When it comes to planning a kid’s birthday party, you don’t have to be a professional party planner to throw an amazing celebration for your little one. Moms just like us put together Pinterest-worthy parties all the time without hiring expensive party planners and designers. We’ve done it and we want to help you do it too! So, we put together this simple Kid’s Birthday Party Planning Checklist to help ensure you have everything you need to pull it all together.
From picking a theme to sending thank you notes, and everything in between, we’ve got it all there for you broken down by weeks so you won’t be rushing at the last minute to get anything done. Follow our Kid’s Birthday Party Planning Checklist and you’ll be sure to pull this event off without a hitch.
You can download our FREE Kid’s Birthday Party Planning Checklist here and start planning right away. But if you’re interested in some other helpful tips to go along with the checklist, keep reading!! Here are the 5 main tips you definitely don’t want to skip from the guide:
Step 1: Choose a Theme
When it comes to planning a kid’s party, we 100% suggest picking a theme right off the bat. Doing this helps pave the way for the rest of the party planning and creative details.
When choosing a theme, think about things you child loves like their favorite TV show or movie, their favorite sport or a hobby they’re currently loving!! If you need some help looking for inspiration, Pinterest is our go-to spot! Here’s our profile and we promise it’s filled with tons of inspo for kid’s parties you’re going to love!!
As birthday party printable designers, we’re constantly doing research on trending birthday party themes and coming up with our own unique party themes for kid’s! Here are a few of our most popular birthday party themes for both boys and girls of all ages:
FOOTBALL BIRTHDAY THEME
MODERN SAFARI BIRTHDAY THEME
WESTERN BIRTHDAY THEME
Once you decide on the perfect theme for the birthday party, you can start planning out decorations needed and coordinating the rest of the items on the Kid’s Birthday Party Planning Checklist!!
Step 2: Create a Guest List & Send Invitations
After you choose your space for the party, whether you’re hosting it at your home or renting a local space so you can have more guests, then it’s time to nail down a guest list and send the birthday invitations!
Lucky for you, when you purchase an invitation from us, the editing is a breeze! Just simply create a free Canva account (if you don’t have one already) and you can customize to your heart’s desire by changing colors, fonts, wording, etc until your invitation has become just what you wanted!!
When mailing out invitations, you want to do this about 3 weeks in advance and don’t forget to include an RSVP date on the invite and who to contact so you can get a good head count before the party.
Step 3: Plan Your Menu
If you love hosting already, chances are planning the menu for your child’s birthday party might be the easy part!! If not, that’s okay too! Here’s some tips…
Don’t overthink it! Kid’s are easy! Think simple foods like hotdogs and hamburgers or pizza! You could even order big chicken nugget trays from Chick-fil-a or a local restaurant to take some of the extra work off of you.
If ordering a cake or cupcakes, make sure to do so with plenty of time to spare. Dessert is always a hit at a party! Think custom cookies, ice cream, brownies or all of the above if you really want to treat the kids to sugar on the party day 😉
Check out our cupcake toppers to use on the dessert table!
Also, don’t forget about the adults in attendance!! Providing some themed cocktails and foods you know they’ll like too will be much appreciated by older guests.
Step 4: Buy all Decor & Printables
Since you’ve already decided on your theme by now, this should be the fun part!!! Our go-to places for party decor is Amazon (gotta love that quick shipping!), Walmart, Target, Etsy and local party stores! Between those spots, no matter what your theme is, you’re bound to find decor items you love and that fit within that theme perfectly!!
Custom printables are also a great way to personalize your party and keep in on-theme without breaking the bank! Our shop is filled with all kinds of printables including free coordinating “happy birthday” banners, milestone posters, welcome signs, favor tags, cupcake toppers, timecapsule signs and note cards, high chair banners, food tent cards, water bottle labels and soooo much more! And they are all so easy to download, customize and print before the party day arrives!
A few things you might want to consider having on hand when using our printable sets are:
Step 5: Send out Thank You Cards
After the party has come and gone, it’s important to express your appreciation to your guests by sending out thank you cards! Keep track of the gifts your guests give your child during the party to make this easier.
If your child is old enough, this is also a great way to include them after their birthday and teach them to always say thank you!
This task is always easier if you save all the mailing addresses you collected to send invites! And with out customizable Thank You Card templates, you can even type in a custom message rather than handwriting each one to save you some time!
The FREE Kid’s Birthday Party Planning Checklist
That was just 5 simple tips for party planning!! In our FREE Kid’s Birthday Party Planning Checklist, there are so many more tips and steps broken down week by week to ensure you get tasks done on time and you are stress-free come party day!!
If you end up using any of our printables for your child’s birthday party, please feel free to email us any photos to hello@highpeaksstudios.com. We love to see our products “in the wild” and would love to share them with others just like you who are looking for ideas for their special event!!
*Recommend items may contain an affiliate link, meaning that we will receive a small commission if you decide to make a purchase through these links, at no cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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