It's no secret that parents love their kids. Planning your kid's birthday party, on the other hand, can be a chore. Tricky-Rick has been entertaining at birthday parties for decades. You could say he's been to more MANY MORE parties than the average person. Here are his tips to take the headache out of planning a birthday party for a kid:
Establish The Budget
Deciding what your budget is will simplify the planning immensely. If you have a budget of $400 with 12 kids invited, you know you won't be taking them all to Disney World. YIKES!
Establishing a budget will help you make decisions and keep you from spending too much. It is still possible to have a great time with a smaller budget. I have included some low-cost ideas below.
Start Early
Don't wait to the last minute to plan your party. Starting a few weeks ahead of time will reduce your stress and allow you to get better prices on party supplies. This is the time to create the guest list and get those invites out. Additionally, if you plan on having any vendors or entertainers (like a magician), this is the time to reach out to them and get them booked as well.
Use Digital Party Invitations
You can save time, expense and paper by creating electronic / email invitations. They are relatively easy to create via email or group text and you don't have to worry that a child lost their invite before it made it's way to their parents.
Keep It Short
For smaller children 1 to 2 hours is plenty of time. For older children, 2 to 3 hours is sufficient. Mornings or afternoons are best to avoid busy weekend evening plans.
Stay on Schedule
Plan a list of activities and try to stick to it. Remember, things always take longer with kids, so don't plan too many activities or you will run out of time. If you have hired an entertainer, make sure you are both on the same page regarding start and stop times. You would not want half of the kids playing pin the tail on the donkey while the magic show is going on. Multiple activities going on at once creates distractions for the kids.
Party Favor Ideas
Birthday party guests traditionally receive a party favor or "Goodie Bags" as a thank you for attending. Tricky-Rick can help you with that by supplying magic themed party favor bags for your guests for a nominal fee.