Describe the best kids party you've been to.

[Anonymous]

I'm not asking about the most low key or outrageous. Tell me about the party where your child had the most fun and/or you could see and appreciate the effort put forth by the parents.

[Anonymous]

Early July party at a non-public pool, pizza served. My kid loved every minute of it.

[Anonymous]

The most fun kid party I've ever gone to was 2 weeks ago. My DD's friend turned 5. Her parents had the Fun Bus (in their driveway) and the parents were left inside to shoot the breeze. It ended up being a great mix of people. It was SO relaxing. After the Fun Bus, there was cake, gifts. DD had a blast. Honestly though...she has a blast at every party she attends. I dont. That's what made this last party so great. I had a great time.

[Anonymous]

Backyard magic show, lots of adult refreshments, a couple of cake choices for the kids. The kids LOVED it (this was a 3-7 yo crowd), and the parents were all relaxed. No awkwardness, just fun.

[Anonymous]

http://rhythmstreetdance.com/parties.shtml

It's a dance studio that does princess parties on the weekends. AMAZING. I actually hate Disney princesses with a passion, but my daughter naturally loves them. One of her classmates had her 4th birthday party there and my kid was in heaven. When I posted some pics on FB, a bunch of of other women (and not all moms) thought it looked awesome!

[Anonymous]

Pre-schooler party at friend's house. 6 girls, princess theme so girls wore old princess costumes. Hosts cooked chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and had fruits and veggies for the kids and parents. Kids played in family room with toys kids had, siblings allowed so a couple of cute babies to fawn over. Parents got a chance to talk instead of chasing kids all over the bouncy place.

[Anonymous]

I've hosted and attended several parties and here is what I've learned.

1. You must have food- it doesn't have to be much but everyone hates going to a party (especially a party at mealtimes) and there is not a grape to be found. FWIW, while I supply a full spread, food is considered chips/pretzels/veggies/pita bread. You can buy a lot of options to cover this category for less than $20.

2. Depending on age is depending on activity. 2 year olds do not need some grand craft for the parents to make. 3 year old's need SOMETHING to keep them from climbing the walls. The something can be a playground, the something can be a craft, the something can be an entertainer.

3. If you have an entertainer, make sure they are age appropriate and can accommodate your party size. Kids do not like to be the 21st person in line waiting for the one person to make them a balloon/paint their face.

4. Simple is best- simple does not mean ugly or boring, it means too many things create chaos which is not fun for the parents.

5. Take pictures before the party- as a host/hostess you will be busy doing everything else and if you didn't take a picture of the cake prior and it's important to have a picture, do it before.

6. Do not choose a cake/cupcake/dessert with red or blue frosting unless you are prepared to get it off every surface imaginable. One friend rented the community space and the kids smeared dark purple frosting on the upholstered chairs- that wasn't coming out with anything.

7. Always have bathrooms accessible. Parks without potties are not fun for anyone.

8. If you plan an activity for the kids that is potentially messy, tell the parents ahead of time. Nothing worse than Suzie showing up in a party dress for painting with non-washable paint.

9. Let the kids have fun- this should be number 1 but this was done in no particular order.

10. Bouncy castles are fun, but kids do get hurt. Nothing worse than EMS having to take a kid out on a stretcher since their knee bent the wrong way. It ruins a party for everyone. Just keep in mind the potential things that go wrong.

11. Check your invite list more than once. It's one thing to invite the class but huge parties are not as fun as the smaller ones since having to do things for 25 is much different than 8. And planning a party for 8 allows you to do activities/special things that are not possible/affordable for 25.

As for the best party we've been to, we have several to choose from. All were very thoughtful parties where the mom planned great age-appropriate activities that were easy for the kids to do and they had a great time. The kids had a great time and the parents did as well. Food was age appropriate (chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, fruit, veggies) and sippy cups. The worst party was a noon party without any food (I assured my husband not to eat since there would be food and there was not a chip to be found). You don't remember the mediocre parties but you do remember the ones without food!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've hosted and attended several parties and here is what I've learned.

1. You must have food- it doesn't have to be much but everyone hates going to a party (especially a party at mealtimes) and there is not a grape to be found. FWIW, while I supply a full spread, food is considered chips/pretzels/veggies/pita bread. You can buy a lot of options to cover this category for less than $20.

2. Depending on age is depending on activity. 2 year olds do not need some grand craft for the parents to make. 3 year old's need SOMETHING to keep them from climbing the walls. The something can be a playground, the something can be a craft, the something can be an entertainer.

3. If you have an entertainer, make sure they are age appropriate and can accommodate your party size. Kids do not like to be the 21st person in line waiting for the one person to make them a balloon/paint their face.

4. Simple is best- simple does not mean ugly or boring, it means too many things create chaos which is not fun for the parents.

5. Take pictures before the party- as a host/hostess you will be busy doing everything else and if you didn't take a picture of the cake prior and it's important to have a picture, do it before.

6. Do not choose a cake/cupcake/dessert with red or blue frosting unless you are prepared to get it off every surface imaginable. One friend rented the community space and the kids smeared dark purple frosting on the upholstered chairs- that wasn't coming out with anything.

7. Always have bathrooms accessible. Parks without potties are not fun for anyone.

8. If you plan an activity for the kids that is potentially messy, tell the parents ahead of time. Nothing worse than Suzie showing up in a party dress for painting with non-washable paint.

9. Let the kids have fun- this should be number 1 but this was done in no particular order.

10. Bouncy castles are fun, but kids do get hurt. Nothing worse than EMS having to take a kid out on a stretcher since their knee bent the wrong way. It ruins a party for everyone. Just keep in mind the potential things that go wrong.

11. Check your invite list more than once. It's one thing to invite the class but huge parties are not as fun as the smaller ones since having to do things for 25 is much different than 8. And planning a party for 8 allows you to do activities/special things that are not possible/affordable for 25.

As for the best party we've been to, we have several to choose from. All were very thoughtful parties where the mom planned great age-appropriate activities that were easy for the kids to do and they had a great time. The kids had a great time and the parents did as well. Food was age appropriate (chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, fruit, veggies) and sippy cups. The worst party was a noon party without any food (I assured my husband not to eat since there would be food and there was not a chip to be found). You don't remember the mediocre parties but you do remember the ones without food!

Thanks for the advice. I'm really just interested in hearing details about fun parties. I do agree with all of your points....just want to hear more stories.

[Anonymous]

My adult son has often told me that one of his favorite birthdays as a child (June birthday) was when we had cake, snacks and several giant buckets filled with water balloons. We did the water balloons in our cul-de-sac and everyone loved running around chasing each other throwing hundreds of water balloons at each other. They especially loved throwing them at me and my husband (and liked that we were cool with it). It was kinda of a pain to clean up all those balloon pieces but they had so much fun.

[Anonymous]

We just went to a great party at the family's home. Kids played in the big fenced yard that had a trampoline, small playground equipment, and lots of bikes/wheels of all sizes and abilities. Tons of great kid and adult food. Juice boxes for the kids and beer/wine for adults.

Think old school: piñata, pin the tail on the donkey, musical chairs. I love the water balloon idea and am definitely doing that for my summer birthday kid when he is old enough.

[Anonymous]

We had a party when our DD was about 7 and we went on a hike on one of the local trails near our house.

Gave each kid a trash bag and some gloves and picked up trash! Couple of parents came to help give out bags etc. they had a great time.

Came home/ washed up/ and ate pizza. Surprisingly, everyone loved this.

[Anonymous]

Our rule growing up was that you could have as many guests as you had years. Keeping the party simpler and smaller means that you are less stressed and the kids don't get overwhelmed. I love the water balloon idea! I have a winter birthday, so that wouldn't work for me, but I remember one birthday where we had my friends over and frosted sugar cookies. My mom had all different frosting colors and fancy sprinkles (including those cool little silver balls!). Everyone got to take home some cookies.

[Anonymous]

Dinosaur "dig" at Locust Grove Nature Center.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had a party when our DD was about 7 and we went on a hike on one of the local trails near our house.

Gave each kid a trash bag and some gloves and picked up trash! Couple of parents came to help give out bags etc. they had a great time.

Came home/ washed up/ and ate pizza. Surprisingly, everyone loved this.

This may have been a great 'party' but it hardly seems birthday-partyish. If you took out the cleaning up trash party, I'd say ok but this seems much more boy scout service project to me.

[Anonymous]

Bump -- would love to hear more ideas. Thanks!