Planning a Kiddy Birthday Party at home?

Kids simply enjoy going to friends’ birthday parties. Its pure fun. Games, cake, balloons, food, music, return gifts,……… can’t wait for the party to begin!
While it is fun for the children, parents have to plan ahead for the party. The number of children to be invited, games to be played, the food to be served, design and size of the cake, return gifts, party room decoration, everything has to be thought out.
Food Menu-
Food is the central part of any party. Because it’s a children’s birthday party, the menu has to be carefully chalked out. Children are choosy about food, but most of them like fast food, which is not allowed daily. So the menu should be of their liking, taking into consideration the average age of the invited children. Some food items which can be included in the party menu are-
 Chips/wafers- A must in the menu. Every child loves chips. Some will only fill there plate with this!
 Wafer sticks or cream rolls- A favourite among young kids.
 Pizza- Most children love pizza, so this is a safe choice. Pizza with both veg. and non-veg. toppings can be kept. Simple, non spicy toppings should be preferred which the children can comfortably eat. The pizza should be cut into small pieces so that children waste less and can also hold properly.
 Burger- Small sized, less spicy burgers too are liked by children. Burgers are good for children above six year olds.
 Paneer pakoda
 Bread pakoda- A variety of bread pakodas with different fillings can be served. Tomato sauce, coriander or pudina chutney, jam, paneer, anything can be put in the bread. Tri colour bread pakoda, with green chutney in one layer of bread and tomato sauce in another, fried together in besan, looks attractive. It should be cut into small pieces and served.
 Idli- Idli is another food item liked by children all over the country. Children mostly like idli with chutney or tomato sauce. Sambhar served with idli should be less spicy.
 French fries- The common French fries are always a hot favourite.
 Ready to fry frozen food- Smiley shaped potato fries, spring rolls and samosas are easy to cook and tasty too.
 Chowmein- Chowmein is again a popular food item among kids.
 Choley on buns- Cut the buns into half. Put chole on it. Decorate with chopped onion, tomato sauce and sev.
 Choley puri- Bhatura becomes too heavy for children, therefore small pooris can be kept.
 Potato bread rounds- Boil and mash potato with salt, chilli, garam masala and chopped onion & coriander leaves. Cut bread slices into round shapes and spread the mashed potato on it. Dip the edges in cornflour and fry. Decorate with sauce.
 Sandwiches
 Popcorn
 Gulab Jamun, rasgolla or Rasmalai.
 Vegetable cutlet
 Cold drinks
 Biscuits, chocolates and toffees
 Cake, of course.
Any combination of four- five items from the above can be planned. Items like chips, popcorn and cake should be in a larger quantity, as children mostly eat these in parties. Other items should be in moderate quantity. Packed snacks packets are also popular these days. Mc Donald’s kid’s meal can also be brought home and served. Such meals also have the advantage of a free gift which serves as the return gift too. Care should be taken to keep all food items less spicy.
Return gift ideas-
Return gifts are the biggest attraction of parties for children. Not only do they never forget to collect theirs, they will remind others too if they forget. Return gifts are their valuable possessions. So these gifts should also be selected with love. If the invited children are all of the same age group one type of gift will do. But if kids of different ages are there, then different gifts for different age groups should be selected.
Stationary set with pencil, pen, eraser, ruler and sharpener are very common. If you choose to give these as gifts make sure to include items of reputed brands like Apsara, Nataraj, and Faber Castel etc. Otherwise most of the readymade packs of stationary items are of cheap quality, which children who are learning to write should preferably avoid. It is good to spend some time and thought before deciding on the return gift. Try to be different. Think about all the things your own child would love to receive. Something they would enjoy. Some gift ideas are given below-
 Books- A variety of books for children are available in the market. Story books, puzzle books, magic pads, coloring books, riddle books, dot-to-dot, activity books, origami books etc.
 Drop games
 Water games
 Bubble makers
 Small soft toys
 Brainvita
 Balls/small globe
 Pen stands with cartoon pictures
 Small cars
 Milk mugs
 Photo frames
 Rubicube
 Spray Graph
 CD Holder
 Dart game
 Watch
 Skipping rope
 Hair bands & clips, funky earrings for girls
 Tiffin box
 Money box
 Colour set (crayon, pastel, pencil, water color, sketch pens, depending on the age)
 Small packets containing a combination of chocolates
 Packets containing a combination of small packs of wafers, chocolate , frooti, and ballons.
Make it a fun party for children with lots of balloons, games, gifts, food of their choice, music & dance, and lots of laughter!