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

[iut044]

Simple finger food from the supermarket will keep everyone happy.

[strawberrisc]

Go old school! Throw kids up in the air in a blanket. Put a few screwed up pieces of paper in a bowl with games in like "push a cornflake across the room with your nose - fastest wins". Kids love stuff like this and this kind of fun has been lost over the years.

[happysouls]

A big picnic in the park is a great way to have a birthday party if you don't have much space at home. If you can find a nice safe area and a few people to supervise then the kids can wear themselves out running around and playing games and it can be far nicer than being trapped in a noisy confined space with them all!

[Ethan260908]

Only one thought - don't have a party in your own house - IMHO it never works out

[JoJoY]

Don't try and out-do the other parents. Listen to what your child wants and make them happy.

[julieef]

I liked simple parties, did a bbq once in the back garden the weather was lovely, we had a trampoline and swings and a slide, also organised games, everyone loved it, and then extended it to some of the adults of the children later in the evenng

[bridge16]

My biggest tip is that kids are very easily pleased! Dont stress yourself out making the perfect cake or putting together the best party bags which will cost you a fortune. Kids will be pretty pleased with anything thats put in front of them and you can get some great party bag bits in poundland type stores

[glennamy]

If they are old enough have a activity party like swimming, laser quest etc as this takes the load off, you can also have food included.

[maryandbuzz1]

We hired the local reading room as we lived in a tiny hamlet. We then organised a magician and the children were fascinated!
We had a lovely party at very little cost.

[grumpymummy3]

Keep it simple with traditional party games and a pinanta and balloons. sweet cones or party bags filled with sweets always go down well.

[MillyVanilli222]

Make sure you set a budget and stick to it, its easy to get carried away with extras!

[KIRANKAUR1985]

I did an afternoon tea party for my daughter (milk in the teapot), fresh orange juice, sandwiches, cakes, scones.

She loved it

[mave]

Just keep it simple as children just love being with their friends, so this year I hired a bouncy castle and my eldest daughter did tatoos for the little ones too. Don't go overboard on the food and do a mixture of healthy and unhealthy to cater for all! I just put some sweets and some cake in the party bags no plastic tat!!!

[BellaWella86]

Instead of party bags, have craft tables where children can make their own party bag fillers. I buy boxes and kids can put in what they've made, along with some birthday cakes and sweets.

[Roraima]

My experience was always to have a GIRL clown, as a boy tended to scare the children. But a girl clown would do fine. I used for many years one that now is retired... Popina! That was back home anyway!

[Mozarmstrong]

Don't invite too many you can still give a party bag to little friends later. Have a girls trad game and a boys trad game then one big one where everyone gets a small present.children love fun and laughter is the fun it's a birthday party. Mum's and dads can join in we were all little once .

[Ikea1234]

Don't spend a fortune, you really won't be thanked by a small child at having taken out a second mortgage on a hall, entertainer, massive party bag and expensive nibbles. Get friends and family to help where possible, (making food, entertainment, clearing up etc) keep the party bags simple, and go for traditional party games if you don't know an entertainer who owes you a favour. The kids will love it, whatever you spend.

[outgoing]

I let my children choose the theme for their birthday party each year.Children can be super creative and artistic and have great imaginations so I hand it over to my children to be super creative with their birthday party ideas,my children love designing and planning their chosen party.Up to now the children have created some great party ideas from cake making party,60's fancy dress,make your own perfume party and much more.

[lindseystuart85]

I love organising for my little ones birthday parties it is so much fun
My top tip is to be organised grate the cheese and pop in a box in the fridge ready to put sandwiches in the next morning :)
Mix up egg mayonnaise the night before too this is a great time saver for the day!
Have the party decorations up the night before the Birthday (you don't want to trust you will be the first one up on the day to get this done)
If you have left it to late to think of any party games ducking for apples is an all time favourite in my house hold and musical chairs is brilliant fun.

[sarah861421]

Plan plan plan. Have a timetable for the actvivities, time for it to overrun and then you cna always knock a game or activity off the list

[rachelmi]

A local hall eg.village hall is great as once all the guests have gone, you have tided up you can go home to a nice tidy house!! Peace and quiet!

[feefeegabor]

Even at 9, my daughter still loves the old games like pass the parcel and pin the tail on the donkey. They are fun and usually cheap to do too!

[pixelwife]

I use cookie cutters to shape sandwiches to go with the theme of the party so we've had dinosaurs and avengers sandwiches in the past.

It's great when children can involve themselves in prepping the food, such as making their own pizzas with their favourite toppings too.

My last tip is a face painting one - if you're rubbish at it, as I am, Teenage Turtles are a great option, just paint the child's face green with a stripe of colour for whichever Turtle they want to be!

[wjanice121]

Make your own birthday cakes instead of buying them. Dead easy to make and cover

[hannonle]

It's a balance between spending money to have it hosted elsewhere and be easier, or save money but use more time and effort to have it at home.

If you do it at home, limit the number to something manageable.

For a homemade cake, a lego block is easy to do. I also saw a cool cake that was two sponge cakes (circular) covered in white fondant icing and the pieces from a hexbug set added on to it to make a two hexbug arenas joined by tracks. It looks incredibly simple!

Don't forget to think about if the parent's are staying too and to provide some parental refreshments if necessary.

Don't fall in to the trap of competitive parents trying to out do each other. Kids have fun whether you spend a lot or a little.