(This write-up was originally published in mycity4kids)

Aleena: Mamma, how we are going to celebrate my birthday?

Me: Beta you are going to be 9 this year. Big enough to do away with that regular kids birthday celebration. May be we can take few of your friends for a nice animated movie and then all can go to Pizza Hut and yes, ice cream too! What say? Of ‘course you can also give them a nice return gift as well.

How does this sound?

Aleena: No, I want to do it all – cake cutting, friends coming with gifts, games and a pretty party dress! Just one last time….pleeeease…

(Her face & eyes turn more round when she acts oh-so-poor-me!)

Now, which mother can stand those two innocent eyes, brimming with tears and a face that becomes instantly so adorable that you agree to do just WHATEVER!

Sigh! So one more time we decided to do a birthday party with the regular jazz.

 

Since it was in agreement that this would be the last one of this sort, we decided to add a little twist to it.

You can also pick some ideas for your girl’s birthday from here!

Suitable Age Group  – 7 to 10 years, GIRLS!

Theme-  Bye-Bye Barbie/Princess

Usually by now, girls outgrow Barbie and everything – PINK, that’s why the theme. So this one more time, they can deck up all girly; don their princess look with beautiful gowns and frilly frocks.

And finally can bid good bye to the ‘lil girl stuff’.

Invitations

Although there is no dearth of printed party invitation cards but we decided to do it – online!

Ask your child to draw/paint/write an exclusive theme based invite for her friends. Instead of drawing, she can use cute stickers, pictures and other decorative stuff.

Clearly mention the date, time, venue, address and most importantly the contact number of mother or father of the birthday girl.

Take a picture of the card and share it on the Whatsapp numbers of parents or send it through mail.

Mentioning a ‘Dress Code’ is always a good idea. It could be based on the theme of your party or even could be a particular color (red, purple, pink are always there in every girl’s wardrobe).

 

Décor –

Do away with regular buntings. I have some innovative ideas here.

Backdrop

If it is a large space or a hall, pick just one wall/corner and do most of the decoration there. Your cake table also can be set in front of this so that pictures come out nice too.

To fill up the wall, cut out big flowers in bright colours, the ‘digit’ of the year your kid is turning (like I made a big 9), stick bright chart papers with FUN messages written on them, obviously lots of balloons or just anything which is bright and catchy!

I had some paper doilies with me. They looked superb on the backdrop.

Another quick decoration on a wall is to stick silver foil plats randomly, all over. they just fill up the space in the most jazzy way.

 

Talk Bubbles                                     

Come up with catchy and interesting lines related to the theme. Write them BIG on bright papers and stick everywhere.

They send out a message, can be used as a quirky backdrop for taking pictures and add to the décor without much effort.

 

Photo Frame Cut Outs

Photo booths and props are so in these days. Make few inexpensive ones on your own.

Like this….

(Learn to make it here)

It was such a huge hit amongst girls!

Polka Dot Balloons

Forget the normal ones; get lots of polka dot balloons which are easily available these days. They look just so adorable. Blow plenty, put on walls or just strew them on floor.

Giveaway/Return Gift

Return gifts are most difficult to choose for a birthday party because after cake, that is the main attraction for kids.

I played smart. I put together an assortment in a ‘goodie bag’ as their return gift which was also used in one of the activities they did during the party.

Goodie bag was a colourful pouch and it had,

·         A small nail paint

·         Travel size (small) lotion and talc

·         Small mirror

·         Colourful cotton balls

·         Stick-on tattoos

You can add other little girly stuff like lip gloss, clips, sunglasses or anything you wish on the similar lines.

 

Activities –

I arranged 4 round tables and 6 chairs around them. (I had around 25 girls coming in.)

Each table had its own set of glue tubes, colourful stick-ons, glitters, sketch pens, crayons and lots of flowers and leaves (cut out form paper).

 – Decorate the Butterfly

This is the easiest and good fun to prep them up!

·         Fold a paper in the centre (4″x 3″ size)

·         Draw and cut semi circles starting from the centre; upper one little bigger than the lower one

·         Make two small cuts (1 cm) in the centre of the fold, 1 inch apart

·         Stick a lollipop in, between the cuts

·         Ask everyone to colour, paint and stick colourful sequins on the butter fly

 Learn it here

 

– Write a message for the birthday girl

 

·         Get 6 x 6 colourful craft paper (easily available in stationary shops)

·         Ask them to write a message for the birthday girl…I asked them to do this ….‘I like Aleena because….”

·         Make sure they write their names and date on their paper

·         Let them decorate it with flowers, leaves, glitters, sketch pens, crayons…

·         Hang all the messages on a sting using cloth line pins right away!

Trust me, it is going to be such a great memorabilia for the keeps. Save them and cherish the sweet memories later.

 

 

 

– Spa Time

Though you can go more elaborate on this one but I kept it simple and fuss free.

·         Ask them to paint their nails with the nail polish given in their ‘goodie bag’.

·       Once everyone is done (they sure gonna take good 10-15 minutes), arrange the chairs in a line or circle and give everyone two slices of       cucumber to place it on their eyes.

·         This will serve 2 purposes – one, it gives them that ‘spa-like’ feel and second, it will make them stay put at one place as the nail pain dries.

·         Later they can go on adding the stick-on tattoos on their face, hands and even nails.

 

Food –

I always prefer meal-in-a-box thing for such get-togethers.

No serving, less mess!

I got takeaway paper foil boxes and filled them with a cheese sandwich, a Choco Pie, 2 McCain Similes, wafers and a chocolate.  I gave them Tetra Pak drinks too. Then of ‘course there was cake!

You can add any other stuff you want. Just remember, kids typically do not eat huge quantities but love to have variety. You can include doughnut, corn cups, popcorns….

 

Apart from the boxes, keep more of the stuff handy with you, in case anybody wants more.

In a corner table, keep water, tissues and plastic or paper glasses ready.

So, this was our total FUN princess theme party.

Am sure with more creatives ideas you can make it even more rocking!!

 

 

Read some more interesting unique birthday party ideas here