children's parties - let me know your most successful ideas!

[beasmum]

my son will be four this year and we've never done a party for him before. (don't call social services - he's had fantastic birthdays, doing lovely things with us and his grandparents, aunt, uncles and cousins etc!!!!)

I just thought this year, now that he's at pre-school and will be getting to know one or two other children a bit better, does anyone reckon they have thrown the best party ever?

I have been to some dire parties and wondered what you wonderful mums out there do so that I can steal your ideas....his birthday is in August by the way.

Last year I did a cooking party for my dd's 7th birthday. She and I made aprons out of tea-towels putting guests initials on with fabric paint.

At the party we made, pizzas, cheesy feet chocolate muffins and cocktails. The pizzas were round pitta bread split in half and then we had bowls of various toppings. Cheesy feet were made from ready rolled puff pastry and grated cheese, cut with a foot shaped cutter. With the muffins I let everyone add an ingredient to the bowl.

I think they enjoyed making the cocktails the best. If you pour fruit juice, lemonade and grenadine slowly into a glass they will seperate into "stripes". We had straws and those paper parasols to decorate.

You have to be very organised beforehand and weigh out all the ingredients. Dh was stuck in the kitchen, keeping an eye on the oven and washing-up. While everything was cooking we played "pin the cherry on the cupcake" and the obligatory "pass the parcel". Then of course they ate what they had made.

The party bags were fun. I included cookie cutters and those tubes of icing you can write with.

It was hard work but went really quickly!

Hello just thought I revive this to say thank you to Aloha for the suggestion of John Styles. I have just been speaking to him on the phone and have booked him for my DS 6th birthday in December. I am so glad to have sorted it out as my third child is due next week so after that it might have been a little more difficult to get my act together!