Share your top tips for children's birthday parties with Cadbury and you could win a £200 Love2Shop voucher NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

Cadbury would like to hear your top tips for hosting a great themed birthday party for your DCs.

From pirates to Peppa Pig, baking to science - if you've thrown a great children's party, what theme did you choose and how did you bring it to life? Did you use decorations to set the scene, choose party food to fit with a fantasy world, or tailor activities you knew the kids would love? What did you put in the goody bags to go with your theme? And did you create a special birthday cake?

We'd love to hear about all the different ways you incorporated your child's favourite things into the day - to help inspire other parents who are party planning.

Everyone who shares their birthday party ideas and inspiration on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to where one MNer will win a £200 Love2Shop voucher.

Please note your comments may be included on Cadbury's pages on MN, their social media channels, and possibly elsewhere, so please only post if you're comfortable with this.

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

[Ferryfairy]

When I was 40 I had 2 parties, a proper one for my 'short friends and relatives' and one for the drunks grown ups. At the children's party they all made and decorated their own party hat, then they made their own pizza, and as it was cooking we had a treasure hunt and traditional games in the garden; hide and seek, grandmothers footsteps, pass the parcel. They each had an individually chosen gift to take home, but they were all my relatives or friends' children.

[sweetnuttydogs]

I always look out for reduced item in my local supermarket, they have a change in stock quiet often and then reduce the old stock down at a big discount. I always look out for it and put it away as it comes n handy. I have bought balloons, Invites, plates, tablecloths and more :)

[lollylaus83]

Go somewhere totally catered to avoid mess at home! It's worth the money, you can also share parties with another child to save on cost!

[cathyov]

Lucky as eldest daughter's birthday fell in the summer and we always seem to be lucky with the weather. Girls seem to love traditional party games and the biggest hit was when we had someone in face painting. Winter birthdays not so good we nearly always end up doing swimming parties. Keeping things simple and not getting too stressed is the answer!

[RichardHead]

Village hall and a bouncy castle worked for us!

[myusername12345]

Take them outside to the park so they can run around and play, and come back to the adults when they get hungry!

[snare]

themed parties are great fun and there are lots of ideas of the internet :)

[Minnie43]

I'm not a master of children's ceremonies by any means & find themed birthday parties really hard to get right - pleasing the schoolfriends is stressful!
We try to stick to a classic birthday party plan with plenty of jelly and ice cream, bowls of crisps/savouries then (themed) cake and sweets for afters. This gives them loads of energy though which has to be burnt off, so slightly modded games like treasure hunt (where the treasure is on-theme!), Simon Says (main theme character says!) and Hide & Seek (hide from theme bad guy) seem to go down well.
Not too long ago Pirates of the Caribbean was all the rage so it was easy, now it's Star Wars & pleasing 12 connoisseurs with eagle eyes for detail is sooo hard, especially when some props are home-made!
Recommend bribery with some in goody bags!

[PosieReturningParker]

A painted face and a helium balloon are a great alternative to a party bag and they help with decorating or theming the party. My DD has a birthday/halloween party with Day of the dead face painter and everyone took home a helium balloon, latex with special fluid that made them last a month!

[Kiefersgirl]

I make treasure map and hide little prizes. I copy it one for each child. It means they only go into rooms you designate and the little ones dont need to be able to read well to play along

[tishist]

Don't feel you have to spend lavishly - be creative and the results are so much better

[grannybiker]

Don't get caught up in the competitive element.
Our son's favourite was where we all went up the hill and I let them run amok playing army games. I packed them individual "rations" and even arranged for aircraft to swoop over them - so they believed. The hill isn't that far from a small airfield that's always busy with light aircraft at the weekends!

[MaryDunlop99]

My great tip is have extra goody bags put to one side, so when mothers come to pick up their child, with other children, they don't get upset when they see their brother or sister with a goody bag, you have one spare to give them!
Stops a lot of tears!

[claza93]

Spread the load! Find another child that has a birthday near your child and throw a joint party! Spreads the cost and all the hassle. We have had some fabulous joint parties

[fazkin]

My son is pirate mad so we have pirate ship cakes, balloons and decoration. We arranged for a treasure hunt for the little pirates

[nanoobaku]

hire a bouncy castle keeps the children and adults busy !!

[jacqroberts68]

If you have a theme keep it flexible otherwise it put's parents off. Kids just wanna slide dance and eat a bit, nothing major. Don't overwhelm them at the party with goodies save it for the party bag, makes them remember when they take goodies home.

[tanyavt]

Thinking about friends to invite- I always work on child's age + 1. We've had parties with 45... and ended up frazzled... and then parties with fewer and found they actually had more fun.

[ElizaW922]

Not to get too stressed and competitive - kids can pick up on your stressed out pressured vibes, and they won't enjoy it as much, as if they see you happy and relaxed and enjoying it too.

[nicole101]

We are having my daughters 3rd birthday soon but we are just having family over. We have never done a party with many children but if I did I would plan out some easy snacks, fun games and not put too much pressure on myself to have the perfect party!

[campocaro]

balloonsballoonsballoons of all colours, shapes, sizes, during the party and one on a ribbon to take away

[scubagoose]

The best party we had was a camping theme. I bought a large camouflage taupalin for £20 on ebay and the kids had to first make a den, then with a hessian sack each the kids then went for a walk round the woods and had to collect certain things.. we then came home and they made mud monsters decorating them with the bits they had collected.. followed by sausages round the firepit and toasted marshmallows/smores for pudding.. party bags were more marshmallows/biscuits to make smoars at home.. they loved it all. not expensive at all

[supermariossister]

we have done the big party in the hall with the bouncy castle and all friends - the best birthday party when i asked ds he says is the one at home where they can all do what they want and play on the trampoline - he always looks forward to the party bags the best as i try to do them to a theme and make them really nice - dont like wasting money on tatt so as the party numbers are smaller we splurge more on the bags

[Maiyakat]

Don't stress too much when they're little - they just want to run around and go on a bouncy castle! Avoid a meal time so you can provide more snacky food, and if any kids don't like the food they won't be overly hungry and grouchy.

[FranksBobot]

A couple of years ago dd had a frozen themed party at home. We used foam snowflakes and hanging spirals to decorate the ceiling. The spirals were made out of cardboard! I made the party bags using blue paper with ribbon handles and a paper snowflake stuck on the front. Games included pin the nose on Olaf, making Elsa crowns and the usual music games. I had a prize bag with little bits and pieces in that the winners could pick out of. The prizes went straight into their party bag to avoid arguements and distractions. I put a stairgate up with an out of bounds sign so the children knew they could not go upstairs and it worked really well! It was hard work but great fun.