How to arrange a fun-filled kids’ party

Balloons. Games. Baby shark. Party food. Happy kids’ smiles and joyous grins. We love a kids’ party, and we know you do too. 

But, to make your little one’s day extra-special, you need to plan it properly. These are some essential steps to make sure your next kids’ party goes without a hitch. We’ll cover things like setting your budget, choosing a theme and selecting your venue. 

We’ll also cover how to find pubs with indoor play areas near you for the perfect party (sneak preview, we have lots of brilliant pub restaurants to choose as your venue here at Farmhouse Inns). 

Step-by-step guide for planning a kids’ party

Got a party to plan on the horizon? Wondering where to start? Our step-by-step guide should set you on your way. 

1. Set your budget

Kids’ parties can get expensive if you don’t know what you’re doing. You’ll need to factor in entertainment, food, drinks and more. Plus, you’ll likely need to provide some soft drinks or booze for the parents too. 

The first thing to do is to set your budget, then everything should flow from there. So, how do you set the right budget? First and foremost, it depends on how much spare cash you have. You should also ring around potential venues, look into food costs and check out the cost of decorations online to give you an idea of what you might need to spend. 

2. Choose a theme

Every good kids’ party needs a theme. What’s your little one into? Does your boy love dinosaurs or is he football mad? Does your little girl want a Disney Princess-themed party? 
Or perhaps they’re an animal lover, a Lego enthusiast or have a small obsession with pirates. Whatever their favourite thing right now, you can definitely plan a party around it. 

3. Select the date and venue

It doesn’t have to be on their actual birthday. For younger kids, the weekend is ideal whether a Saturday or Sunday. Try and get it as close to their birthday as possible. Although, if your child’s birthday is in the school holidays, you might want to plan it during term time to avoid the chance of their best friends being away on holiday. 

The venue is key. You could choose the church hall option and decorate yourselves, book indoor football, or let the kids blow off some steam with soft play. At Farmhouse Inns, some of our pubs have indoor play areas, and some even have outdoor play areas too. Find our best pubs with indoor play areas near you and pick out what could be your perfect party venue. 

4. Create your guest list

You want all your little one’s most important people to be at their party. If you’re keeping it small, sit down with them and ask them to say everyone they want to invite. If they’re in the first couple of years at school or the last one at nursery, it’s often easier to just invite the whole class.  

5. Send out invitations

Once you know your date, send out invitations well in advance. You can go the traditional way with handwritten invitations. If you’re inviting the whole class, send them in with your child and let the teacher do the hard work handing them out. 

Or you could create digital versions and ping them out over WhatsApp. We all love a group chat these days, don’t we? 

6. Organise food and drinks

The kids are the easy part. They’ll be happy with sandwiches, something to drink, crisps and a treat. Often it can be the parents that are the hard part. The big question here is whether you want to fork out for catering or get up at 5am to make sandwiches yourself. 

The choice is yours, but you may find it a lot less hassle to let us take care of all the food and drinks for you. And you may find us hard to resist when you see our kids’ menus and party-perfect selection of ice cream! Just remember to ask for any food allergies when you place your order. 

For parties in the first few years of school, most parents will stay with their kids rather than drop them off. That means you need to cater for them too. Stock up on beers and fizz and you’re onto a winner. 

7. Set a schedule

Even if you have an entertainer, or you’re doing the entertainment yourself, you need a loose schedule for how the party will run. These days, two hours is a good running time for a children’s party. 

• Give some time for people to arrive and the kids to start playing. A few activities and games are usually good to get their attention here.
• Plan your main activity to last for around an hour or so, whether it’s Nerf shooting, reptile viewing or pizza making.
• Set aside around half an hour for the kids to eat.
• Do the cake just after they’ve finished eating.
• Give 10 or 15 minutes for more play at the end.
• Bid everyone farewell and breathe a sigh of relief. 

8. Get your decorations

Your theme should dictate the decorations you need. Amazon is a great place to find cheap party decorations for a whole host of different themes. 

9. Prep your goodie bags

There’s no doubt about it. Kids love a goodie bag. So they need to be good. Chocolate and sweets always go down a treat, as do little gifts based around the theme. You should be able to find some small but fun things on Amazon when you pick up your decorations. 

And of course, every great goodie bag needs cake. And lots of it! So we think you’ll be jumping for joy when you see the size of our giant cakes handmade in our kitchens by our cake-a-tiers. 

10. Have fun!

Whenever you plan a kids’ party, wherever it’s going to be and whatever you plan to do – don’t forget that it’s all about having fun! No matter what you do for them, the most important thing is to make sure your kids have a blast. So get rid of the stress, plan ahead, and remember that it’s all about the fun, fun, fun! 

Join us at your local Farmhouse Inns pub

Whether you want to join us for your party or to relax with family and friends after the big celebration, our staff are on hand to make it extra-special for you and your little ones. And as stress-free as possible for you. 

Kids love our indoor play areas, and we know they can’t resist our ice cream – and we even do incredible cakes too. Plus, we have loads of alcohol-free drink options as well, so the whole family can join us for a day to remember. 

Find a Farmhouse Inn pub with an indoor play area and get planning that perfect party.