I love birthday parties! I love going to them, I love planning them, and I love hosting them. From the theme to the games and even the cake I think it’s the best fun.
However, it’s a lot of work to put on a birthday party! (Right?!?) There are the invitations, decorations, organization, clean-up, and so much more. And while I love doing it, I didn’t want my kids to take it all for granted.
Several years ago, I decided not to just throw a birthday party for my daughter, I decided that she needed to do it with me. And not just her, the rest of her siblings needed to help too.
It was a perfect way to teach them responsibility, kindness, even organization. I knew my children would have the motivation to help with such a great reward so I went to work. As they have gotten older, they help more and I do less and less.
Here are just some of the things we do:
Kids Birthday Party Planning
We brainstorm ideas together, check the calendar for a good date, make any sketches we think may help, and just any and every idea we have.
Later we pare down all the ideas and schedule things out: when do the invitations need to go out? So that means they should be done no later than… What supplies are we going to need? We need to make sure we have everything by… so we can make this then; that kind of thing.
I then hang our list on the fridge so we can keep checking it.
Birthday Party Invitations
Whether it’s simply writing their name on each invitation or painting a background, they do something! I know online invitations are popular these days and although it may take one child 30 minutes to type a sentence- she is doing it! There are a lot of ways to customize free online invitations too, so we have fun doing it together.
The Birthday Party Decorations
The difficult decorations I do mostly on my own, however, I always save some for my whole family to do.
For this last party we had an aquarium theme (well, it was really an Ocean Rainbow Fairy with Unicorns theme) so we needed lots of pictures of fish and underwater creatures to put in our tunnels. I simply printed out (or traced) a whole bunch of sea creatures and gave everyone a certain number to do. My kids LOVE doing this.
We have so much fun admiring each others’ creativity. For our Art Birthday Party everyone helped pick out pictures for collages, drew on the sidewalk, and created an Art Gallery.
For my daughter’s Princess Party, we made a cardboard carriage. I cut out 5 circles for everyone to paint green- 4 wheels and 1 steering wheel. It was a blast.
The thing is, as they help out with the decorations, they take ownership of the party. They feel pride in their work and they want to keep working together to make the party great. Plus it helps to give them something to do as they wait and wait for the big day!
Birthday Party Hosting
I give my children specific instructions for the party.
When someone comes to the door make sure they feel welcome, know where to put their things, and what to do next.
The birthday child is also supposed to keep an eye out for anyone not playing along- invite them over and get them playing.
When it’s time to go, be sure to say thank you again and help them with their favor bags, jacket, and shoes.
I give the older siblings the job of helping out during the party and paying particular attention to any who may be more hesitant. They do a great job of reaching out and helping.
Birthday Party Clean-up
Cleaning up is probably the hardest part of party throwing because the incentive is gone. However, it is part of their responsibility as it was their party. They are in charge of throwing away present trash, putting the gift bags and tissue paper away, and making sure everything is in order.
The thing I love about having my children help out with all the parties is that they appreciate it more. As they take ownership and understand how much works goes into it, they can’t help but be grateful for each others’ help. They all work their hardest because soon it’ll be their turn.
I love to see their minds expand with creativity as they think of even more ways to decorate or play games. And yes, it takes longer to get everything done but I’m so happy that they are learning now how to be a gracious host, how to organize and plan things, and that you do have to actually work before you can have the fun.
How much do you involve your children in the planning of their birthday parties?
Looking for more family time ideas? Camille, a mom of 5 (ages 2-9), shares all kinds of wonderful family time ideas on her blog Chicken Scratch n Sniff. Check out her 10 Smart Ways to Keep the Summer Bores Away or her secrets to maintaining your sanity and plans when traveling with kids. Follow Camille on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Periscope.
If you liked this post, I encourage you to follow my “Instilling Values in Our Children” Board on Pinterest.
More Posts about Instilling Values in Kids:
- Instilling Values in Our Kids: Introduction
- Instilling Gratitude and Thankfulness
- Instilling Faith in Jesus Christ
- Instilling Kindness – #TackyBoxKindness
- Instilling the Value of Service
- Instilling the Value of Humor
- Teaching Children the Importance of Work
- Have Your Child Plan Their Own Birthday Party
- The Importance of Agency and Making Good Choices
- Honesty and Stealing – Butterfingers and Sticky Fingers
- Developing Girl’s Positive Self-Esteem
- Cleaning up {Life’s} Messes
Kimber's Navy Family says
Super cute!!! 🙂 And helpful! I love getting our kids involved in planning and helping!
Katey Howes says
We love to do parties at home and the kids help a lot. They choose themes and help make decorations and invites, plus they love baking and decorating. My 8 year old can truly plan a party – this year I even gaver her a budget and had her add things up at the party and craft store so she knew what choices she had to make to stay under budget. My 4 and 6 year olds love to plan and help, too! I think it’s great that you encourage responsibility and ownership this way. Way to go!
Katelyn Fagan says
It is such a great idea! I love that at 8 your kid can pretty much do it all themselves. That’s awesome.
VG Invites says
It is great to get kids involved in planning their own Birthday party. I love it.