Summer is flying by! It is especially busy this week as my girls birthdays are 5 days apart. Where does the time go? Birthday parties can be challenging in the summer (hot days, kids away, moms exhausted!) but as I have learned they can be easy to plan. Here are my top tips:
·      Get outside – if you have a winter b day this can be challenging but use the warm weather to your advantage. Summer is the best time to have a party at home because the kids will not be in your home! Set up stations outside – one water (drip, drip drop!) one creating something (that will keep them occupied)
·      Creating something – this is always good if you need to occupy time during an at home birthday party. I used to have kids over for HOURS, but now the standard is less than 2 hours.  My favorite creative ideas are making flip flops with fuzzy strips of fabric, duck tape creations, putting teams together to create something (newspaper dresses??). Find something that will occupy their time while you set up the pizza, cake, goodies.
·      Make the theme easy – it’s hot and not a lot of kids like to run around after a busy summer day. We love movie nights (as the party will start after 5:00 when most kids are home from camp) and end when the kids are tired and ready to go back home!
·      Save the sleepover – We have done the big sleepover once for each child. It is so difficult to keep them occupied, settle them down (try that with 12 girls) and usually with girls some drama will occur. If it’s a big birthday and you want to have the sleepover (or should I say…your child wants to!) Limit it to a smaller group, set the ground rules in front of the parents and the kids (no running around at 2:30, or use the dog as an excuse – no more noise or the dog will freak out!)
·      Plan the Birthday off-site – especially during the summer there are so many options for having a birthday somewhere other than at home.  Especially when the kids are older a trip to a local water park, movie theatre, or amusement park (with adult supervision of course can be a blast) Check out our photo from many years ago on a trip to the American Girl doll store – even an afternoon at the mall can be an adventure!
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Happy Birthday Summer Babies!
