Choosing a Theme for Your Child's Birthday Party

It is well known that a kids' birthday parties are one of the highlights of childhood. Even though it lasts only a few hours, the memories last a lifetime. Long after the toys are broken, lost or simply forgotten, happy thoughts and memories about your child's birthday party linger. Pretty much, as soon as children are old enough to hold their own ice cream and wear a paper hat, they're ready for the magical world of birthday parties.

If you're looking to create a few hours of original fantasy and fun, the kind you just can't find in a fast-food chain, plan a theme party for your child's next birthday party. Everything from the invitations and decorations to the cake and ice cream just need your own imagination. Include your child in planning their party theme. You can encourage your child to research the topic with you and make it an educational as well as a bonding experience.

There are two main factors to consider when deciding what type of childrens party theme to organise: age and interest. What entertains and interests a 3-year old will change by the time they are 7. Gender also plays a role. Many kids' theme parties are universal e.g a fairy party, or cooking party. Other childrens party themes are not as clear-cut. A little girl can certainly dress up as a pirate but boys may not be so keen on a slumber party.

Children's interests change constantly. In fact they tend to have their own various and colorful plans for their next birthday party - well ahead of the time. What's popular within their peer group this year may be totally different next year.

Try not to have the same theme as other recent kids' birthday parties they've been to. Kids can get bored easily with the same theme played over and over. Who wouldn't? There are timeless themes which can easily be added to. For example the pirate party theme has been around for years but you can add the element of "Captain Jack Sparrow" and his crew from "Pirates of the Caribbean".

Obviously the decision to have your child's birthday party at home or at alternative premises needs thinking through. If you have are having a theme party at an outside venue, there are the positive advantages of not having to clean up before and after the party. Then again there are the restrictions of not being able to go to town with the decorations and games.

Involve your child in the entire planning and preparation for their theme party. From the moment you both agree on the theme, there are things to do. You might need to delve into your arts and crafts box and make invitations - of course there are plenty of theme-based invitations around you can buy commercially but making the invitation at home can be a simple and enjoyable craft project for your to share with your child and be part of their overall involvement. There are decorations to plan, buy and make. Balloons to blow up. Stress the fact that it doesn't have to be perfect - have fun with it.

Good luck with planning your child's next theme birthday party. Make it a day filled with magic and fantasy!

Mary-Lou Halvorson is a mother of two children and creator of Groovy Kids Parties. Mary-Lou offers many ideas for Kids' Birthday Parties including lots of free games for childrens birthday parties and other party ideas. Check out her website for more ideas on Childrens Party Themes.

Read Next......

Fun Kids’ Crafts & Toys to Do With Your 5 Year Old on Your Inkjet Printer

Kids these days may prefer to play with their computers

, PlayStations, Xboxes or Nintendo Wiis. Yes, even five-year-olds these days know how to use those gadgets, and many of them actually do. However, a creative parent would be able to divert the attention of their little ones with the use of some paper and their trusty inkjet printer.

The trick is to create toys and kids’ crafts with your inkjet printer. Here are a few ideas that you can use.

Jigsaw puzzles. You can download software that can create a jigsaw pattern on any picture. Use this on some of your child’s favorite pictures and print them on matte paper using your inkjet printer. Afterwards, you glue this pattern onto a piece of cardboard then cut it up to come up with the jigsaw puzzle pieces.

Coloring sheets. Some parents may think of coloring books as a bit old-fashioned, but they are still a great way of teaching children about colors, shapes and space. Your own kids will no doubt enjoy them. But you do not have to buy coloring books; you can just create coloring sheets using your own inkjet printer. You can download coloring patterns from the Internet, or make your own if you are handy with photo-editing software. Once you have printed out a bunch, hand them over to your kid along with a box of crayons and your child will be entertained for a whole afternoon.

Pretend food. If you are into baking customized pastries and cakes and if you have an inkjet printer that is dedicated to the creation of edible printouts, you can create pretend food for your kids. It does not even have to be pretend food at all. You can cook up your very own toffee or chocolate bar and wrap it up with your special edible inks. You can even use it to make a marshmallow wrap.

Scrapbooking. It is never too early to start scrapbooking, and you can teach your child how to make one using your inkjet printer. Maybe instead of using actual photos, you can print family photos on your inkjet printer. And then, you can give these printouts to your kids, along with materials used for scrapbooking that they will not choke on or injure themselves with, such as cardboard, colored paper and ribbons, and let them have a go at their own scrapbooking project.

“Rubber stamps”. Kids love playing with rubber stamps. You can make your very own unique “rubber stamp” by printing a pattern or a figure that you want on glossy or smooth paper using your inkjet printer. Once the paper is out of your inkjet printer, you can press the printed surface of this glossy paper on a dry and absorbent paper, and then you would have an imprint. While this may not be practical for daily play, it could be a wonderful way of adorning notebooks and scrapbooks.

There are many ways that you can entertain your children using an inkjet printer. You just have to be creative at finding these ways.

This Article is written by John C. Arkin from PrintCountry, the contributor of Printer Ink Cartridges Articles. More information on the subject is at Fun Kids’ Crafts and Toys to Do with your 5 year Old on your Inkjet Printer, and related resources can be found at kids project with printer.

Read Next......

How Do You Create and Sell Kids Craft Kits While Based at Your Home?

If you are the type of a person who enjoys working with their hand and like the thought of teaching kids new skills, then this business

undertaking is yours. It is a real money minting endeavor. Here is how to do it.

Instead of selling a completed craft kit for your kid, sell the materials to do so. These should be materials included , ready –to –make craft kits. These seems to very sell well though they may not necessarily be geared towards kids. Now-a-days crafts using wooden thread spools have seen a rise in demand. In fact, they are very popular especially with kids.

You should always remember that the more a craft is difficult, you should give full or write the assembly instructions to aid your clients. Before you start selling your handiwork, you should keep the below factors into consideration for your business to be successful.

Pricing

If you are going to sell crafts for ensure it is fairly priced at the same time consider to keep your price at least four times more than your production cost to break even and make a profit.

Marketing

For any business to get it shares of customers, marketing should be an integral part of it. Make sure you thoroughly advertise your products on the local media like the newspaper (both paid and free) radio stations and others. This will, tell alert your potential clients as to your product range. Write a story about why they should purchase your crafts as normally kids love stories. They will force their parents to buy your crafts due to the stories attached to them.

Another great way of marketing is advertising is through creation of flyers for your local community bulletin boards.

Lastly, talk to the representatives of your local craft stores with the aim of introducing your crafts as an item in their stock inventory. This normally works magic and you will see orders for your product triple within a very short period of time. A craft that can be packaged as a kit will always surpass any which is not, when stacked together in a craft shop. So, always ensure you do this if you want your sales to improve dramatically, you will be selling volumes you have never dreamt about.

By Freddy Ngiam, Founder & CEO of www.1homebusinesshub.com.

Read Next......

Kids Crafts Ideas on a Budget

We all love crafts! They are a great way for kids to learn fine motor skills, and express themselves creatively, but being crafty can put a strain on your pocketbook at times. Going to the store to buy supplies for each and every craft project, just isn't practical. Which is why, it's important to learn how to come up with kids craft ideas on a budget. Consider using items and supplies that you already have on hand, for fun and simple impromptu projects.

There are so many items that often get overlooked when it comes to crafting. Think back to your own childhood. The days of toilet paper roll projects and egg cartons, should come rolling back. Remember how fun it was to create something beautiful out of something so plain? Help your kids relieve that same joy and pride with these simple tips and craft projects.

Recycle and Re-Use

Teaching your kids about recycling is a really good life lesson, so why not integrate craft time and science by re-using common household items? Paper bags, egg cartons and other goodies get a second life when they are forever treasured in the form of a craft project. Encourage your kids to come up with other household items that can be used for craft projects, you may be surprised at the things that they come up with!

Here are just a few of the materials that you can recycle, discover, or re-use for your own craft projects:
-Egg Cartons
-Grocery Bags (paper or plastic)
-Cardboard inserts from packaging and boxes
-CD's
-Old denim or fabric swatches
-T-shirts that no longer fit
-Used birthday cards or bags
-Wrapping paper
-Toilet paper and paper towel rolls
-Plastic soda bottles
-Cans (use caution with sharp edges)
-Things found in nature: A rock, leaves, sticks, etc.

Gravel Art

Here is a great little project that uses items that you should have lying around! Enjoy!

Materials Needed:
-Large Cardboard Box
-Small pieces of gravel (You will need quite a bit)
-String or Yarn
-Pencil
-Simple Coloring Book or personal drawing
-White glue in squeeze bottle
-Scissors
-Crayons (optional)

Instructions
1. Wash and rinse the gravel in a kitchen strainer. Spread out on towels to dry.
2. On your cardboard, use the pencil to make an outline of a simple drawing.
3. With the glue, trace over the outline.
4. Press string or yard onto the glue lines, cutting where necessary to form corners and angles.
5. Glue gravel onto the picture filling the spaces. You can use all one color, or use different colors for different areas.

6. If you wish to have a background, use crayons to draw and color one in.

Use Your Imagination

Once you get the hang of coming up with kids craft ideas, you will never go back to the store bought kits. There is so much more creativity and freedom that goes along with recycling and re-using common household items.

Sarah Jones loves teaching. When she isn't homeschooling her own children, she is busy sharing her love of education with others. Find a wide assortment of Lesson Plans, crafts for kids, and homeschooling tips at her site, http://www.KnowMore.com.

Read Next......

Craft Ideas For Kids - Kids and Pasta By Audrey Okaneko Platinum Quality Author

Pasta is not just for tomato sauce. My kids loved pasta for many different art projects. Next time you find a sale on pasta grab several varieties. Here are just a few ideas of what kids can make with pasta.

Photo frames - We use either the bow pasta or the shell pasta. Start with thick cardboard. I tend to use white so that we can add any color we want. Your frame can either be circular or square. Cut out the frame, this is the actual full size you’ll want at the end. Then cut out the middle to fit the size of the photo you want to put in there.

Now decide if you want to spray paint the pasta or use food coloring. Gold metallic spray paint looks great. We have also made various colors of pasta and made rainbow frames.

If you want to turn your frame into a magnet, add some magnetic tape to the back.

Necklaces and Bracelets – Penne pasta and macaroni noodles make wonderful necklaces and bracelets. I suggest fishing line. It just doesn’t break. As with the frames, you can use multiple colors of pasta by adding food dye or you can spray paint the pasta, allow to dry and then string the pasta onto your fishing line.

Decorative Jars - Save empty jars. Then fill the far with an assortment of shapes and colors of pasta. These jars make pretty decorations for bathrooms, bedrooms or even end tables.

Pipe Cleaner Figurines - Grab a pipe cleaner. Now arrange pasta on the pipe cleaner to create people and animals. Mix and match shapes and sizes and then bend to create almost anything.

Self Portraits - Use spaghetti and linguini. Boil just until soft. Then press the pasta onto construction paper into a self portrait. You can also create landscape scenes using the soft long noodles.

These are just a few ideas of how to use pasta to create great art projects made by kids.

Audrey Okaneko is mom to two girls. She can be reached at audreyoka@cox.net or visited at http://www.scrapping-made-simple.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Audrey_Okaneko

Read Next......

Green Crafts - Recycle Greeting Cards to Make Wonderfully Unique Gift Bags By Linda M Johnson

Have you ever thought of taking two items from Christmas that ordinarily are thrown out after the holidays are over to create a unique and eye catching embellishment gift wrap? By simply recycling both a greeting card and gift bag to make a useable and interesting one of a kind embellished gift bag, you will be doing your part towards recycling and have a custom design of your own.

First, use scissors to cut out and remove the front section of a greeting card. Next, attach a small piece of double-sided foam stick tape to the back of your cut out. Then, select a solid-colored recycled gift bag so that your embellishment will stand out against the solid color and become a focal point. Next, simply attach your embellishment to the center of the gift bag and hold until foam sticker bonds to the bag. Depending on the type and size of greeting card cut out you select, an option would be to punch out a hole through the embellishment. This would allow you to thread a ribbon (¾ inch width or less) through the opening. You can also personalize your embellishment using a fine point sharpie pen to address a name on it if your embellishment allows enough space to do so (see below for photos).

Supplies:

• Recycled greeting card
• Recycled solid colored gift bag
• Scissors
• Double-sided foam sticker tape
• Sharpie pen
• Ribbon (3/4 inch or smaller) Optional

(For another great idea, check out our recycled greeting card gift tag project.)

Linda Johnson is a degreed and experienced crafter and interior/exterior decorating specialist, with years of experience helping friends, family, and clients solve their decorating and craft needs. Find tons more craft and decorating ideas and photos of this project and others, and submit your own great ideas for free by visiting http://www.showcasetoideas.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Linda_M_Johnson

Read Next......