How to celebrate a child's birthday

Organizing a children's holiday requires much more effort and attention from parents than any event for adults. It is necessary to take into account the tastes of not only the hero of the occasion, but also the interests of his guests. In our article, we will look at the most popular ideas for celebrating a child's birthday, broken down by age. 

Year old

The first significant date in the life of a baby — a year old — is often celebrated quite pompously. This is an occasion to finally gather all the relatives who have not yet seen the baby, baptize him, combining the christening and birthday, relax a little and relax the parents. Although due to the pre-holiday bustle, this can only be called a rest conditionally. 

Of course, this holiday is more for adults. The baby is still too young to understand what is happening. The task of parents is to create comfortable conditions for him and not to shift the schedule of meals and sleep. 

It is advisable to enlist the support of grandmothers, babysitters to take the baby away from the guests when he gets tired. The most important thing is to dose the communication of the child with the guests. You can bring him at the very beginning of the celebration, show gifts, balloons, let him blow out the candle on the birthday cake and take him to a quieter place or home. 

Also read: What to give a child for his birthday 

The guests will certainly be sympathetic, because it's easy to overexcite a crumb at such a tender age. And this threatens parents with a sleepless night because of the whims of the baby.  ✓ Where to celebrate — in a cafe, restaurant, at home.

Focus on the number of guests and a small distance from home so that you can bring and take the baby away without long journeys. 

✓ Holiday attributes — balloons, garlands, a collage of the first photos of the child, a beautiful cake. He is unlikely to appreciate the latter, but at least the photos will be excellent.

✓ How to entertain guests — since this is a children's event in fact, but in fact held for adults, entertainment should be appropriate. Preferably — good music or "live" performance, you can arrange thematic contests. For example, "Chamomile" — write questions on the petals of a flower. The guest chooses a petal, answers the question about the baby. If he doesn't know the answer, the queue moves on. The winner is the one who knows more about the crumbs than others. 

2-3 yearsAt this age, kids are already sufficiently socialized and understand that they are on a holiday.

They are happy to communicate with adult guests, as well as with other children. Moreover, they gravitate to the elders even more than to the same-year-olds. The choice of the holiday format depends on the temperament of the baby. If he is calm, shy, easily excitable, spend this day at home with the closest people. 

If this is a lively kid who loves all kinds of activities, arrange a trip to nature, if the time of year and current weather conditions allow. An alternative will be an institution with a children's room. There the kid will spend time with pleasure (of course, with a nanny or grandmother). And parents will have the opportunity to pay attention to the guests. In any case, it is better to give up numerous and long festivities for now. 

✓ Menu — kids in 2-3 years eat simple food. It is better not to offer them unusual, exotic and possibly allergenic treats, so as not to spoil the holiday with a suddenly aching stomach. For the baby, prepare what he likes — fruits, berries, cookies. And offer the usual festive menu to the guests. 

If there are children of the same age among the guests, put them together, but be constantly nearby.

✓ Holiday attributes — at the age of 2-3 years, children can react violently to strangers, so we advise you not to rush with animators and entertainment programs. You don't want the hero of the occasion or his guests of the same age to burst into tears at the sight of a clown or Luntik. It is better to offer the kids to play quiet games: finger coloring books, dolls / cars, assemble a sorter, go through a maze. 

✓ Safety — kids 2-3 years old are very active, curious and restless. They need literally an eye and an eye. Make sure that the child does not overturn anything on himself, does not hurt himself on the furniture, does not slip on the glossy floor of the institution. Keep away any sharp objects, as well as food and drinks that are undesirable for the crumbs to consume. 

4-6 years oldPreschoolers are the most frequent visitors to children's play centers, one of whose services is the organization of children's holidays.

Animators, show programs, active contests with prizes - it will not be easy to "wind up" fidgets, but it is such holidays that are remembered most of all. There is no need to think about the treat for a long time — children at this age, as a rule, have little appetite, they just need a small snack (fruit, sliced cheese, meat products, French fries, pizza), which takes a minimum of time — and back to the games. 

✓ Venue — children's institutions. At this age, the child already has a stable social circle and first friends (in the yard, in the garden). Therefore, the stomp of a dozen children's feet in the apartment will be difficult to withstand not only the neighbors, but also the parents of the birthday boy. It is better to move the celebration to a neutral territory, and there are incomparably more opportunities to organize a cool holiday there. 

Organizational aspects — at preschool age, children still do not go to such events alone. Therefore, you will need to think about how guests will get to the venue of the holiday (by public transport, private cars). 

If you have the opportunity, it is better to arrange a delivery on your own. To do this, you can hire several taxi cars, ask relatives with cars to help collect and breed children, or rent a small minibus if the road to the entertainment center is not close. 

Some of the parents will bring and pick up the child by the specified time. But some may stay waiting, especially if the holiday takes place in the cold season. Make sure that they have a place to sit down, prepare a small tea party and a snack (sandwiches, sweets, fruits). 

7-10 years oldYounger students are still restless and active.

They love group games, themed contests, and sporting events. Ask the child what kind of holiday theme he would like — this age group has its own heroes, so by ordering Luntik or Fixiki, you can get into a mess. 

The most popular holiday themes among elementary school students are "Harry Potter" (magic tricks, magic wands, magic), "Crazy Professor" (physical and chemical experiments, quizzes), fairy tales — "Cinderella", "Alice in Wonderland", "Maleficent", "Cold Heart" with beautiful costumes and game attributes, cartoons and movies — "Cars", "Superheroes". ✓ Menu — kids at this age love fast food.

And even if their parents are skeptical about the idea of eating "harmful things", then for the sake of such an occasion — the birthday of a friend / girlfriend — few people will not relax the prohibitions. Make the usual fast food a little more useful — you can cook chips yourself from pita bread with different additives, bake French fries in the oven, choose a vegetable or cheese pizza, and replace cola with lemonade. By the way, the lemonade bar can be rented for a few hours, just for the time of the children's holiday. 

✓ Gifts to guests — this idea came to us from the West. There, at weddings, guests are given small gifts to thank for the visit. The tradition was also supported by the organizers of children's holidays. Children are very fond of surprises, even small ones. Buy key rings, souvenirs, balloons or other small gifts corresponding to the theme of the holiday, and hand them to each guest before leaving. The children's eyes burning with delight are provided for you! 

11-14 years oldThis age is the time for educational activities.

For children from 11 years old, master classes are most often ordered for birthdays (cooking sushi or pizza, making toys, painting T-shirts and gingerbread). After such a master class, children are happy to eat their creations or take them home as a souvenir. 

Another option is to rent a quest room. The presenter talks about the plot of the quest, sets a task and assigns a time. To get out of the trap, you need to guess what the presenter has in mind. The average duration of a quest or a master class is 60 minutes. Then you can arrange a feast, and after it — a couple of hours of disco. ✓ Where to celebrate — entertainment centers, ordinary cafes with a spacious separate hall, quest rooms.

By agreement with the manager of the institution, you can additionally hire a DJ, photographer, etc.

✓ Menu — teenagers love to eat, so your festive table should literally be bursting with food. But do not complicate your task with a variety of dishes. Let it be 5 types — but more. "With a bang" are cold appetizers, meat, potatoes, all kinds of chops / meatballs / rolls, buffet menu and, of course, sweets. 

*****

We stopped at the tips on organizing holidays for children aged 11-14 years not by chance. At an older age, the guys can already plan their own celebration. And it is best for you, as parents, to listen to them, advise the best options and help with organizational issues. Then the birthday will turn out the way the birthday boy himself sees it. And it will be the best gift for him.