Step #1 - Don’t bite off more than you can chew…
As a face painter, I have been to a lot of birthday parties. By attending so many parties I have learned what works and what doesn’t work. I think the first lesson every parent needs to learn is to not invite more children then they can handle.
We recently threw a great party for six year old Lesly. There were a whopping three kids there! Lol. I’m sure you can handle more than three children but I want to give you an idea of how the dynamics of a party change depending upon the amount of children.
With Lesly’s princess party, the adults were very engaged in the party. It was very interactive and all the children won great prizes and had a lot of fun. Lesly loved her party.
Lesly's princes party was a hit, despite the low guest count ;-)
Having a party of just 3 children was a decision my mom made after 30 years of hosting children’s parties. It proved she had learned her lesson from my 6th birthday party twenty years ago!
My mom threw my cousin and I a joint birthday party. She invited literally each child in both of our classes (class size averaged 25 at our elementary school). Needless to say… we had A LOT of guests! From what I remember, the party went smoothly considering. However, my mom was a clown and had experience entertaining large groups of children.
She planned several activities for us. A haystack treasure hunt, a balloon relay race, and a homemade pinata. She hired ponies but they never showed (another lesson learned, hire reliable entertainment!). She rented a snow cone machine and a cotton candy machine. From my point of view, the party was awesome, and acheived what every parent wants to acheive, she created a lasting memory for me.
Hay finds are fun festive alternatives to pinatas for autumn parties!
The point is, that party would have been bananas if there wasn’t well planned activities, and a good supply of adults helping to run each event. She had my dad, older sister, and aunts involved in each activity.
My tip for those of you that would like to have a lot of children at your party is to plan activity stations. Instead of trying to get 25 children to cooperate in a Pin the Tail on the Donkey game, have several stations/booths so that the children can pick which activity they would like to focus on at the time.
For instance, when I am face painting, I love when there is a craft station or another activity going on while I am painting. That way I am not slammed with a million little kids wanting to be next! I have done parties with 2 children and parties with 200 children, stations still always seem to work best!
If you are going to run the party yourself, I recommend sticking to around 10 children. Anymore than 20 I suggest hiring a professional, such as myself, to help you keep order 
T.G.I FRIDAY’S
