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

Teddy bear theme: teddy bear cardboard lunch boxes with lunch in, teddy masks to colour, teddy sticker books instead of party bags, bring your teddy to the party, entertainer who sang songs pretending everyone was on a teddy bear's picnic.

Keep it simple, don't need to spend hundreds to have a great party. If it's not raining, get them outside in the fresh air playing games.

My best tip is to share the party (and the stress, cost etc) with another kid, r kids. Of the 9 boys in DS's class, 5 of them have their birthday in the same month. I don't expect we'd be too popular if everyone had to go to 5 separate parties!

So we do a big bash for all of them, and usually I have a birthday tea type thing for his non-school friends. We give strict instructions on the invites that a couple of quid in a card is appreciated, but not necessary, otherwise that's a lot of presents to buy at once, and we all divide the cost and the jobs between us. It frees up everyone's weekend for the month, and we get to do something we wouldn't be able to afford on our own.

I always make a themed cake. Keep decorations to a minimum - kids don't really notice them. Have plenty for the kids to do - we always have a craft/biscuit decorating table to keep kids occupied. Put a finishing time on the invitations - 2 or 3 hours is plenty!

Book any venue well in advance,

Keep it short 2 hours max for primary age,

Give everyone contact details and several option for rsvp's and collect their contacts with the responses, be prepared to nudge those who haven't answered so you know your numbers and don't have to pay for non responders.

Keep party bags simple and save until the kids are actually ready to leave - they're the bribe to send kids away happy, if you give them out too early how you going to get shot of the reluctant ones?

I find children would rather have a choice of smaller cakes rather than the fashionable giant muffin sized heavily butter iced ones. Mini fairy cakes with a small blob of plain icing and a chocolate button always disapear. Most children like fairly plain stuff they can recognise.

Parties aren't the time for healthy eating with no sugar. Life is a balance.

Lots and lots of drinks are essential and ideally ones with lids and straws or sports bottle types.

Kids have great imaginations and whilst I'm sure many of my cake creations are worthy of the pinterest cake fail section, my DC talk fondly of their cakes through all their ages and its those happy memories you can't put a price on.

Its not a competition - thats a parent thing. If you ask DC which their best parties were it may be the quickly thrown together picnic with teddies and a few select friends, or trip to the cinema where they shared a grab bag of sweets, or the time you rented the entire playbarn.

We've had a few themed parties - Hello Kitty, Farm Animals, Dora the Explorer and Dinosaur. You don't need to go all out on decorations. You could print out pictures to put on balloons and plates. To be honest, my kids really just care about the cake/cupcakes. :)

We had a seaside party. Pin the tail on the donkey, digging for treasure in the sand, fishing and ice cream making. Crab crossing, fish shaped biscuits, chips in a cone and candy floss.

We don't usually do a theme.

Food: I used to make loads and have lots of healthy vegetable sticks (that never got eaten!). Now I've simplified it - pizza and hot dogs, crisps and that's about it!

We always have traditional party games like pass the parcel and musical bumps.

Party bags generally consist of chocolate, cake, sweets. Sometimes het a multi pack of coloured gel pens and give one out each.

I try to keep everything as simple as possible.

Have a bit of everything - when we did DD1s 5th birthday party we hired a hall with bouncy castles and just allowed free play but had a friend make balloon animals and we used stencils for face painting for the children so saved on a professional. We also made sure for food that everything available was suitable for vegetarians (homemade pizza, cheese sandwiches, vegetables with hummus dip, crisps, chocolate crispies, cake) which made a lot of the children with particular diet restrictions relax.

Head to your local pound shop and buy colouring books/activity books instead of the usual party bags crammed full of sweets and bubbles.

Have a party out of your house - it is worth the £ to avoid the cleanup, chaos and breakages!

For an alternative to party bags, which can add up and become expensive, buy a set of books such as the Mr Men series and let the children choose one to take away. A book will last far longer than a tatty toy that will be broken by bedtime. Or do a lucky dip.

Themed parties can be expensive so don't just look in your local supermarket for party items and food. There are some great websites for party related items and food. Also if you buy on line you don't have to waste time going to your local Supermarket leaving you more time for the party planning. Simples.

I went for a retro thee which worked out much cheaper and the children loved the traditional games. I also did a pirate treasure hunt with extensive clues that the children worked on and mad heir way to a beach where a trunk of treasure was hidden and a Birthday picnic (smart move because parents had to attend!)

1.Dont Take on to much ask for help from friends and family

1. If its in your own house be prepared for spilled drinks and mess
2. Don’t invite to many children that it becomes stressful you want a fun day

4.Always get names and telephone numbers of the parents so you can call if there is a problem

1. Find out if any children have any allergies to food or drink

6.Lots of games and dancing children love it

1. Ask patents permission if you mind if you take pictures of their children at the party and if they are okay if you put them on social media after of your childs birthday party

9.Do healthy food not just all cakes and sweets or you will have children bouncing off the walls 10.AND ENJOY!

I only had one party at home and found overwhelming, I planned activities, but they were over far too quickly, and I was left trying to remember games and action songs to keep the little ones from becoming board- I then rang round my local church halls, I found one with a kitchen and was able to use some of the toys from the playgroup (ride on toys, and made a circuit at one side of the hall, an art area for the side of the hall with easels and paints, and a play house for other games. The children took their time in each 'area' before moving to the next activity - it went down a treat, so much so that other mums asked if I minded if they did the same! It cost me £40 for the hire of the hall, and as i did my own buffet, and made the party bags (from the £1 shop) that cost me £40. With the help of some of the mums to help put things away, it was a roaring success, and much much less stressful for me (and my home was in one piece)

Don't try too hard and stress yourself out. I think competitive partying is crazy. You would be suprised at how much children still enjoy traditional party games! If all else fails and space and money allow, always opt for a bouncy castle!

A pool party is always a winner , just make sure you invite the parents to ensure you have enough adult supervision.

For 6+ years have the party at a venue where they have activities such as waterslide or bowling and they cater for parties. It is easy to arrange and fun!

Home parties can be done on a small budget, but make sure you are up to the stress involved in this. For me, it was money well spent to hire a venue & take a lot of the stress away

Hire a village hall, make lots of food (kids love rubbish), and get as many tents and toy houses, cycles, and ride-on cars as you can find. Then sit back with the headphones on.

Have a joint party with someone else from your childs class

Make a list and be prepared, buy stuff in Poundland to keep costs down and just go with the flow in terms of activities!

DS had a pirate-themed party last year, so there were pirate games, pirate party bags and a great treasure island cake with 'treasure' Smarties in the middle when it was cut open. I think the best thing I found was to order bits online.

We keep costs down and still have a great time by playing old fashioned games such as pass the parcel, musical chairs and musical statues. Reminds me of when I was a child! The prizes are just cheap but pretty knick knacks from Claire's Accessories, the Disney Store and Cadburys but the kids love it