How to organize a great kid’s party
Over the weekend, we attended a friend's kid’s 4th birthday party at McDonalds Centrepoint, Bandar Utama. It was a complete let-down, we did not expect much but the whole party is a total havoc, to say the least. My conclusion : McD staffs have very poor party planning & management skill, no service with a smile and certainly the food served does not seem right for the kids.
Well if you think organizing a kid’s party is easy, please think again!
Let’s see…how could it ever be more difficult than any other party for the grown ups?
1. Most importantly, kids take nap in the afternoon to charge up (which most adults do not!) So deciding the time of the party is very essential to set the right mood for the party. Imagine throwing a party at around 3-4pm where most kids take naps; by the time they get to the party – they either just woke up from their sleep or have not taken a nap for the day. What we have will be a bunch of grouchy kids…not good!
2. Food, what’s on the menu requires far more thought-through by the organizer simply because most kids can’t eat spicy, oily, too hot or too cold foods. Whilst party for adults, if booze is served, most won’t mind if there’s just snacks! Make sure there are sufficient choices of foods for the kids, after all, it is a party for them and not for the adults! If you are throwing a party in a place like McDonald’s where they request for you to order the kids’ food earlier, make sure there is enough for everyone. The worst thing is to make some kids wait for their food whilst they watch the others eating away.
3. Venue of the party is very important too. If you plan to throw the party in a fast food restaurant (like McD) or in smaller, quaint cafes; make sure there is enough places for everyone to grab a seat. The party we attended today – the space was rather big but not everyone get to sit. So this makes it very difficult for the parents to attend to their kids. Well, not all kids can eat on their own without creating a mess (esp. since most of them are below 4 yrs old). Most of us, parents, had to stand behind our kids, bent over to feed them coz the kids are all seated in this long table and there wasn’t room for the parents. Such poor party set up!!
Having party at home is more relaxed; parents can simply sit on the floor whilst their kids play.
4. Flow of the party – kids generally has lower attention span. During a kid’s party, they must be constantly entertained with games/toys/activities; otherwise they will start to disturb other kids/throw tantrum/ask to leave. Perhaps start off the party with toys for them to play, then towards ‘half-time’ gather everyone to play a few simple games, it’s important to reward the winner – so that the kids feel this party is rewarding & memorable.
Various types of toys for the kids to play to keep them entertained. When kids are having fun, the parents will enjoy too!
5. This then leads to the other point – length of the party. Due to their short attention span, kids’ party ideally should not take more than 2 hours. Out of these 2 hours, there should be endless supply of toys to keep them happy. They probably could only sit still for food for half an hour. (TV should not be part of the entertainment; having the TV on kinda defeats the whole point of having a party for the kids coz they will be glued to it and will not be playing with one another)
6. Cake cutting – do it early. As the point above suggests, food is not what the kids came to the party for. But then again, most kids are fascinated with the beautiful & colorful cakes. So treat this as part of the entertainment!
7. Last but not least – party packs! This is almost a MUST. All kids love to receive gifts. The contents of the party packs depend a lot on budget and recipients. The ones that we usually prepare for our boys’ party mostly contain snacks like sweets, chocolates, jelly and some balloons. It’s a TREAT after all…
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