There are ways we can simplify kids birthdays! Sometimes the thought of planning another birthday party for your child can begin to feel overwhelming, stressful, and pressure-filled.
However! There are always ways we can simplify and systemize things that we will do more than once. This includes birthday parties!
Rather than thinking through all the details of pulling off a party for our kids every time (hence, the stress and overwhelm we can feel), we can notice repeatable patterns and create ‘systems’ to pull them off smoothly.
Whether your child likes parties at home or parties out, here are a few ideas to keep it simple.
Some ideas to simplify kids’ birthdays
1. Bake the same cake or cupcakes every birthday (or by all means, buy one!)
Every time we can eliminate a decision, we consider it a win. You can simply ‘customize’ a favourite cake or cupcake recipe with coloured sprinkles or a Happy Birthday sign or candle. Sometimes the pressure we feel to customize is what leads to the overwhelm, but it can be simple. We have even tried printing out pictures on our printer, taping them to toothpicks, and sticking them in cupcakes to incorporate the theme. Not the classiest option, but easy, cute enough, and one that still makes an impact, especially from a child’s perspective.
2. Hang the balloons in the same places every year
One less decision that leads to a more streamlined birthday party prep process. We used to buy several helium balloon bouquets for each party, and have found that in our home, 3 clusters of 3 balloons each hung from our curtain rods adds a pop of color enough to make the same impact. It’s quicker, cheaper, and easy to repeat.
3. Make or buy a birthday banner that you can use every year
We have a rose gold one for the girls and a cardstockbrown and black one for the boys that we pull out on birthdays. You can even go one step further and keep some discreet nails permanently in place to easily hang the banner. Ours always goes in front of our living room window and the nails to hang the banner on are hidden behind our curtains, so they never need to come down.
4. Have a birthday invitation online template
Each year, swap out the photo to match the theme, change the font color, update the birthday party details, and done! We like creating the invitation digitally, then taking a screen shot and simply texting it to our kids’ friends’ parents. Again, this is where determining what is meaningful to each child comes in – If your child loves making handmade invitations, and has the stamina to create 3, 5, 10, or however many friends they are inviting, by all means … make that part of the memory making process!
5. Take it outside
If having a party at home feels too overwhelming, plan it at the park or just keep all the kids in the yard. A cake of some kind with candles and some balloons tied to a tree is enough to make any activity feel like a party!
6. Repeat what works
If your child loves parties at home with the classic birthday party games, repeat what’s working and make it special by incorporating the theme. We’ve done several versions of musical chairs (musical muddy puddles, musical bunny tails, and musical crowns) and several versions of bingo (princess bingo and jungle bingo). Taking a classic and putting a new spin on it is a simple way to fill up the party agenda.
7. Use what you have
One year, we tried out doing a bit of a more involved craft by using paints. That added a lot more hands on fuss, refilling water bowls to clean brushes, helping kids put on smocks or old t-shirts, and trying to contain the mess. The next year, we just put out some on-theme colouring sheets from a colouring book we had, divided up some markers and stickers, and the kids got creative. The impact for the kids was the same. The preparation and management was much less!
Encouragement
These are ideas to help simplify IF you feel the overwhelm and pressure of birthday party planning.
IF, however, you find joy in the process of baking and decorating a custom cake, setting aside a few days to slowly enjoy the process of decorating together, putting together thoughtful party bags, creating party games or activities, etc., then there is freedom to lean into those things too!
And, if you have the means to outsource these things, thats great too! There can be lots of joy in working together with others, in celebrating their gifts, skills, and passions, to bring your vision to life, especially when it’s all aimed at celebrating somebody you love.
Let’s resist the comparison and pressure that can surround birthday parties. And instead, let’s move toward freedom to simply ENJOY the person we love, SIMPLIFY the event enough that people have time to connect, and CELEBRATE the heck out of our kiddos with their people!
With love from,
Brianna and Ben
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