Birthday Party Games Lady Blog

Not exactly on the scale of global warming, but all us parents worry that our child’s birthday party won’t live up to their very high expectations. After all, they’ve been waiting months for this event, building it up in their mind all along. And the last party they went to was deemed ‘awesome’ by the kids. Nothing like a little pressure!

You work days, maybe weeks, buying stuff and putting party games together to keep the kids occupied and having fun. After a couple of your activities, one or two kids wander off to do something else, probably creating a mess. At best, you’ve now been put in the unfortunate position of having to play ‘bad cop’ to keep the festivities on track. At worst, none of this escapes the eye of your birthday child, who is now all worried that his or her party isn’t as good as it should be, and the anxiety ratchets right up. Now that the stress level has been raised, the least little thing becomes a crisis in the eyes of your birthday child. As the stress increases, the behavior heads south, and you’ve got the kids birthday party ‘Nightmare’ on your hands.

This scenario is always triggered by the parents’ need to step in and exert control. It’s their party, they don’t want you controlling things, and the minute you do they realize things aren’t going as perfectly as planned. And the spiral begins.

Having done numerous birthday parties for my own kids that morphed into the business of selling party games packages for kids on the Internet, I’ve found the antidote to this nightmare. It may be politically incorrect these days, but the answer is a little team competition built into your activities.

The operative words here are ‘a little’ and ‘team’. The team aspect is critical, as it takes the focus, and the pressure, off the birthday child and places it on a group instead. With two or more groups playing as teams, it’s no longer ‘my birthday party’ but a group effort. Competition gives the games a goal, winning, that focuses that group on the task at hand and vastly decreases the probability of non-participation and your need to step in and exert parental control. And there’s no need to highlight the competitive aspect with prizes for winners- the simple goal of winning is sufficient incentive for the kids. As a team effort, the less competitive kids can contribute as they choose in a non-threatening environment.

Keep each individual game short so those attention spans aren’t stretched to the breaking point. If the competition ends up lopsided with one team noticeable outperforming the other, just mix things up: “Everybody with white socks on this team for the next game!” They’ll never figure out it wasn’t part of your plan all along.

In short- everybody wins when you include a bit of team competition in your games. The kids get and stay better focused on your activities. With all involved, you can remain in your role as host rather than be the controlling parent. The birthday child can focus on the fun instead of what’s going wrong. No Birthday Party Nightmare; it will be a celebration that’s great fun for everyone, even you.

To see how a little team competition can be added to your next kids birthday party celebration, visit www.birthdaypartygameslady.com and check out the Survivor Party for ages 6-8, the Harry Potter Party for kids 8 to 11 or the Detective Party for 8-10 year olds. Each includes the competitive aspect discussed here to create engaging games that keep everybody tuned in and having a great time.

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Are you facing a kids birthday party? Don’t stress- you can host and run a memorable, fun party if you use these tried and true tips for success.  

First and foremost, your theme is the key to a successful day. Without a theme, your activities will just be a collection of things to do with nothing tying it all together and keeping the kids totally focused on your games. However, a theme for the day goes much deeper than just purchasing pre-printed plates, napkins, and streamers, all at significant expense. No, a theme that piques their curiosity creating excitement and anticipation about what they’ll be doing starts your party on the right foot. A theme that binds your activities into a whole keeps them all on your wavelength instead of their own. A theme that follows all the way through to their take-home party gift makes it all memorable and talked about for days or weeks afterwards- keeping the glow on your birthday child.

The best kids birthday party starts with an invitation that introduces your exciting theme. Something they think is adult, or that they’re all interested in, or most importantly something that hasn’t been done a million times and is new to them. Your invitation should spark their curiosity, making them wonder what it’s all going to be about. Take, for example, a medieval themed mystery party with kings, queens, and lots of palace intrigue (for young teenagers or preteens). An invitation that invites them to a palace wedding that starts the intrigue rolling creates substantially more ‘buzz’ about your party that an invitation to a medieval mystery party. And that’s the whole idea!

Following on the medieval mystery theme, you can name your home your “castle,” and decorate it accordingly. Spend your money here rather than on overpriced party supplies that don’t really enhance your theme. Have the children dress for their mystery roles and they’ll be already invested in the party before they even arrive.

Perhaps the most wonderful thing about kids, even young teenagers and preteens, is they still have wonderful imaginations and in a supportive setting they’re not afraid to use them and step outside what we adults would consider the boundaries of convention. Give them a scenario to work with, lots of information to use or ignore and everything set up at cross-purposes, and they’ll come up with incredible ways around problems or ways to achieve their goals. They just need the freedom to do things their way, not the adult way. Build these factors into your mystery and you’ll be amazed at what they do and how much fun they have. And you won’t know what’s going to happen until they make it happen!

Planning out the story line for your murder-mystery is fun, but time consuming. Unfortunately, most murder-mystery games you’ll find online are too adult for teenagers or preteens. However, the Birthday Party Games Lady has a medieval themed kit specifically designed for this age group ready for you to purchase, download, and print. Everything is included from invitations, to the complete story line they work from, to the thank you notes. Of course, there are also parties for younger children and children with other interests. To see all of the kids birthday party themes, visit http://www.birthdaypartygameslady.com/. You will not be disappointed.

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