My daughter’s been talking about her 5th birthday party for the past six months. Early on, she decided that she wanted it to be at our house. She wanted her friends to meet each other and see her room and play with her toys. This was something new for me as my son always wanted his party to be at Chuck E. Cheese’s (a party place for kids in the US).

Chuck E. Cheese parties were always easy to plan. All I had to do was make a reservation and send out invitations. They did the rest – they provided the entertainment (mostly arcade games and small rides), food, cake and goodie bags.

Where we live, most kids have their kiddy parties at places like Chuck E. Cheese’s.

So when my daughter said she wanted her party in our house, I was a little apprehensive. Would my house survive an onslaught of 10-15 little girls? How would I entertain them? What would they eat? Etc., etc., etc.

I mentioned all of this to my sister-in-law Dale who used to work in a preschool. She suggested having a Princess Party.

I thought that was a great idea. My daughter and her friends love to play princess dress up, so I knew they’d enjoy it. Making it a “Princess Party” gave me a theme to plan the party around.

Once I had a theme I was able to buy the invitations, decorations and piñata and to start finding stuff for the goodie bags.

Now I realize the first thing to do when planning your kid’s party: Choose a theme! It makes it much easier to plan the party.

If you’d like to share any experiences you’ve had with planning kids parties, feel free to comment below.

Next: Invitations – How to make them fun!