A Step-By-Step Guide for Hosting the Perfect Kids’ Birthday Party

Step 1: Choosing the Right Venue

Children’s birthday party venues are in demand, so you must identify potential places to host your kid’s birthday party, and choose where to host your kid’s birthday party early in the planning process. 

Identifying potential children’s birthday party places involves researching their packages to ensure they’re within your budget, and that they offer the essentials you need for your party. Learning more about Monster Mini Golf’s birthday party packages, and comparing our services to other venues’ will give you confidence you’re choosing the best place for your child’s birthday party. 

Once you’ve found the right venue, you can book it, and start planning your party.

Step 2: Choosing the Right Date 

Choosing the date for hosting your kid’s birthday party is one of the earliest, and most important, steps you must complete.

If you have your heart set on a specific party venue, you may be limited by their availability, and have to choose one of the dates when they can accommodate your group.

You must also consider the most important guests on the guest list and their availability. Suppose your child has a best friend they must have at their party. Chatting with their parents, and determining when they’re available is a good idea. Many kids have extra-curricular activities that could affect when they can attend a party.

Even if you’re booking a party venue with a staff team, you may need adult volunteers to help supervise the party. Younger children can wander, and it’s a good idea to have trusted adults available to escort children to the bathrooms. Check with your potential volunteers to make sure you pick a date when they can help. 

Step 3: Picking a Fun Birthday Theme

There are many fun themes for a kid’s birthday party. Choosing a fun theme can help you with other steps of the planning process, and give your child’s party a personal touch that makes it a one-of-a-kind event. 

Party Themes

Popular kids’ birthday party themes include the following:

• Aliens and outer space
• Animals
• Baking
• Barbie
• Carnival
• Circus
• Cowboys
• Dance
• Dinosaurs
• Fairy tales
• Gaming
• LEGO
• Monsters
• Pirates
• Princesses
• Robots
• Superheroes
• Unicorns

You can choose a single theme and use it to inspire every element of your child’s birthday party. 

Combining Themes 

You can also combine themes. Suppose your child wants a carnival birthday party. Choosing Monster Mini Golf as your party venue is perfect because you can use the attractions as destinations in your carnival midway. Depending on the Monster Mini Golf location near you, stops at the midway could include the following:

• Monster Mini Golf
• Arcade 
• Laser maze
• Laser tag
• Mini bowling
• Virtual reality

Monster Mini Golf’s birthday party packages also include the use of a haunted VIP party room, where you can set up other midway games to play at a birthday party for kids, such as pin the tail on the donkey, cornhole, ladder toss, crafts, and other activities.

Package Parties vs. DIY Planning

Package parties are excellent for first-time party planners, those with limited time, and those who want a specific, theme-centered itinerary. They are a great way to host a party that incorporates the party theme into every aspect of the party, from the food to the decor to the activities.

DIY parties are customizable, and using more affordable kids’ birthday party ideas to create a fun party may be possible. If you love party planning, enjoy working with children, and are confident in your ability to lead children’s activities, a DIY party may be the perfect way to deliver a memorable party. Plus, if your child wants to combine themes, you can do that if you plan all the events and details yourself. 

Step 4: Picking the Perfect Party Team

Trusted adults can help you throw the perfect birthday party for your child. These essential volunteers perform many crucial tasks, including the following:

• Apply sunscreen if needed
• Escort children to bathrooms
• Fetch supplies from vehicles/stores/other rooms in the venue
• Lead activities
• Keep guests from wandering
• Set up games to play at your kid’s birthday party 

Your adult volunteer team can include attendees’ parents or your siblings or friends. Ideal kids’ party volunteers should be trustworthy, like children, and be available to set up, help host the party, and assist with any cleanup after the party.

Step 5: Planning Fun Activities and Games 

Great kids’ birthday parties keep kids busy with age-appropriate games and activities. Planning suitable activities keeps your guests engaged and entertained, and helps prevent them from wandering off, or getting into mischief.

You can include classic indoor birthday party activities and games, such as:

• Bingo
• Freeze dance
• Hot potato
• Musical chairs
• Pin the tail on the donkey
• Simon Says
• Tic-tac-toe

These classic games can be customized to suit your party theme. Suppose your theme is monsters. You can create your own game image to hang on the wall, and play pin the tail on the monster, or pin the eyes on the monster. Instead of hot potato, kids can play hot monster eyeballs. When playing freeze dance, you can use theme music, such as “Monster Mash.” Instead of Simon Says, you can play Monster Says. 

You can host your party outside, or follow the indoor activities with some outdoor birthday party activities and games. Some classic outdoor activities and games include the following:

• Cornhole
• Egg-and-spoon race
• Hide-and-seek
• Musical statues
• Obstacle course
• Pinata making and breaking
• Sack race
• Scavenger hunt

You can modify classic games to fit your theme. Instead of an egg-and-spoon race, you could host a mini dinosaur race, and have guests balance mini dinosaurs on a spoon instead of an egg. However, you could also opt for dragon eggs if you choose a dragon theme.

The scavenger hunt could involve finding theme-related items. For example, you could hide aliens, UFOs, stars, and other space-related items for an alien party theme. 

Step 6: Delicious Birthday Party Food 

Serving some delicious party food is a fantastic way to engage children, and make your party memorable. Popular dishes and desserts include the following:

• Cake
• Cheese and crackers
• Chicken nuggets
• Cookies
• Fruit snacks
• Hot dogs
• Pizza
• Sandwiches

Menus Considerations 

Although planning party food can be a lot of fun, there are a few things to consider. 

• Choking hazards: The younger the children, the more choking hazards you need to consider. Many popular snack foods, such as popcorn and chips, are choking hazards. Hot dogs are also a choking hazard for young children. Avoiding common choking hazards limits the risks at your party. 
• Food allergies: Food allergies can cause severe symptoms or death. Common foods children are allergic to include nuts and milk. Familiarizing yourself with common food allergies can help you plan an allergen-free menu. 
• Lifestyle choices and religious considerations: Some people choose to be vegetarians or vegans, and others avoid certain foods because of their religious beliefs. Inclusive parties ensure there are suitable food options for those with restricted diets.

One way to avoid food-related issues is to include a form with party invitations, and ask parents to indicate if their child has any dietary restrictions or allergies that should be accommodated. This is an opportunity to invite input from guests to ensure your menu is safe and inclusive.

It’s also a good idea to send out a form with invitations, and ask parents to list their children’s allergies. This ensures you’re aware of environmental factors that could affect guests’ health. For example, you may not have to worry about an allergy to bees if you’re hosting an indoor party, but it may be a concern if you’re hosting outdoor activities. 

Themed Menus

Themed foods are a fantastic way to incorporate the party theme into your menu. Suppose your child’s birthday coincides with Halloween, and they want a spooky birthday party. Here are some ways you can incorporate that theme into your menu:

• Eyeball Punch: Add plastic eyeballs to your punch bowl, and serve eyeball punch to your guests. This is perfect for Halloween and monster-themed parties.
• Frankensandwiches: Bread recipes with spinach puree produce green bread. You can also involve children in the sandwich-making process. Let them paint their bread with green food coloring, and then add edible eyes to the top slice of their frankensandwich. 
• Graveyard Cupcakes: Decorate cupcakes with ghosts and tombstones. 
• Tombstone Cake: Make a tombstone-shaped cake featuring your child’s name. Serve the tombstone cake at the party. 
• Worms in Dirt: Put gummy worms in the bottom of a see-through cup. Fill the cup with chocolate pudding and sprinkle cookie crumbs on top. 

Step 7: Creating a Birthday Party Itinerary 

A well-organized party keeps kids entertained from start to finish and ensures festivities don’t run late. The key things you need to include on your agenda include the following:

• Welcome: Allow 10 to 20 minutes for children to arrive. Be ready for guests to arrive ten minutes before the party starts. You should be at the door to greet parents, answer any questions they have, and get any information you need. A sign-in sheet with emergency contact names and numbers is a great idea because you’ll know exactly how many children are present, and how to reach their parents. 
• Games and activities: Most of the party will be spent enjoying planned games and activities.
• Food and cake: You’ll need up to 30 minutes to serve food and cake. The amount of time needed depends on whether the children participate in creating their food, how many food dishes you’re serving, and how many guests are attending.
• Gifts: Kids can open presents quickly. However, it’s a good idea to have an adult present, ensure they write down what the present was on the card, and encourage the birthday child to thank each guest for their gift.
• Goodbyes: Most parents will arrive around the same time. It’s important to try to end festivities about five minutes before the end of the party, and encourage children to gather their belongings and put on their shoes, so they’re ready to depart.

Having a printed itinerary is a great idea for parents because they’ll know what to expect if they have to pick up their child early. 

Step 8: Invitations and Guest List 

Preparing a guest list helps you know how many children to plan for. You need to choose a venue big enough for all the children you invite, or limit your invitations to the number your venue can accommodate. 

Refer to our invitation tips to ensure that your party invitations include all the essential information. Parents need to know when the party is, where it is, why you’re having the party, what types of activities guests will enjoy, and whether there are any special items their child needs to bring. You may also want to include information about the theme, directions to the venue, and your contact information, so parents can contact you.

Step 9: What You Give Guests 

Party hosts typically give guests favors and goodie bags to take with them after the party. Favors can include themed items. For example, favors could include mini dinosaurs, dinosaur masks, and dinosaur coloring sheets if you’re hosting a dinosaur party. Goodie bags could include dinosaur cookies or stickers. 

Step 10: Capturing the Perfect Birthday Moments

Remember those adult volunteers you have helping? Make sure at least one adult volunteer is taking pictures of the party. You can set up fun photo booths, and take a group picture with all your guests before you serve food. At Monster Mini Golf, you can take advantage of our moving monsters, and have guests pose for photos with the monsters while playing mini golf. 

Step 11: Budgeting for a Birthday Party 

Budgeting for a birthday party can be challenging. Start out by writing down all the decor and food you need to purchase. Research the cost of renting venues. You should also research the cost of games, favors, and goodie bag items. In some cases, you’ll save money by having more children present because you can purchase items in bulk. 

You should also consider factors, such as setup and cleanup. Paying to use a venue, such as Monster Mini Golf, means you don’t have to purchase as many games or items for activities because the party packages include attractions. Our facilities include bathrooms, so you don’t have to worry about buying extra toilet paper and soap. The package price also includes setup and cleanup, so you don’t have to worry about handling those tasks yourself. 

Step 12: What To Do After the Party

Help your child write thank you cards to each party guest. 

You can also upload the party photos to a private blog or web page and give parents access to the page, so they can see how much fun their child had at your party.

Lastly, you can identify local soup kitchens where you can donate leftover food to ensure nothing goes to waste.