it' Disney game, they loved that one. For goodies I went to the 99cent store for glow in the dark sticks, face glitter, fake jewelry/beads, nail polish, etc and they played with and wore them at the party too. If u need ideas with other themes I'd be happy to help. Just tell me what theme, how many kids, etc. Hope this helps anyway. :)

A.,

You can make it as simple or as complicted as you'd like. For my son's (he's 3) last birthday party, I made spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread (everyone loves spaghetti, including the kids and you can feed lots of folks for not much money!) and a salad. I got paper plates, forks, etc.. from Smart and Final (I did a Mickey Mouse theme so I got primary red, yellow and black stuff). I got Mickey Mouse invitations and some decorations from the party store that is next to the Kmart that is South of St. Rose Pkwy on Eastern (they are all over town or you can order stuff off the internet) and a few party favors (I got gift bags and some small, simple toys, all from the party store), and I made cupcakes and put 3 candles on one of them. I invited a couple of kids and their parents. It was easy, fun, the kids had a good time and it really wasn't expensive. It is nice to plan a couple of activities for the kids. You can do a DVD or a craft project or puzzles or whatever. I think with little kids, the more simple you keep it, the better. If you were going to do several kids and not invite the parents, I'd do it at some place like Chuckee Cheese because they do all of the set up and clean up.

:-)T.

Chuck E Cheese is always an option if you can stand it. (I cannot)If you do something in your home you will be forced to have conversation with the other parents, and it may be hard to wrap up the party and get them to leave politley.

A good place to get some great ideas is at Toys R Us. When your leaving the store (near all the candy machines) they have a booklet that I believe is called Kids. It's filled with all sorts of ideas for parties.

Good Luck with everything. I'm working on the same dilema for my daughters 5th birthday end of next month. Let me know how everything works out.

Good Luck with the party planning! But Beware, once you have one theme party you'll want to do them all that way. It's addicting. And I have 3 each year! And you don't have to go all out money wise. My fav idea site is www.birthdaypartyideas.com. It's a site where parents goa nd just list what they did for their parentsna dn there are some great ideas there! It's all divided into themes so it's real eaey to browse.

Have fun! Four year old parties are the best. The kids are old enough to really understand that it's their day, but young enough that it's not about what they get--just how much fun they have!
--A.

hi i have alot of great birthday ideas... are u having it on a weekend or weekday? do u know how the weather is suppose to b?
u want it inside or out? anyways im a mom of one 2 yrs old. also looking for others moms who like to hang out.

Hi A.
I have 4 kids, and I did a neat party once with animal, each child brought their favorite bear or duck or favorite animal they had, I bought some beads, sequins,felt and glue and they decorated their own animals, and we also have done a coloring party, i printed some sheets off the computer for kids to color, they each picked the one they like, and some just got what i had left, they each got a box of crayons, and colored their little hearts away, it gave me time to put finishing touches on my cupcakes and whatever else I needed to do, they enjoyed it and I also picked a winner from each coloring sheet and the one that was picked recieve a prize before they left. we also did craft time party. each child put together a craft. also you can do easy games like pin the tail on the donkey, or pin the tail on the birthday bunny, and they love musical chairs. there's so many things you can do, just have to give it some thought and go with it. we even did a stuff your own animal party, kids loved it and they got to take home their anomals they stuffed and dressed. they filled out their own birth certificates, and those who didn't the moms hung onto them for when the kids were ready to fill out. it was fun and we are doing it again this year, I use a great company,hope this helps, please email me if you have any questions, good luck and have fun*Ü*
Dee

Ive done both...elaborate parties and Chuck E. Cheese, and let me tell you, a pre-panned party is much less stressful and in my case usually cheaper (only because I tend to go over the top and buy stuff I never use). I live in an area where 99% of my sons friends live in much larger, "nicer" houses, so parties where we can meet or I can transport alleviate some of the pressure (when I dont know all the parents very well) and then gives me a chance to socialize with the parents without them having to judge my home or my party-planning skills.
However, if you you feel comfortable having a party in your apt. I would reccomend a very small amount of kids. Princess parties always work for little girls (tiaras & beads) and can be supplied by the dollar store. Kids always LOVE pinatas, no matter what age, and its a cheap, long activity.
I usually dont buy my kids many gifts for birthdays, I put more money into the parties because the memories are so much more valuable than the toys they will outgrow.
I could give you a zillion ideas, but email me if you have any questions--GOOD LUCK!