Great Kid Birthday Party Ideas!

Great kid birthday party ideas are sometimes hard to think of, especially when all the kids in your child's class have been to each other's birthday parties all year long. You want something a little different yet fun and simple.

Everything You Need for a Fun Kids Party:

Keep it Simple Party Ideas and Tips
Games and Activities
Party Food Ideas
Easy Cake Ideas
Kids Fun Party Invitation and Wording Ideas
Birthday Traditions
Decorations and Party Favors

Keep it Simple Kid Birthday Party Ideas

Elementary school-age kids (grades K-3rd) love going to fun places for a birthday party. Why not make your child's favorite "fun time" place be the birthday party place? In our town, it is the local bowling alley or the gymnastics center.
When choosing the place to have your party, check to see if party supplies, a cake, a host, etc. are included in the price. At many places, they are included and can be very beneficial to your birthday budget.
If you are having your party at a facility, a theme is really not necessary. Just go with the theme of the place (e.g. a bowling birthday party or a gymnastics birthday party). This is helpful when the whole class is invited, because boys don't like to go to parties that have a girl theme and vice versa. However, my son once had a Batman bowling party where only girls showed up. (:
If you would rather have the party at your house (been there, done that more times than I can count!), then definitely go with a theme for your kid birthday party. Generic themes seem to work the best like a pirate party or a horse party.

Kid Birthday Party Ideas for Games

Here are some great kid birthday party ideas to help you plan some fun games and activities at your party.

If you are having your kid birthday party at a fun place, then usually the host that they provide you with will take care of guiding the kids through the different activities offered. Easy as pie for you!

If your kid birthday party is going to be at your house, then try to plan games that coincide with your theme. For example, when my son was in the first grade, we had a pirate party. Our main activity was a treasure hunt that led to the piñata on the playground. Other kid birthday party ideas for Halloween birthday activities include "hook the pretzels" where each kid got the chance to wear a plastic hook on their hand and pick up pretzels out of a big bowl. The other activity was pinning the parrot on the pirate.

Kid Birthday Party Ideas for Food

Planning a menu for a large crowd of kids can be challenging. Here are some easy kid birthday party ideas to help you!

Food choices at our kid birthday party depends on several things like what time of day it is, where you are having the party, and what your theme is.
If you are having the kid birthday party at a facility then cake and ice cream is fine. The kids will be so involved in bowling or gymnastics, etc. to even be thinking about food.
If your kid birthday party will be at your house, then having food that relates to your theme is a lot of fun for everyone. One year, my son had a Buzz Lightyear "Out of this World" space party. Some of the items that we served were "moon rocks" (doughnut holes), "shooting stars" (star shaped pb&j sandwiches), and planet punch (orange juice). At my son's pirate party , we had Pirate Pete's punch, walk-the-plank finger sandwiches, and gold (Captain Crunch cereal). Just let your imagination soar. The ideas are endless for any theme.

Kid Birthday Party Ideas for Cakes

If your party is at a place like the bowling alley, then why not make a cake that goes along with the fun that the kids are having. For example, why not turn 2 sheet cakes into a bowling alley?
When your kid birthday party is going to be at your house, then make a cake that goes along with the theme of the party. For a pirate party , construct a cake to look like a treasure chest, a pirate ship, or even a pirate's face.
Sometimes the birthday cake doesnt have to be a cake at all. It could be just decorated cupcakes as in the case of my sons Halloween birthday party. I just made chocolate cupcakes with white icing. I then sprinkled on orange and black confetti candy and topped each of them with candy gummy body parts. They were absolutely adorable. The kids loved them and couldnt wait to eat them. One year when my son had a dinosaur party, I decorated the table with a dinosaur tablecloth and sprinkled green coconut (green food coloring) all over the table. I decorated chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and little toy dinosaurs on top. I then just stuck these all over the table to make it look like they were roaming around in the grass. Very cute!

Kid Birthday Party Mementos

Its fun to give your child something after his/her party to remember the party by. When thinking of something for a memento, think "theme." For example, when my son had a birthday party at our local bowling alley, we had everyone attending sign an old bowling pin. We first decorated the pin by drawing a funny face on it and then had each guest sign the pin as they arrived. My son still has this sitting in his room three years later.

Another example of this was at an art party birthday party we went to. As each guest arrived, they picked a color of paint and stamped their hand print on a t-shirt for the birthday girl. The mom was standing by with a sharpie marker to sign each childs name underneath his/her hand print.

A really simple and fun kid birthday party memento is a small photo album holding pictures that you took all throughout the party. Use a paint pen to write on the front, "My 8th Birthday!"

Mementos are so much fun, especially at the elementary age. Children this age love to remember who was at their party.

Kid Birthday Party Invitation Wording and Ideas

Deciding on what kid birthday party invitation to use for your childs next birthday can be a little difficult and a little intimidating, but dont let it be. Kid birthday party invitations can in fact be one of the most fun parts of planning for the party. Here are some ideas to help you:

Always think "theme" and "unique." Kids this age love a fun and unusual invitation. It gets them very excited about coming to the party.
Poems are always so much fun to include on the invitation if possible. For example, when my daughter had a Dancing Princess party , her invitation read:

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Calling all princesses and princes too!

_____________s turning 6

And shes inviting you!

No need to dress up.

Come just as you are!

Her royal birthday party

Isnt very far!

Her favorite thing to do

Is to dress up and to play.

But she also loves to play in the dirt

On a bright and sunny day!

So join us on the 5th

When were sure to have some fun!

Well celebrate her birthday

In the bright and morning sun!

I printed this on top of a big blown up picture of her in a princess costume. It was very cute and even though it looked girly, the boys were interested too because of the "playing in the dirt" line.
One of the easiest "theme" invitations to create is to purchase computer stationary with pictures on it that matches the theme of your childs party. Many printing shops sell this kind of paper by the sheet. Why not print your sons next cowboy party on bandana themed paper?

When deciding what type of invitation to send out for your childs next kid birthday party, just relax and have fun with it. Even if you decide to just go with traditional store bought invitations, make it fun by adding confetti to the inside of the card before sealing it. What fun it is for your child's friends when they open the invitation and confetti falls out!

Kid Birthday Party Ideas for Traditions

Kids thrive on family traditions. Its what they will remember about their childhood when they are adults. Try some of these fun traditions:

Family Birthday Hat
Family Birthday Present Spot
Family Birthday Breakfast Treat- This is a great tradition to start when your child is elementary age. Think of a sweet treat that everyone in your family loves (chocolate cake, chocolate pie, a certain type of cookie, etc.). Then on the morning of your childs birthday, have everyone else in the family get up early. Place the treat on a fun birthday party plate. Go as a family marching into the birthday girls/boys room singing "Happy Birthday" to wake her/him up. As your child wakes up, greet her/him with another verse of "Happy Birthday" and serve her/him the sweet treat.

Begin these traditions or any others that your family comes up, and you will be pleasantly surprised at how your kids ask for these things year after year

Kid Birthday Party Ideas for Party Favors

Planning what to give your childs guests as party favors can be a little challenging, especially when the entire class is invited. It is challenging simply because of the amount of favors you have to buy. Here are some helpful kid birthday party ideas for party favors:

Stick with your theme. Usually theme items come in larger packs, and you can get more for your money. For example, when my son had a pirate party and invited his whole class, we gave out gold candy coins in a bag with eye patches and beaded necklaces. All of which I picked up at either the party supply store or dollar store in quantity packs.

If you know your theme way beforehand, then it is best to shop throughout the year especially after a holiday like Halloween. One year, my son told me that he wanted a Batman party. Since his birthday is right after Halloween, I hit the stores early on the day after Halloween and was able to pick up a Batman costume for him to wear at his party, Batman masks and bat rings for party favors at a fraction of the price that they would have cost me before Halloween. Besides, what other time of year would I have been able to find such great bat party favors?
Sometimes your part favors can be the products of what the kids make at your party. One of the activities we did at our birthday Halloween party was making figures out of clay. Everyone got a small block of clay to mold into their favorite monster, creature, or whatever. Then while they were doing another activity, another adult put the clay creatures on a cookie sheet and baked them in the oven. Since they only took a few minutes to bake, they were ready to take home as a kid birthday party favor. This was a big hit!
At this same party, everyone painted a miniature pumpkin. They then got to take this home as well.

The trick to finding great inexpensive kid birthday party favors is to think "theme" and to buy in quantity or bulk all year.

Kid Birthday Party Ideas for Themes

Deciding on a theme for your next kid birthday party can be easy. Just think about what your child is really into or what his/her favorite thing to do is and run with it. If your child loves Thomas, then have a train party. Some examples include: