I thought I’d share a recent kids party planning experience with you. My youngest daughter just had her 4th birthday. Right now she’s into princesses. She loves Ariel from “The Little Mermaid”, Cinderella, Belle from “Beauty and the Beast”, Snow White, Tiana from “The Princess and the Frog”, and Sleeping Beauty.
Her favorite thing to do is to dress up like her favorite characters and dance around to the music from the movies. Now, how does this fit in with her birthday? Well, to put it simply, princesses make a great theme for a party.
Kids party planning almost always includes a theme these days, so what theme could be better than one where your daughter gets to dress up as her favorite princess. The party we had for her 4th birthday was a princess tea party. To pull off this theme, you need a few items:
kids princess dresses
fancy-looking tea cups and plates (paper and plastic just won’t due for this theme)
tea
birthday snacks
All of these items can easily be purchased without a huge hit to the wallet. Your biggest expense will probably be the dresses, but that depends on how many children you decide to invite. If your daughter is as into princess as mine, you probably already have some of the dresses she uses for dress-up games.
An alternative to hosting this type of party yourself is to find a place around town. Your yellow pages or Google should be able to point out your options to you. One thing you should know is that these places can be expensive. Most of them have the dresses and tea party sets, and you can bring your own treats. There are also places that supply you with treats for the kids. The more they provide for your party, the more expensive it will be.
Part of the experience that you have to provide the children is the act of dressing up. My daughter’s party included tiaras for the girls, a nail polish station, and some glittery hairspray and eye shadow. It’s a good idea to let the parents know that this kind of stuff will be done at the party because some might not want their daughters to wear that stuff at such a young age.
The parents of the girls at my daughter’s party didn’t object, so all of the girls got to participate. They all loved “getting pretty” as they referred to it. I want to caution you about the glittery hairspray; if you decide to use it, be prepared to have a hard time getting a brush through your daughter’s hair for the next couple of baths. I’m still finding glitter in her hair even though she’s had at least six baths since the party.
Another thing to consider is whether you will give the girls real tea or not. My daughter isn’t really into the whole hot (or even warm) drink idea, but I went ahead and served real tea anyway (caffeine free, of course.) My daughter only took one sip, but some of the other girls really enjoyed it. I think it made them feel grown up to be drinking real tea like adults, so it added to the experience.
If you have a young daughter who’s into princesses, you can’t go wrong with this theme. It’s a relatively easy (and inexpensive if you do it yourself) theme to pull off and the kids will love it.
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