Your child’s party is guaranteed to be a bucket full of fun for the kids, that is for sure. Parents on the other hand, not so much… eating cheerios dipped in tomato sauce and sitting on kid sized seats is not some adults definition of fun (weird I know).
Perhaps, YOUR enjoyment and your adult guests enjoyment is not your priority. Fair enough, your child’s party is all about spoiling your child and ensuring they have a fun filled time surrounded by their friends and family. But what if I told you, you can have it both ways. Fun for the kids and enjoyable for the adults too. There are a few easy things you can do to ensure yourself and your parent guests are having a great time and leave your child’s party feeling impressed after a super positive experience and lots of kids party fun. These tips will also help you feel ‘zen’ about the whole party planning thing and not stressed to the eyeballs.
Ok, here are our tips
Invite a Party Entertainer
Invite a party entertainer to look after the kids party fun. If you are spending your party budget anywhere, spend it on a high quality entertainer. This frees you up to run the party from the CEO position where you can over look all aspects of the party. Have your finger in each pie, without actually having to DO everything yourself. The most time consuming aspect of your party, in the lead up to and at the actual party, is the entertainment. If you can outsource this to someone else, this is going to allow you to watch the entertainment with pure glee. You can relax, put the last minute touches on your food and interact with your adult guests.
Create a dedicated space
Give the kids a space to do their thing, and the parents a space to sit and relax. They don’t have to be worlds apart, in fact conjoined spaces work best.
The benefits of separate, but conjoined spaces:
- The kids will be able to hear and interact with each other and their entertainer so much better without the rumble of parents’ voices surrounding them.
- Kids are more likely to get involved with the party activities if they have a bit of independence and feel like they have their exclusive ‘party space’.
- It creates an oasis for parents to get to know each other better or simply sit and chat to old friends.
Examples of separate, but conjoined spaces around your home:
A lounge room that leads on to a deck.
A back patio and a piece of lawn
A dining room and a lounge room
Adult friendly food and drink (pretty obvious really)
Yep, cheerios are great and lots of kids love ’em, but they are not the number one party food on most adults lists. Create a platter for the parents to graze on during the party. This way you can drop and go and not have to tend to this food throughout the whole party. Cheese, fruit, vegetables, crackers and dip, olives, charcuterie or even heated pastries. Pre-assembled but fresh baked pizza are delish and easy party foods that require little ‘on the day’ attention.
Wine! Some parents may find this outrageous at a child’s party. But, there have been many birthday parties we hosted where mum and her girlfriends have cracked a bottle of Sparkling. This gives you the chance to sit back and watch on with joy as the entertainer delights your children. I mean, why not!?! Other staples are coffee, tea and a jug of ice-cold water and glasses so they can help themselves.
Tips for your Invitation
Let parents know they are welcome to stay and that you will be catering to them. “Party food will be supplied for the kids and cheese and wine for parents.” Take a look at our 6 rules for kids party invitations blog post for the who, what, where, when and why of kids party invitations and some more tips on this same line of thinking.
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