Kid Parties

Charge your batteries,  and be camera ready!

Have you ever been to your child’s friend’s birthday party only to leave thinking to yourself, “how’d she do that? Everything looked perfect, they all had a great time, and came home so happy!”. It’s as simple as 1-2-3: Either they hired a party planner or they knew how to plan, be organized, and prepare.

a2z parents met with Ruth Assouline, a former pre-school educator who owns and operates a pre-school and birthday party production company for over 20 years, to find out exactly what it takes to plan the perfect party.

a2z parents: What’s the first thing moms should know before planning their child’s birthday party?

Ruth: Many moms think that hosting a birthday party requires energy, time, creativity, and patience that they just don’t have. If you plan and organize yourself from the minute you decide you’re going to make a party it will be a success. To pull off a party with a roomful of 4, 7 or 10 year olds you’ll need to be very organized, plan every detail down to the last item, have everything you need for games, food, lootbags in place and at the ready.

a2z parents: Themed parties seem to be all the rage. Is it worth the effort?

Ruth: Whenever you put 10 to 20 kids together you want them to be engaged, entertained, and excited about being there for the birthday boy or girl. Themes are especially fun and can help you do that. They set the tone. They can be related to sports or hobbies, a favourite character, dance and music, a spa party for girls or a break dancing party for boys. You can go crazy: Everything including live character performances or conservative: Nothing but table décor.

a2z parents: What advice would you give for the host when the cute little party kids have gone wild party animal and the noise level becomes excruciating?

Ruth: The truth is, in all my years of planning parties and being there to animate them I have never had a group of children completely lose it. But, if you do run into that type of situation, I suggest you take a deep breath, remember to never point the finger at any one child or group of children, count 1-2-3 and focus on bringing them back to centre.

a2z parents: What are some of the popular party themes these days?

Ruth: There are so many options to choose from and so much you can do to match a theme. Some perennial favourites are: Tea parties, treasure hunts, baking, candy making, and break dancing.

a2z parents: If you could give only one piece of advice to the parent planning the party, what would that be?

Ruth: Oh, that’s easy. It’s the same thing I tell myself and my animators just before we begin a party, and that is to block out everything. For the next 2 hours it’s all about the birthday boy or girl, so out the window with concerns and distractions. It’s up to us to make it great. Get excited, get focused, and be present and in the moment. The bottom line is: “Children remember what they did at a party, they don’t pay attention to what they ate, or what the party room looked like”.