4 Fun Ideas for Kids’ Birthday Parties

When it comes to ideas for kids’ birthdays, it can be difficult to know where to start! One thing we have discovered is that, once they’re old enough, the best place to find inspiration is via your child. They’re bound to be brimming with ideas of themes, games and more! We’ve outlined four of our favourite kids party ideas, with a few tips and tricks thrown in to help you on your way.

Dinosaur Party

dinosaur party

A dinosaur party is one of our favourite ideas for kids’ birthdays. It is also a theme that provides lots of opportunities to get your little one involved in the party preparations. They can help you by creating dinosaur themed invitations (try colourful dinosaur egg shapes cut out of cardboard) and drawing pictures of their favourite species to hang up around the room.

To ensure the fun begins as soon as your guests arrive, lay down some dinosaur tracks in chalk that lead to the front door of the house. Use elements from the garden, like rocks and plants, to create mini dino zones on the party table, and make an indoor ‘cave’ out of large pieces of cardboard. Paint the outside grey, the inside black and put torches in there so the kids can play inside.

For dino activities, set up a dinosaur hunt by hiding chocolate eggs or dinosaur toys in the garden and drawing maps for your kiddie crew to follow! You could also create an indoor or outdoor sand pit to fill with fake bones or plastic dinosaur toys, then give each child a spade to dig for fossils.

When it comes to party snacks, make your own labels to transform the food into dino dishes. Rename chicken wings as pterodactyl wings, make an edible ‘dino swamp’ out of green jelly filled with sweets, and use dinosaur shaped cookie cutters to create dino cookies. Grapes and cherry tomatoes are good healthy alternatives for dinosaur eggs.

Pirate Party

Pirate Party

If you’re in search of some cool boys birthday party ideas, how about a pirate party? A quick Google search will bring up some great free templates for invitations and, if you want to splash out a little more on the invites, buy some plastic bottles in bulk (or put some aside up in the months before the party) and stick the rolled up invites inside with sand and sea shells to create a message in a bottle!

Build a pirate ship in your party room or garden. Use a range of small cardboard boxes opened out and stuck together to create the basic shape, then get your child to help you decorate it. Making a treasure chest is also easy – just fill a painted cardboard box with old jewellery, Christmas decorations and other shiny bits and bobs, or use it to store party bags and treats for the kids to take home.

For party games, organise a treasure hunt by hiding chocolate coins around the garden. Older kids will love a game of ‘walk the plank’ – use a thick plank of wood nailed to some low blocks set over a blue bed sheet dotted with rubber sharks, crocodiles and other sea creatures.

Tell the kids they have to speak ‘pirate’ all day, and make a big poster of pirate phrases to guide them. Get creative when it comes to food – ideas include pirate pizza, dead man’s fingers (sausages), fish eyes (grapes ) and pirate punch (made from a mixture of orange and cranberry juice).

Princess Party

princess party

Just as little boys dream of being a pirate, little girls dream of being a princess! Next time you’re feeling stuck for girls birthday party ideas, why not make her dreams come true for a day by throwing her a perfect princess party. Ask all of her friends to dress up in their best dresses  and turn your party venue into a princess paradise with pink balloons, pretty table cloths and sparkles galore.

A crown crafting table is a great way to keep the kids entertained throughout the afternoon. Lay out bits of cut-out card, marker pens, glitter and stick on-gems, then let the girls decorate their crowns before an adult helps them to staple the card into a crown or hat shape.  Set up a cupcake and cookies station where the girls can gather to decorate your pre-made cupcakes with pink frosting, or use a jar of our Noogie cookie dough and let the kids cut out pretty heart and star shaped cookies to be baked and decorated.

This really is one of our favourite ideas for kids’ birthdays. Whether you’re seeking girls birthday party ideas or boys birthday party ideas, this can be adapted to suit. Change the colour scheme to blue for ‘Princes’ or buy in some blue icing and decorations so boy guests don’t feel left out.

Dress-up party

face paint

Everyone loves to dress up, so another of the best kids party ideas is a dress-up party. This can be planned in a number of ways. The first is to ask your birthday boy or girl to pick a theme and tell everyone to come dressed as a character from that theme.

However,  if you’d rather not ask other parents to go to the hassle of sorting out costumes for their kids, you could ask friends and family for old costumes or items of clothing, including shoes, hats and jewellery that they no longer need, to make a dress up box! Throw in some sunglasses, fake mustaches and material cuttings and let the kids loose on it all! This way, they can come up with their own costumes and even get changed several times throughout the party.

Enlist an artistic friend or relative to run a face painting station where guests can have their face painted to match their costumes, and plan a fashion show and photo-shoot, giving everyone the opportunity to ‘style’ themselves or walk the catwalk! Follow this with a fun-filled dress-up disco and, towards the end of the party, hold a competition with prizes for the best outfits.

Image Credits: Dinosaur Party & Princess Party @mom2sofia on Flickr, Pirate Party @Kris Krug on Flickr. All others from sxc.hu.

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