Birthday party ideas

Whilst entertaining an excitable bunch of four and five year olds might seem like a daunting undertaking, follow my tips below and it can be as easy as ABC.

Planning

First you need to decide how many children to invite; whether it's 5 or 6 friends, or the whole class! Once you've decided on numbers, you'll need to enlist an appropriate number of adult helpers. As a rule of thumb, I'd suggest one adult for every four children.

Timing

I'd suggest mid-afternoon, say from 2pm-4pm. This way you can serve up a birthday tea (snacks and cake) rather than feeling pressured to serve a full meal. Make sure you check any dietary requirements with the parents of those children invited. If any of the children have serious allergies, it's probably best not to serve anything at the party which might contain those ingredients as it can be tough to keep an eye on who's eating what!

Ideas for games

Traditional children's party games like pass the parcel, musical bumps, pin the tail on the donkey etc all work well for this age group. Remember, if you are giving out prizes try to ensure that every child wins something once by the end of the party. Also make sure that any prizes are boy/girl appropriate!

You might also like to try something like a treasure hunt: draw a map, and leave clues so the children can hunt for the treasure together.

Balloon games also work really well: split the children into two teams and have them pass the balloon between their knees from child to child. Or get the children to hold the balloon between their knees and race each other. Or you can get them to play keepy-uppy with the balloon, piggy in the middle, volleyball, etc.

Your schedule

Now, this might sound a little over the top, but planning out what you're going to do is a really good idea. Split your 2 hours into slots with an activity in each:

2pm - 2.15pm Balloon Games

2.15pm - 2.30pm Pass the Parcel

2.30pm - 2.45pm Treasure Hunt

2.45pm - 3.15pm Birthday Tea

3.15pm - 3.30pm Blind Man's Bluff

3.30pm - 3.45pm Duck, Duck Goose

3.45pm - 4.00pm What's the Time Mister Wolf

You don't need to stick rigidly to the schedule; if the children are enjoying one particular game, let them play for longer. It's also a good idea to have some other games planned in case one of the planned games doesn't go down so well.

Or... call in the professionals!

If you're really not confident about entertaining a group of four to five year olds, then let us help you. Perform provides hugely popular theme-based entertainment at over 1500 children's parties every year.

Find out more about a Perform Party for your child.