Veteran party organiser here!
This is just what I do! It’s everyone elses’s choice whether they wish to follow suit or not!
Ask parents for allergy details and mobile phone numbers if dropping off.
Food boxes much easier
Depends on age of child but we put in ours variation on:
- 1 bag mini Hoola Hoops
- a mini baby bel
- a yoghurt in a tube and/or a fruit pouch
- one milk roll sandwich with Philadelphia cheese of ham or both
- one wrapped biscuit
- a tiny box of yoghurt covered raisins
- mini paper cup or bowel filled with chopped up melon and strawberries (summer) or a combination of pineapple and mango (winter)
- a bamboo spork
- a party napkin
Wrap the rolls in a sandwich bag and put in fridge with the yoghurts and fruit cups
Get to kitchen early and assemble and lay out food boxes and supplies
Blue tack a list of contents of one box to kitchen counter then any competent helper/parent can fill boxes for you
Add sandwiches fruit and yoghurt at last minute from fridge and hand out to dc who I suggest you sit on a couple of plastic tablecloths or easily washable throws to contain any mess.
Do not put drinks in food box as they are too heavy : I buy bags of ice in bulk from supermarket and fill two brightly coloured plastic gardening tubs with ice. Then add fruit juice boxes in one, and bottles of water in the other. Children form a queue and help themselves.
You can offer a third ice filled tub of drinks to parents filled with water bottles, tins of flavoured Perrier or San Pelligrino
Or if I have time, I make up big jugs of ice tea (Delia Smith recipe) in summer to serve to parents in plastic cups
Or in winter I make a hot non-alcoholic fruit punch
Serve with bowls of crisps or two baked, cut up pizzas, cut in to small squares with scissors.
Do NOT whatever you do get in to a position where you are making and serving cups of tea and coffee to parents. It’s a complete faff and you won’t have time.
(I never serve alcohol to parents who are usually driving other children around to extra curricular classes )
Make sure you have one parent help on door of venue at all times to stop dc escaping.
And one parent helper to ferry dc back and forth to toilet and keep an eye on any that get lost on way.
You need another parent/helper/teen for help with music and games
And a spare parent helper to monitor one or two “difficult” dc if you have a lot of children.
I find it easier to prepare games in advance like pass the parcel and stick to a rough schedule (also pinned on wall) but some prepare free flowing approach!
But either way good to have some bubble blowing/colouring in activities for stressful dropping off and collecting periods of time when you are meeting and greeting parents and siblings to keep waiting dc entertained.
Buy some bulk packs of mixed sweets for prizes and for party bags if you are having the latter.
I buy bulk boxes of colourful socks, bamboo toothbrushes and rolls of stickers for party bags nowadays with a couple of boxes of sweets like mini smarties and haribo. Stick to a budget bc it all adds up. Tiny party bags are fine. But make sure you have some extras made up for siblings or children who were ill and couldn’t come.
Personally I never bother with balloons. They are a faff to blow up and tie up etc. Paper garlands make easier decorations.
A cardboard Photo Booth or corner with a dressing up box goes down well if you have someone to supervise.
Also take to venue:
- rubbish bags
- sellotqpe on a dispenser
- Plasters and antiseptic spray
- dettol and bucket (in case a child is sick)
- j cloths, washing up sponges, washing up liq, loo rolls, kitchen paper
- blue tack
- music speaker compatible with phone
- prepared games like pin the tail on the donkey or pass the parcel
- optional but useful - name badges for children
Good luck!