Birthday Party Ideas
For Young Children

How many guests do you invite?

How many guests should you invite to a child's birthday party? My parents always went by the "1 guest per year" rule. In other words, if the child is going to be 6 they have six guests. 7... 7 guests, 8 ... eight guests, etc. 2 yrs old? 2 guests! (and of course all the relatives)

Just keep the guest list small since younger children need more supervision, or ask a friend to help you for a preschooler party.

Preschooler Parties

Simple songs, stories and games will work well for a preschooler party. Consider renting cartoons or movies, having a puppet show, or singing nursery rhymes. Or make up a story using your guests as characters.

For some reason, parents seem to take an easier, more expensive route, and haul the kids off to Chuckie Cheese, McDonald's, or have to have a huge pizza party. This is totally unnecessary for this age group. Preschoolers are easy to please!

Five to Eight Year Olds

For the 5 to 8 year olds, you'll need more room to move, like a family room, basement, garage, or backyard. If your party is indoors, trim the guest list and plan quieter games and activities. Finger painting, drawing, guessing games, and talent shows can all be played indoors without disrupting the whole house.

Nine Year Olds and Up

By the time the kids are nine, the party will most likely be all boys or all girls, and it's natural to plan activities around the kid's special interests, like a roller skating party, football game, baseball game, or slumber parties are popular.

Should a Child Have A Party Every Year?

When I was growing up, a party was held every three years. I had one on my first birthday, when I was three, when I was six, and nine, and my BIG party was when I was thirteen. When I turned sixteen, my dad took me to a very special restaurant to eat. When I asked my dad why he took me there, he said he wanted to show me that there was more to life then what I was seeing.