Hi all,
My daughter is turning 4 the day after Halloween. Aside from the obvious Halloween themed parties (I am trying to steer away from that to separate the birthday from the holiday), do you all have any ideas for things to do AT HOME (or maybe different ideas away from home) that we could do for a birthday party? This is my first time doing a party and I'm NOT creative... :) We were thinking a bouncy castle of some sort but what other sorts of things would you recommend? Maybe petting zoo rather than a bouncy castle? Games? Ideas? I haven't a clue. Birthday parties now are so different than when we were kids and frankly, I don't remember that far back anyhow. LOL
Thanks for any help you can give.
A.
How about a "High Tea Party"? I can't wait till my daughter starts playing with a tea set with cookies. First she needs to learn how to roll over. Ha ha ha ha (4months old)
My boss's wife did a tea party for his daughter's 4th birthday. They bought "easter" hats for all the girls, special placemats and pretty cupcakes (tiny sandwiches and tea cookies too), dress up clothes, flowers on the tables, etc. She (being very artsy) also made cute name holders for each of the girls and had champagne glasses, each filled with a different color candy. (She themed it all in hot pink, orange, turquoise.) My boss and his son (7) wore matching outfits and served the girls their cakes and stuff. "Mini manicures" were a hit too.
My daughter turns 5 next week and this was her list of ideas for her party. Princess, Tea Party, Fancy Nancy and Ballet. She finally settled on ballet. Fancy Nancy was my pick because you could do fun dress up things. Tea Parties are always fun. Get each girl a big plain tea cup and let them decorate it to take home. With Ballet we are going to do dancing and just have fun with it. You don't have to go overboard, simple can be fun too. Good Luck.
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What does she like? We normally get a basic cake and customize it at home using whatever theme she likes at the time. For instance we have done Johnny & the Sprites, Mickey & Minnie, and Little Einsteins. This year she is really into the Princesss, especially Ariel. Too much to go into each here but if you are interested in any of these please PM me and I would be happy to go into detail.
Have you asked her what she would like to do? Sometimes we make parties more complicated than they need to be (I'm often guilty of this too). For my 5-year old, she just wanted to invite her friends to the playground to ride bikes, do crafts (we made jars of bath salts), and eat cupcakes. My 3-year old asked for a party at home with her family and her neighbors and she just wanted to wear dress-up clothes, play playdoh, and eat cupcakes. Totally simple and both of them loved their parties.
You are right, birthday parties have become far grander affairs than when we were kids? What happened to party hats, cake, and maybe a few simple games?
I think birthday parties are too over-the-top. Maybe because I have a boy and it seems like all they ever wanted to do at 4-5-6 was run around like maniacs and have fun. I think the extreme parties are for the moms! LOL
For back yard:
What about a hay-hunt where you get a bale of hay--spread it around and have everyone hunt for treasure in it?
Or apple bobbing?
Or egg on spoon races?
Scavenger hunt?
And kids LOVE bouncy houses! lol
If she's a high maintenance girly-girl, what about take them to a local salon for up-dos and/or nail painting?
I saw your question and had hoped for a good answer!!! I'm in the exact same boat right now. My daughter is also turning 4 a week before Halloween. I have looked into indoor playgrounds, Chuck E. Cheese and other party places, but they are so incredibly expensive. I'm thinking of calling McDonalds today to find out prices. Otherwise a Princess party is something that I know would go over well with my daughter. After Halloween, costumes will be on clearance so it would be a great time to pick some up in various sizes and have a "Princess party" for your daughter. Cake, decorations and games can all be centered around this theme as well!
have her pick theme princess or something games hard to tell
My daughter is turning 4 the week after Halloween too! I needed a cheap party idea for this year so I expanded on an idea I saw in family fun magazine. We are having a Beauty and the Beast drive in movie theater party. I made invitations to look like a cool VIP movie event ticket. I can send you the Microsoft Word document if you want it and all you would have to do is change the text and add a picture to match the movie you are showing. They are really cool. I also typed up a little page on what a drive in movie theater is (with pictures) so the little ones could learn a little bit. I am collecting big boxes from various retailers right now and the kids are going to decorate them in the front yard to be cars. They will also decorate their license plates. Then they are going to watch the movie in the family room sitting inside their cars. Each kid will get tickets to buy food at a concession stand. I am using a science fair board for part of this. I bought popcorn boxes and hotdog trays at Hobby Lobby, big plastic tubs with a popcorn theme and boxed candy in the 1$ section at Target. The day of the party I am going to buy a bunch of Target popcorn. I am going to try and score some free soda cups/straws/lids and some concession stand boxes from the movie theater too. Kids will get a little paper sack with handles to keep their extra candy in as a goody bag. I figure I can pull this party off for about $150. Much better than what I have spent in the past! Have a great time :)
We did some of my daughter's favorite foods, had a craft, and a pinata. It was simple and the kids loved it. If we'd done the party at home, I might have gone the tea party route - what little girl doesn't love a tea party?
Another party we attended recently was equally simple - they had some games - the egg-on-a-spoon race and red light green light come to mind, and the kids won prizes.
The bounce house idea is a good one - I have yet to meet a kid who doesn't enjoy that. I would be more inclined to go that route rather than a petting zoo, for a variety of reasons.
