Tell Disney Party your top tips on how to create the best children’s parties - £300 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED

[EllieMumsnet]

Is it party planning time? Is one of your DC’s birthdays coming up? Perhaps there is a baby shower on the horizon or maybe you’re throwing a tea party or simply hosting a BBQ? Whatever the event, Disney Party can help you create the perfect Disney themed celebration and want to know your top tips on how you create/plan the best parties.

Here’s what Disney have to say about Disney Party:
"Disney Party is the one-stop shop for all things needed to create the perfect party. The site provides free and easy scheduling tools and of course, the extensive party shop with everything from plates and napkins to banners and balloons. There are party game ideas, free invitations, a free party planning service and some delicious recipes which are great for little ones. Visit Disney Party and let us know what you think via Instagram using #DisneyParty"

Do you start planning months in advance or is improvisation key? Do you or don’t you open presents with the party guests? How do you go about choosing the right date? Party rings, finger sandwiches or cheese and pineapple sticks…what’s your go-to party food? Is it better to hire a venue or host it in your home? Do you have a schedule for the day or simply go with the flow?

Whatever your tips are to create the best party, Disney Party want to hear them. Share it on the thread below and you’ll be entered into a prize draw with a chance of winning a £300 voucher of your choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Be prepared and have a theme!

Absolutely do it at a venue not your own home. Save your house from the madness. I do everything myself. I buy party bags on eBay and then I find you can get online deals for whole sale bits and pieces for goody bags. Glow sticks always go down a storm. I will do music myself off my phone and make all the food myself.

I always plan the parties to a budget I want to throw a great party but need to watch the spends. I find Pinterest a great help for party ideas.

I book the date closest that I can get a private hire of my local soft play to my DD's birthday. I use it for convenience and stick sandwiches on for all the adults attending.
I like it to be easy. By having the whole venue there is more room to sprall, parents can bring baby siblings/toddlers too.

I normally make my dd wait to open her presents until her actual birthday though and if it's passed when we have the party then I wait until we get home. Other wise in the chaos I lose who had gifted what and I like to thank the gift givers for their present.

We've had a variety of parties - every year since 1st birthdays and they're 10 and 9 now.
Have had soft play parties, various entertainers in halls, pool parties, nerf gun party, pizza meal followed by sleep over party (big mistake to have 5 girls at once aged 8), and so on.
One party I made a huge variety of sandwich - learned ham and jam ( not together!) were most popular. Don't bother with egg or tuna mayo, and cheese not v popular. Cocktail sausages are v popular as well as wotsits.
Plate fulls of party rings and chocolate fingers go well and you see the sugar rush hit v soon after.
We always open presents at home after, not in front of guests.
Instead of party bags, a few years I gave out Usborne sticker book (from a great Amazon deal) us a few sweets and that went down v well with kids and parents.

Hire a Hall, Do your own disco which is easy. Put an hours worth of kids fav tunes on your phone and connect the headphone socket to external speakers. Finger foods that kids like, Party bags, juice and make fancy dress optional but no theme. Let them come in whatever costume they like best so you get a range of little Characters and not everyone a Princess or a Superhero.

I think simple home parties are the best - children seem to have forgotten what it is like to have a 'home' party, with traditional games, and home made food. Disposable tableware is a life saver and always allows you to theme the party simply and of course a matching party bag to go home.

Well, apart from the obvious, like fish paste sandwiches and jelly being absolutely compulsory, what you need are plenty of good games.
Pass the parcel.
Simon Says.
What's the time Mr. Wolf?
Musical chairs or cushions.
Oranges and Lemons.
Pin the tail on the donkey.
Blind Man's Buff.

If you have space then a three legged race is fun, as is a hulla hoop competiton, or balloon on a string game.

To calm every one down if things get a bit frantic, you can't beat Statues or Dead Men.

The main thing to remember is that it's all meant to be fun, for you as well as for the childen!!

I have two Disney mad DDs and I try to be very organised with their parties. List out theme, catering and guests, remember things like balloons and candles, and take the presents home to be opened so you can note and give thanks.

The best parties we've had were the simplest.

1. Meet at soft play and pay entry for each child, then take them to the cafe for dinner. Avoids the minimum number and doesn't leave you paying for no-shows, as well as being cheaper than the party package!
2. Hire small village hall. Take portable TV, console, board games, velcro darts. Buy pizza from supermarket to cook at hall. Kids had a fab time and it cost very little.

I find being clear in what the party is, who is invited - are parents/ siblings expected/ welcome/ paid for or children to be dropped off. Plenty of host contact detail (phone, email etc). When and where. RSVP date.

If children are being dropped off, collecting parent details incase you find yourself left with one.

Drink - plenty of it. The number of parties we've been to where the children run around for 2 hours and get one half cup of squash with food. Quenchy cups/ jugs juice, bottles of water with sports caps, ice- pops all easy to have and not that expensive. Thirsty children can be quite wingy especially when you add sugar and tiredness into the mix.

Food - its a party. Its not the time for healthy eating or stress but with little ones maybe put the savoury stuff out first and then start adding the sweeter stuff - or have it at the back/ end of the table to encourage a mix of food not just filling the plate with chocolate and cake.

Party bag - to me the purpose of the party bag is to provide enough distracfion to young children when the party ends that they're off the premises and on the way home almost before they realise they've left. It helps avoid the i don't want to go home tears.

Time - Have a clear end time and dont make it too long.

Wine - have a bottle in the fridge for when the party is over for another year.

you could hold the party in your home /garden to keep cost down or hire a hall, most can be hire for a reasonable price, pick a theme and then buy your decorations from pound shops or ebay. once you have a theme in mind section of the hall/garden/house into zones, so for a pirate party, you could have pirate hat making zone using card and accessories from cheap shops, treasure hunting using a sand pit and buried gems, games like that. At each zone keep a list of the children and tick them of when they have taken part. Each child will receive a gift at each zone once they have completed the task set, its a cheap but fun way to keep the kids entertained. FOOD AND CAKE :- icelands is a great place to get food like pizza garlic bead, sausage rolls etc then you can make lots of fresh fun foods like carrot swords, cheesy boats pirate faced sandwiches, the internet is a great place to research ideas. Make enough cupcakes so when iced and put together they make a larger picture eg pirate ,unicorn, football. They are easy to make anyone can do it and its much cheaper then paying for a heavy cake, plus each child gets their own little cupcake in their party bag. As for party bags wilko, ebay and the poundshop all do little gifts for the bags at such good prices

Buy McDonald's type happy meal boxes and put each of the childrne's food/drink in the box; less food to put out on the tables and less to clear away at the end. Also the prep can be done in advance.

Make sure you have a bottle of wine chilled too for the adults at the end of the party.

If a theme is wanted then follow it as best you can. Sometimes lack of money is an object so as long as friends are present then everything will fall into place.

I offered DS the choice of party from the age of four - soft play/bouncy castle/swimming etc - so if it's the birthday child's choice, that goes a long way to making them happy.
I go to a lot of effort to make lovely food for the children, and enough for any adults staying too (my kids are quite young and I've never had a drop and leave party yet!). Lots of balloons, relax, and the kids are happy just playing. And don't do pass the parcel as the kids all hate it!

Got to be to make it as simple as possible so that you can enjoy it or at least watch the kids enjoy it. Also rope in the grand parents for a bit of support

pay out for a great entertainer as most important everyone enjoys and serve food 1/2 way through so there is still fun to be had after

Planning ahead is the key! They like to be kept busy so once they have come in, we do a few games, followed by food and drink plus a few more games and then party bags and home!

Weekend morning, easy to access venue. Choose a venue with simple but adequate catering. Provide cake of birthday child's choice yourself. Make sure there's seating and coffee etc available for parents who want to stay.
Have a few extra Party bags and balloons in case siblings appear! Remember it's only a couple of hours! Smile!

I love planning my daughters parties. I've learnt that you don't have to spend a fortune and can tie most things into a princess theme. We love to decorate cakes at parties. I have them already made and pink icing and sparkles ets for the girls just to decorate. We then play games like the princess mars bar game. Roll a six then try and get the princess dress, necklace and crown on and unwrap the mars bar before someone else rolls a six. Party bags are always a must for the end of the party. Xx

the most stressful bit for me is waiting on replies, so now I make sure that I only invite the children who's parents I can contact.

Don't make the party too long - that way boredom can't set in. Have a good schedule rather than letting it progress going with the flow. Food time, entertainment time, music time, cake time and other things scheduled in. Have a great theme, and party bags always go down well.

Planning is important. If you write a list of what you need (balloons, cake ingredients, candles) etc you are less likely to forget one thing important.

jelly and icecream always goes down well

I let the birthday child have a big say it the party. They have a choice of venue, who to invite and what food they want. makes it so much simpler

I have to plan well,
for my DC's birthdays,
as two of them are on the same day!
I have to make sure, as they are very different in age,
that both feel that they have their own say!
So now every year, we let them both plan
how to make their day go just right!
My daughter loves places like Go Ape in the woods,
while my son likes to go bowling at night.
We try to make sure that no-one feels left out,
that both kids know how much they are loved!
With four years between them it can be tricky to do,
but sorting their birthdays can be fun!