Go to tips for a great kids’ party.

It turns out if you want to be a blogger, you have to actually blog about things. So, here I am, living my dreams (seriously though) and blogging about a pretty kids’ party we threw last weekend for Jack’s class for Valentine’s day.

My parents always threw the best parties for my sister and I when we were kids. My mom is the queen of attention to detail, and my dad, well… he just loves making crazy ideas happen. And, because of that upbringing, I can’t help it, I love a good kids’ party. I love coming up with the details, I love kid friendly themes, I love seeing their little faces when they’re all having so much fun. So, when I saw a post from my friend Laura at Harper Home Designs, I was inspired to throw a Valentine’s Day cookie decorating party for Jack and his classmates from school.

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But, here’s the deal: I know Valentine’s Day is in 2 days as you’re reading this blog post, so rather than give you tips for throwing a great Valentine’s Day party next year, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite tips for kids parties in general. You’ll find them below.

Guest list for them, not for me.

This one is an easy one, but a new one for me. When Jack and Grace turned 1, we threw a big blowout party for each of them respectively. I mean, I’m talking Taco Truck and everything. We may have even had a keg at Jack’s first birthday. What can I say? We were proud we made it a year! And, I was so excited to be a mom and finally throw a kid’s birthday party. We invited everyone we knew…. And every kid from every family we knew and socialized with. It was a blast! But, on Jack’s second birthday, we dialed it down a touch – but still invited basically ALL of our friends (read our friends, not his necessarily).

He was overwhelmed, and quite honestly, he didn’t have much fun at his party at all. So, for his 3^rd birthday, you know what I did? I realized once it’s past the 1^st birthday, the party is actually for HIM (or her, if you have a girl). And, the guest list should reflect that. So for Jack’s 3^rd birthday party – and for this cookie decorating Valentine’s party – we invited his actual friends, from school. Keeping the guest list manageable and not overwhelming: his 11 classmates from class.

So, the moral of the story here is this: invite your kid’s friends. Keep it small. Keep it intimate. And, that is the best way to ensure THEY have a good time. I know it seems so simple, but I learned this one the hard way myself, so I thought it is worth mentioning.  

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Serve Iced Coffee for the parents.

This is one of my favorite tips for a kid’s party. Now, my kids are both under 4, so the parents 100% stay with the kids when they attend a party at this point. We’ve found a sweet spot with a 10am party. Then you’re off the hook for serving an actual meal (lining the party up just between breakfast and lunch) and not really expected to provide much in terms of food and drink. That being said, I always do some snacks for kids and grown ups – usually in theme if possible.

But, the ONE thing that has been the biggest hit is serving canned iced coffees to the grown ups. I mean, of all the things I want at a toddler party on a Saturday, caffeine is high on the list in most cases. And, a craft iced coffee in a can is a total win. I like these two kinds below. Get more than the number of adults you are expecting, so everyone can have at least one if they want it.

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And why ICED coffee you may ask? First, because both Jack and Grace’s bdays fall in summer and spring respectively, it’s usually warm. That’s why I’ve done cold coffee in the past. But, also, because nothing says hazard to me quite like piping hot liquid around 12 people under the age of 4. It’s a recipe for disaster, if you ask me. But, iced coffee, not disaster. Iced coffee is a win.

Don’t get too caught in the details.

I love all the little details and decorations. I made the cupcakes for Jack’s 2^nd birthday party, in blue-like-the sea pre-ordered cupcake holders made of adorable tissue paper. I bought handmade paper sharks with googly eyes glued to tooth-pics to put on top. I stayed up until midnight frosting cupcakes with a 2 month old baby Grace in the baby carrier bc she wouldn’t sleep any other way. And, you know what? I enjoyed it.

But, as I get older, and as time goes by, I’m realizing that most of us parents don’t have the time or energy to do that stuff. And, honestly, the kids don’t care about those details anyway. We’re really doing them for ourselves… or possibly for the other parents to enjoy (or be impressed by – eye roll… but true, likely even for me, though I hate to admit it).  

That being said, I really DO love pretty details. I like instagramable décor and treats. I enjoy coming up with ideas and decorating and getting the perfect picture. The creative process gives me joy. So, I do it. But…my advice to all the parents out there is, let’s do it in moderation. AND – we can do just one or two things and still have a cute party.   For this cookie decorating party, I literally sent the evite out 1 week in advance. And (see tip #5 to outsource) I outsourced most of the work to someone else. But, I did do two things worth sharing.

One: the only real piece of décor I worked with was this one little heart garland from my favorite décor and party company, Meri Meri. (Cost: $11.00). It was all we really needed for a casual cookie party. And, sometimes, less is more anyway. I was able to cut it into 4 pieces because of the length. I used the first piece above the vent on the stove. The second and third to add some heart themed décor to the front door (on wreathes we already had), and the forth on the outside of a vase as you can see below. And, that was it!

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Two: the second thing worth mentioning is sometimes doing something super simple but different can LOOK cute but take no effort. We actually already had a bunch of Costco apple sauce pouches in our pantry, so I threw them on this cake stand – viola – and we had a cute little snack set up. I also put the Annie’s cheddar bunnies packages in a big decorative bowl for little hands to grab when hungry, and placed graham crackers on a nice white serving dish. These three things took no effort, but looked pretty good, if you ask me.  

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OPT – “Other People’s Toys.”

Not too much to report here except that OPT (other people’s toys) will always provide more entertainment than expected! I’m always racking my brain trying to come up with activities to keep the kids busy at our house. But, at the end of the day, making sure there is an open area with a bunch of your kids toys set out is the best thing you can do.

Because when your little guests see a bunch of toys that are not theirs, they will be entertained for hours and not want to leave. We did exactly this at the cookie decorating party, and it was a hit! Other than decorating cookies for 15-20 mins, the kids spent the remaining 1.5 hours or so playing with Jack and Grace’s toys. And, we parents got to sip iced coffees and chat. Win, win!

Outsource where you can.

I’m really big on this one now. Haven’t been in the past. But, I’m a full time working mom. Dustin is a full time working dad. Most of our family lives out of state. And, we have 2 kids. So, guess what? We can’t do it all… without sacrificing our work, our sleep, our sanity, or our time with our kids. So, for this party, I outsourced most of the work!

I hired my friend Goulla from EggsandBakie, who does kids’ baking parties as a part of her business. She literally did alllll the work and did it beautifully. She baked the cookies, made the icing, came over 30 minutes before the party and set everything up, she brought boxes for the kids to take their cookies home in. And, she cleaned up!

Yes, of course, I spent a little more money than I would have if I baked the cookies, bought the supplies, made the icing, set up, and cleaned up myself. But, the time I saved, the sanity I had, made it worth it. She did an amazing job! I recommend her 100%. And, if you’re not doing a baking party, I recommend outsourcing something: the food, the drinks, the cake. Outsource once piece you’re tempted to do all by yourself – and you’ll be so happy you did.

And, finally: Ask for Help.

My favorite chapter in my favorite book right now is the chapter on “Asking for Help” in Rachel Hollis’ “Girl, Stop Apologizing.” The book is all about chasing dreams (like I’m doing here). But, this mother of four also reminds us that while we should be chasing our dreams, we also cannot do it alone. We have to ASK FOR HELP. From our spouses, from our friends, from our nannies and childcare providers, and from our families. To pull off anything in life, but especially cute fun parties that kids and parents can enjoy, we need to be ok with asking for help! Outsourcing certainly helped here….

But so did having both of my parents in town this weekend. So did asking Dustin to pick some things up at the store. Heck, I even asked the other parents to each bring their own step stool (BYOSS haha) so the kids could reach the countertop. At the end of the day, beautiful blog feeds and picture perfect parties are great. But, they don’t happen without a village. And, let’s be real, they are really FOR the village.

It’s not about the pictures, or the party, or the decorations when all is said and done. It’s not about the adorable little white aprons on toddlers ( P.S. I did get these for $23 on Amazon and they were the cutest). It’s about making memories. It’s about spending time together. It’s about time well spent doing things we love with people we love, and seeing smiles on our little ones’ faces. So, while I hope some of these tips help you to throw a great kids’ party, I also hope we don’t lose sight of what it’s really about. All you need is each other… and maybe a little snack. Togetherness. That’s all it’s really about.

Happy Partying, friends! xo.

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