By Karol Ladd www.PositiveMom.com

Creative birthday parties make marvelous memories.  The parties you plan now for your kids will build a life time of wonderful reflections.  Let me reassure you that even the most uncreative sort of person can plan delightful parties.  Once you have chosen a theme,  you can begin preparing invitations and party activities.

As a former teacher I’ve learned two important lessons when working with children: plan more than enough activities and make sure they are age-appropriate.   Often a game that you think will take 10 minutes only takes two minutes and then you have bored kids on your hands and chaos erupts.  Better to over-plan the activities and throw some out if you don’t have time for them, instead of standing there thinking “now what do I do with these kids?”

Begin with a good arrival activity that the kids can simply join into when they get to the party.  For younger kids it may be decorating a hat or crown with stickers or coloring a picture.  For elementary age kids consider an theme-related craft or playing ball outside. 

After most of the kids arrive begin the party fun with a few theme related, age-appropriate games and activities.  Preschoolers love to pretend, so consider a dress up barrel or making them up to be animals or clowns or astronauts.   Play houses are a hit, and you can fit one to your theme by painting an old refrigerator box (available at appliance stores or moving companies).  A castle for a royal theme, a fire truck for a fireman theme, a house for a tea party theme, all make a good play area.  Simple circle games and songs work well with preschoolers.  Reading a short picture book can also be a good activity, mimicking story hour at the library.

Elementary age kids are activity driven, whether it is doing a craft or a game or a follow the leader type activity.  You can provide a theme related craft such as beads for a dress up party, making stick horses for a cowboy party, doing science simple science experiments for a Glad Scientist party or ballerina lessons for a ballet party.  Supervision is key, so you may want to hire a teenager or an older cousin to help you with the party.

Older kids like to hang out with a little more freedom.  You don’t need to schedule the party so that every minute is accounted for.  Often arrival activities aren’t necessary for the older ones, just food and music, so they can sit around and talk until everyone arrives.  You only need to plan one or two big activities, for instance a football game and a hayride or a crazy soccer game with several different types of games.  You can plan a trip to get a manicure for the girls. 

Remember that the most successful parties come down to your attitude and flexibility.  Sure there will be a little glitch here and there.  Roll with it.  Enjoy your guests and receive them with open arms.  Ultimately it is not the perfect decorations or extravagant games or food that people will remember.  Your guests will remember a fun theme offered by a warm, gracious, smiling hostess.

Karol Ladd is a best-selling author of over 20 books and Christian communicator to women around the world. One of Karol’s greatest joys is to encourage and inspire moms to be a positive influence in their homes. She is a frequent guest on radio and television programs and serves on several ministry boards. Karol is best known for her Positive Power series including The Power of a Positive Mom which is translated into five different languages. Her most valued role is that of wife to Curt and mother to daughters Grace and Joy. Visit her blog on PreciousMoms.com or learn more at www.PositiveMom.com.