Kid's birthday party timeline?

Question

I am throwing a My LIttle Pony party in a few weeks for my daughter's birthday. There will be about 8 little kids, ranging in age from 3 to 7.

I already know what activities they will be doing, I just need to know the most efficient way to schedule everything because I am anticipating a high level of energy from our tiny guests and I want to have a good plan! Help me put these in order and tell me why you did, thanks...

1. Greet kids with clip on "pony" hair extensions, pony tattoos, and necklaces

2. Pull-string pony pinata

3. Sing & eat cake/ice cream

4. Open presents

5. Pin the tail on the pony game

6. Simple freeze-dance game

7. Watch 30-minute My Little Pony DVD

Did I forget anything? Any other ideas are appreciated, thanks!

Answer 1

sounds a little too structured for this age range to me.

I would go with something like this. Let's say party starts at 3:00

3:00 - 3:30 Greet kids with clip on "pony" hair extensions, pony tattoos, and necklaces. Let them free play.

  

3:30 - 4:00 Pin the tail on the pony and freeze-dance game

4:00 - 4:30 Sing/ice cream and cake.  

4:30 - 5:00  Open presents - followed immediately by pinata.

Then free play until people start leaving.

Two hours is about as long as you should do at this age.  I am a big supporter of opening presents at the party.  Trend lately seems to be to not do it, but my kids are always disappointed when they don't get to see their friends open the present they picked out.  Doing the pinata right after the presents gets them away from the stack of presents so someone(spouse/your sister/friend) can kind of get them picked up.  Doing the pinata right before everyone leaves keeps you from getting candy and wrappers all over your house.

I would ditch the video. But if you really want to do it, I would save it for last.  Then give the other parents a notice, where the kids can't hear them, that the party is "officially" over but that you are going to start a video in about 10 minutes if they want to hang around.  This lets people leave if they want to, and is a sit down, start calming down for the rest.

Answer 2

1-greet kids-because that would be a great way to welcome them, and make them feel a part of the party with the tattoos, ect.

2-freeze dance-that will get everyone hyped up for the party and excited.

3-pin the tail on the pony-a sort of calmer game

4-sing w/cake and ice cream

5-30 min dvd-I would give them the cake and ice cream while they are watching this.  That insures that they will stayput for a while when they're all sticky.

6-pinata!-I always do this last because they've already filled up on cake so they're not as greedy for the candy. Plus, this is a good way to get them to sit down and look at all their stuff before their parents come to get them.

7-I dont really like to open presents when the kids are there.  I find that a lot of the other kids (esp. younger ones)  want to keep the things that the birthday girl is getting.  However, I always send thank you notes to the guests!

Good luck and have fun!

ps-there is a great website with lots of party ideas and favors and stuff-check it out!  

www.birthdayexpress.com

Answer 3

Thats a lot of activity for children that might just be three years old. You always have to think about the younger kids, since they will be the one struggling.