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Children's party ideas? - your help needed!! - Helen (1st May 2007 - 21:10:26) I have put this off for far too long and as my daughter prepares to leave the infant school in Liphook I realise that it is about time that I threw her a Birthday Party. (I have always got away with it due to the fact that her Birthday actually falls late in the Summer holidays). Now of course in that time she has been to many parties herself and on the way home from each one my daughter gently probes me about when she may get her turn at being 'the party girl'. Until now I have felt strongly about just making Birthdays a 'fun and special day' at home with the family and I am loathe to plunge myself into the 'Competitive Parent Brigade of Party Organisation' but I hoping to gather some great tips to help me deliver a fab party that my daughter will never forget. I have thought about leisure centre parties such as The Herons and The Taro Centre as they do all inclusive parties, but ideally would like something completely different. Any thoughts/ideas/experiences are WELCOME! Thank you!

Re: Children's party ideas? - your help needed!! - urban home (1st May 2007 - 21:40:45) Hi Helen, I love a party and hold loads over the year LOL granted I am not 10 any more but even so ..... I also work on events in london so have some tips that may be some help. You could get a couple of cheep gazebos (Asda sell them for £9.99) and have them in your garden. You can set up a finger buffet in one tent and seating for other parents including a few bottles of wine. In the other tent you can do things such as pass the parcel get the kids to design their own pillow case (plan white pillow case and a few packs of fabric pens) throw in a choc fountain with some chopped fruit for after and then a cake and away you go. you could even have the party as fancy dress. Or you could take a group of say 5 best friends and go to a pottery cafe and make some plates etc. Anyway I could go on LOL, Hope that was some help and good luck hope you have a great time

Re: Children's party ideas? - your help needed!! - sue (1st May 2007 - 21:54:19) Helen, A guy called Chris Burns does kids parties - his forte is balloon animals etc. He is also a local window cleaner and caretaker at Bohunt!!. I have noticed in the Village a 'Clown' (could be a number of people!), called Mr Big(i think), I found that the good old traditional parties the easiest to do, wrapped presents, simple food, and games.

Re: Children's party ideas? - your help needed!! - karen (14th May 2007 - 13:42:15) Helen I used Openbox Theatre company last year for my 6 year old's birthday and it was brilliant. (I have his details if you would like) Went to a swimming party at The Spectrum yesterday that was good fun (although I had to get in and show off my unsightly body!) I have loads of kids birthday theme and cake books if you want to borrow them. I think themed parties always work well and kids love dressing up and the odd bouncy castle always goes down a treat aswell! I try not to get too competitive with party bags and it seems to be the thing now to give each child a little significant gift as opposed to a bag of rubbish!! Also food, I don't bother with too much as they never eat it anyway. Just do a plate of hot dogs and some crisps and then some choccie biscuits. Anyhow, I have books and ideas and as long as the mums can have a glass of wine (just one glass Helen) then it wont be long before you are all having a fun and happy time!! Karen (you know where to find me)!

Re: Children's party ideas? - your help needed!! - Helen (14th May 2007 - 19:09:27) Karen Thank you for some top tips - and I may take you up on the cake book. My baking skills are pretty basic but I could give it a go. Funny you mentioned the OpenBox people as I just saw their van today and it did cross my mind! To be honest I am dreading the whole thing and that is probably why I have avoided it for so long...must be stong! Anyway after I have been completely drained by organising and hosting my worst nightmare, I think It may be time for a day/evening shopping excursion at a popular South Coast shopping centre! Speak soon Helen (as always, keeping a low profile...)

Re: Children's party ideas? - your help needed!! - rob (15th May 2007 - 09:10:16) Oh for heaven's sake. It's a party for a six year-old! How difficult can that be? Just how exhausting and stressful can it be to produce three hours of entertainment for a bunch of kids at an age when their only aim in life is to be as happy as possible? rob.

Re: Children's party ideas? - your help needed!! - nikki (15th May 2007 - 09:41:53) Who nominates Rob to organise and host a kids party?! haha :o)

Re: Children's party ideas? - your help needed!! - Steve Read (15th May 2007 - 11:25:46) Careful Rob, I'am already on the bus to Coventry and its a 50 seater. Regards, Sandstorm Steve

Re: Children's party ideas? - your help needed!! - Kenn (15th May 2007 - 13:26:16) Hi I am Kenn from Openbox... why not give me a call. 07747112058. I can take your worries away....

Re: Children's party ideas? - your help needed!! - karen (15th May 2007 - 21:56:16) Helen Why don't you just book the lovely Kenn (Openbox) let him control the kids and what goes on at the party and you can invite your south coast shopping buddies to sit and drink vin rouge all afternoon. FAB!! Karen

Re: Children's party ideas? - your help needed!! - purplecurly (18th May 2007 - 18:14:11) Just remember it is the children and NOT their parents you are trying to give the fun to…. Six year olds don’t care if a cake looks perfect – only if it tastes good!! They will run about screaming and letting off steam for a few hours and not pay any attention to any of the details. All they want is to be with their friends; eat junk and get a nice party bag! Anyone and everyone is capable of that. Now that digital cameras are so quick, a good tip is to take a few shots and see if you can rope another family member to print them off before the end of the party – they love their own faces – even more than the sound of their own voices. Try to only do games where everyone gets a prize. From experience – all kids are sore losers. Put a BIG sign to where the toilet is and make sure you show each child the way to it from the garden. Expect some idiot to put half a roll down it – check regularly to avoid disaster. Always have a plan B in case the one you are implementing is a failure. Ie: a different game / a spare cd player / a few spare party bags / a spare wrapped present for the winner of an impromptu new game. TELEPHONE numbers of parents always essential for nervous children. I have had a few screamers over the years! PC

Re: Children's party ideas? - your help needed!! - Heather (19th May 2007 - 17:27:39) If you don't want to hire a professional to run your party but intend to run it yourself, organising games can be the most daunting task. In comparison, coping with the food, party bags, setting up gazebos/ bouncy castles and entertaining parents is the easy part. People who say running a children's party is easy have either not tried it or the invitees must have been exceptionally unusual! For very young children, I agree the age old games that have been played for generations are probably still the best. However you said your daughter is about to leave infant school so her guests may be slightly more sophisticated and may have attended so many parties that the appeal of these old favourites has worn thin. The real experts on the 5 to 10 year old age group are the local Rainbow, Beaver, Brownie and Cub leaders who have huge and unique experience of organising games and activities for groups of 24 or more children. They organise group games every week both indoors and outdoors. All are trained and experienced and several have been running activities for children every week for over 20 years. What they don't know about organising fun isn't worth knowing, and most are also experts at catering for children too, as feeding hungry faces at camps and Pack holidays is something they are trained for. They know about risk assessment and safety and what to do if one child doesn't want to join in. They know how to ensure everyone feels valued and goes home feeling happy even if they don't win a prize. Group Leaders will also have tried and tested ideas for imaginative themes and fancy dress, and know what appeals to children and what doesn't work. Leaders are volunteers and are very busy people but by nature they are also helpful and I am sure as a one off, if you made contact, they would be prepared to give you some ideas for new interesting games and some advice on making the event run smoothly. Also the Guides have a scheme called 'Young Leaders' for 14 to 18 year old girls who help in the Rainbow, Brownie and Guide Packs each week to gain Leadership skills. These girls are experts at running games. There are currently 16 Young Leaders in Liphook so if you are fortunate enough to know one of them, you could ask if they would be prepared to come and help at your party. (The over 16 year olds are CRB checked). As an aside, it is a shame that the huge amount of time and energy these teenagers voluntarily give to the local community is not generally known about and doesn't make headlines in the press.......sadly we only hear about it when young people cause problems......... but that should be another thread!

Re: Children's party ideas? - your help needed!! - Candyfloss (19th May 2007 - 18:46:41) Helen, I am sorry to say, but have you tried listening to what your daughter would like?. You seem to be so hung up on getting it right - to impress whom exactly!. It un-nerves me that some posters seem to suggest that any party with vino should go down a treat, and organising a kids bash really isnt that difficult. Exhausing may be, but Heather has had some really goods points - older children know best, what younger ones want. I wish you all the best, but remember that next year your daughter will want more!!. dont feed their desire to be better than anyone else. You seem to be turning into Footballers wives!!.

Re: Children's party ideas? - your help needed!! - Helen (19th May 2007 - 21:00:34) Candyfloss Thank you for your kind words! - Actually the point being that I am not trying to impress ANYONE - the whole reason why I have not got into the 'party thing' sooner is because we always keep it very low key, and yes I have listened to my daughter and really all she wants is a party with all her friends and her chance to finally be 'the party girl' not just another guest! Maybe you misunderstood my first post about this - I was genuinely seeking advice and have received some great tips - (Karen's OpenBox idea and the more recent one from Heather about the Girl Guides to name just a couple). Anyway I am sorry that you are 'un-nerved' by this (maybe you should see someone about that) I am not 'hung-up' nor am I turning into a 'footballer's wife' and I hardly think that simply by trying to give my six year old a great Birthday Party I will be feeding her 'desire to be better than others'. ...but thanks for your comments, no offence taken really... and now I think that my rant is over. Helen oh and the wine thing is a private joke so don't panic, very responsible mother here!

Re: Children's party ideas? - your help needed!! - vicky (19th May 2007 - 22:23:34) Hiya As most mothers will agree parties maybe exhausting but are very easy to accomplish. I have done every party for my 3 kids from when they were 1 to 12....I do it at home and all they need is a few good friends, a few games ie pass the parcel, musical chairs , bumps etc.. finger food, cake and a party bags....their mothers usually just drop them off., then leave...very sensible!..along with phone numbers and a planned time of pick up! and away u go! no big deal. If u need some help...let me know, easy peasy!

Re: Children's party ideas? - your help needed!! - Eneida (19th May 2007 - 22:55:45) Good grief girls!!!! I never knew it was so difficult entertaining six year olds!...it's a good job I've only ever had fur babies. I just microwave them some fresh fish for their birthday party, stick a bit of cat mint in the middle and they're as happy as anything :D:D Eneida

Re: Children's party ideas? - your help needed!! - Candyfloss (20th May 2007 - 10:31:26) Helen, I am ok, dont need help, thanks for concern, but if I explain why reading some posts (private jokes aside), years ago on going to collect my Son from a party, walked in on a scene from a horror movie. A child had cut its self badly, ALL adults there were well over the limit, and the ambulance service was busy with a serious accident. Hence it was left to me to rush the Child to A& E. Everything was OK in the end.

Re: Children's party ideas? - your help needed!! - Sue (21st May 2007 - 14:36:46) Hi New to participating in the Talkback 'scene', but have found suggestions and recommendations really useful in the past - always better than scanning the Yellow Pages and crossing your fingers! Has anyone got Chris Burn's contact details to hand? Thanks Sue

Re: Children's party ideas? - your help needed!! - Sue W (21st May 2007 - 20:22:16) Sue I know Chris well, he cleans our Shop windows and I asked him this week if he still does parties - yes he does - I can get his contact number for you, so pop into the Housewares sometime soon. Very nice man. Sue W

Re: Children's party ideas? - your help needed!! - Sue (22nd May 2007 - 10:50:20) Thanks Sue I'll pop in this week sometime. Cheers

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