I have held 4 or 5 at-home birthday parties for my kids, (or perhaps more but I have chosen to block out the memories). I think I may finally have it down to a science. When I leave too much left unplanned things can get a little crazy especially with 10 six and seven year olds dressed in Star Wars costumes, sporting their best light saber moves. Parties are usually 2 hours long and on a couple occasions I have said to my husband, “Only 1 hour and 20 minutes left”, and soon after, “Only 1 hour left, Honey. We can do it!” So, this past weekend I believe I have conquered the at-home birthday party challenge. I put together a party agenda and printed two copies. I taped up a copy in each location where we would be sure to see it so we could refer to the agenda at any time. In the past, I had an idea of which games and things we would do but didn’t necessarily have the location and order of things figured out thinking it was best to see how the party was going first before deciding. I had good intentions but with a load of young kids filling the house and my mind with loud noises I could barely think about what to do next. But, for this last party, I had the order of events figured out exactly how and when we would do them and it was a lot of fun. I had to look at the clock only to make sure we would have enough time to fit it all in, not to see how much longer we had to endure. The kids and adults had a blast.
An at-home party is classic. There is nothing like it. And it is super cheap, if you don’t get sucked into spending money on unnecessary things. Kids, (at least mine), love having a gaggle of friends over to their house to celebrate. With all the friends and talk and games, no one is going to notice that you are using white paper plates and napkins instead of fancy princess ones that get thrown out any way. The games cost only some parental guidance, creativity and energy, (which can be easily accessed with caffeine). Noone wants those junky little party favors that end up trashing up people’s homes until they break or get thrown away. Heck, using Evite for your invitations is not only “green” but also free. I do, however, use real cards for thank you notes but those can be purchased rather inexpensively.
Here is the agenda that worked for us: If planning an at-home party scares you, just think it out ahead of time and organize an agenda to pull it off smoothly. Also, you will be glad you saved yourself loads of money!
Princess Party Agenda
1) Eat Pancakes & Apple Juice (upstairs)
2) Introduce yourself and Name Your Favorite Princess/Hero & Why while eating Pancakes
3) Princess Story Time (living room)
4) Pin the Crown on the Princess (basement)
5) Dance Party music (basement)
6) Musical Thrones and/or Pass the Princess Slipper (basement)
7) Steal the Slipper or Queen/King Says (living room)
8) Cake (dining room)
9) Presents (living room)
10) Easter Egg Hunt (basement) -- (at birthday girl's request)
11) Guess how many candy eggs are in the jar while parents arrive.
Oh and here is a picture of the castle cake I made just to give you a good laugh!
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