Barney Birthday Party

Successful party planning is a true art form, and can be frustrating, exhausting and down right irritating.  So, why do it? Because that little one of your’s is looking at you with big soulful eyes and really really wants a Barney birthday party.  You don’t need any more incentive than that.  Let’s see if we can take some of the hassle out of planning, arranging and hosting a Barney Birthday Party. Practicing the KISS (KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID) method of party planning can make you life easier and have you ready to throw another party next year!

The Birthday Party Plan

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• Set the Date
• Invitations
• Decorations
• Cake
• Party Food
• Plates, cups, etc
• Favors
• Games
• Music, entertainment
• Documentation
• Set up
• Clean up

Set the date: If you can plan you party at least a couple weeks out—do it, it is murder on the nervous system to pull a party (even a kids party) together in just a day or two, and you don’t need that extra stress.

Invitations, Decorations, Plates, Cups, Flatwear, Favors: Make a trip to the local party store, or visit Amazon.com (if you’ve got enough time to have your party supplies shipped) your shopping list should look something like this:

• Invitations (unless you are making your own)
• Decorations including table cloth, streamers, balloons,
• Party hats
• Favors
• Favor bags
• Plates, cups and flatwear
• Candles
• Cake topper, or Cupcake picks (if you’re baking your own cake or cupcakes)
• Helium tank and ribbon for the balloons

The art to this is to keep all of your Party Decorations together in one place, so at the last minute you aren’t scrambling to find the ribbon for the balloon ties, or the paper cups that you know you bought.

Send out your invitations as early as possible up to two weeks prior to the party date and include an RSVP (you may want to also include a request for any food allergies that the children may have, If you’ve got a child attending with a peanut allergy it would be very very bad to have peanut butter cookies…) Keep a running tally of guests, that way you aren’t surprised when twenty children and their parents show up and you don’t have enough food, or favors to go around.

The Cake: If you are baking and decorating your own cake, now is the time to start thinking about it. If you are going to order it, give your bakery staff as much time as possible.  If you are baking a cake, bake it up to one week in advance, cool completely and wrap in plastic wrap then foil, freeze until ready to decorate. (The really are easier to decorate when they are frozen!)

Party Food: Set down and plan this out, then stick to your plan. Are you hosting a full dinner or lunch?  Or Just Cake, ice cream and drinks?  Snacks? Candy? Punch or Juice boxes? It is easy to get in over your head on this step, a tray of appetizers can quickly turn into a two day job of prep work, baking, storing etc. So planning is truly everything in this instance. Remember also if this party is for a child under about 7 years old it is likely that not only will the guest come but his or she will probably be accompanied by a parent who will stay through the entire party… you should be prepared to offer food and drinks to the parents as well as your small guests. Don’t forget KISS!

Favors: As well a checking out your favorite party store, take a look at the neighborhood dollar store and discount stores for your party favors. Small toys like plastic dinosaurs, are easy to find, candy is always a hit, but how about a Barney tooth brush, night light, coloring books, books, or games and puzzles.  Fill your favor bags early into this project, so you aren’t scrambling the night before to get it all done.

Games: If you child is a toddler the games will probably consist of your normal toys.  Older children can play pin the tail on the dino, or do scavenger hunts, or set up interactive Barney Games on your computer or Video game system. Quiet activities like coloring, or story time are good too.

You may also want to think about actually having Barney join you for the party, rent a Barney costume, the kids will love it, the parents can take photos of their kids with Barney and if Barney is up to the challenge, he/she can lead in the fun and games.

Music and Entertainment: Pick out kid friendly music, Barney movies, to run in the back ground, it can get a little irritating listening to kids music for hours on end for the adults, but it helps keep the kids entertained.

Documentations: Make sure you have a camera or camcorder on hand, and that the batteries are fully charged, your tapes, SD cards etc are empty and ready to use.  Designate someone to be in charge of documentation, it is a great job for Grandpa or Dad and frees up the party planner for other things. Digitally recording you party is also a great gift for the guests parents.  You can easily make a CD with party photos and videos, and give them to the parents a few days after the party, it is a nice collectible for the parents and only takes a little time and a couple bucks worth of blank CD’s.

Set up: If you’ve followed you plan, have every thing together set up should be a breeze.  Place your decorations, and fill your balloons the night before. You can also set the table the night before if you won’t be using it the next morning. You may want to do a quick walk through of the house, picking up anything that your child might know not to touch but someone else’s wouldn’t.  That way nothing gets broken and no one gets hurt, all in all this should be your objective.

Clean up: Arm yourself with a large garbage bag, using paper plates, cups and plastic flatwear will really cut down on the amount of dishes you are going to have to do, and it’s quite satisfying to toss them! If you keep up with the clean up as you go, your kitchen shouldn’t bee too awful, but there will be still be stuff to clean up.

Make a plan, stick to your plan, delegate responsibilities if at all possible. and KISS.  Your Barney Birthday Party will be a huge success, and you will come through it with your sanity and your humor intact! Party On!

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