Birthday Party Games Lady Blog

Birthdays mark the progression through life, and for kids it’s a very rapid progression through the magical years of childhood. They change so fast and learn so much. I’m not really that much different this year than I was last year, but your 6 or 8 or 11 year old is VERY different this year. As parents, we need to stamp these years into our memory because you’ll never have the child you have today tomorrow- he or she will be quite different. The birthday and the birthday party mark all these transitions. And it’s the perfect opportunity to create lasting memories of a time that will be gone forever.

Enough philosophy, but an email I received from a customer got me thinking along these lines. Renee wrote to say:

“I wanted to let you know that we haven’t had the [Medieval Madness] party yet. It is scheduled for October27th and my daughter and her sister have had a blast planning it. My 12 year old is sewing her own medieval dress and her friends are as excited about the upcoming event as she is…one parent has already asked if they can come too. I don’t remember when we have had so much fun planning a birthday party.

Of course I will send an email after the party to let you know how it went but I know it will be fantastic.”

I’m delighted when I hear that parents have done the preparation for one of my party packages WITH their birthday child. Doing things together is another of the childhood joys that slips away as they get older. Getting things ready together makes it a family affair, not just MY birthday party. And it’s yet another memory of a time soon gone by.

All of the birthday party games packages from the Birthday Party Games Lady (except for the Detective Party as it would ruin the ‘mystery’) can involve the birthday child in the preparation, so go for it!! And your party will then really be a Celebration instead of another chore to get through.

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Early elementary school kids ages 6, 7 and even 8 are beginning readers and still not very good at following directions or staying focused. To keep them involved in your party rather than veering off in their own direction, your games must be simple and straightforward and relatively short.

You need to plan a variety of short games, each with simple rules of play. One task at a time, and wrap it up before moving on to the next activity. But just because they’re not yet good readers doesn’t mean they can’t think or solve problems! Provide simple challenges that they can meet, and the fun level will rise accordingly.

At this age and developmental level, your party invitation takes on extra importance. A standard invite to what appears to the child to be a standard birthday party will create very little curiosity about what they’re going to be doing.

The young child’s natural curiosity is a factor you want to use to your advantage. Structure your invitation to create curiosity and excitement about the unknown, and the kids will immediately be drawn into your activities- just to find out what it’s all about. Once engaged, good games will keep them that way and avoid problems for you.

Stay away from games that require any one child to ‘perform’ solo, such as charades. Some kids this age love being in the spotlight, but there’s usually one or two that start shaking the minute they realize what’s expected of them. That anxiety can cause the behavior to head south, create other behavioral problems in it’s wake, and then you have to step in as the bad guy. No Fun. Stick to all group activities.

Many parents believe the answer to those short attention spans and possible behavior problems is to spend a bunch and take the kids somewhere to do something. This party option is not only very expensive; it doesn’t really solve the problem. These places usually provide one activity over the duration of the party and these young kids have difficulty staying focused on that one activity for so long.

To see how best to structure a birthday party for this age group, take a look at the Survivor Party Games at the Birthday Party Games Lady website. Short, simple, silly games strung around a theme the kids find interesting and exciting. Team activities that incorporate simple challenges and keeps all the activities in a group framework.

I’ll be posting soon about the age factors you need to consider in planning birthday party games for older kids, so stay tuned. Or, check out the birthday party games for older kids.

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