If there’s one thing that every child wants for their birthday, it’s an unforgettable party. A great way to impress friends, create memories and celebrate the things that make your child unique, a well thought out and well-executed party can help to make your child’s birthday even more memorable.
In order for the next party you plan to really stand out from the crowd, you need to look at the latest party trends. Seeing what’s hot, and what’s not, will help you to plan an event that will impress your child, and their friends, and go down in history for all the right reasons.
However, as kids’ tastes can change faster than you can say ‘pass the parcel’, you’ll need to do a little research if you’re going to get your party just right. To help you avoid the pitfalls of party planning, and organise an event your child will love, we’re taking a look at some of the most exciting and popular party trends for 2019.
Fortnite
Love it or hate it, there’s no getting away from the fact that Fortnite is incredibly popular with kids and teenagers. This gaming phenomenon has millions of players around the world and every day countless numbers of kids log on to fight their way through the storm and defeat everyone else on the island.
If your child is a Fortnite fanatic, you can make their dreams come true by basing your party on the game. Luckily, planning a Fortnite party is relatively easy. All you really need is some camouflage decorations, a few obstacles and some fake guns. If you want to go one step further, you can create huts or bushes for kids to hide behind and make snacks and drinks that look like the objects in the game.
Ask guests to come dressed as characters from Fortnite or provide a few bandanas, sashes and camouflage tops for them to wear when they arrive. You can then organise a few competitive games to help your warriors work off their energy and live their Fortnite fantasy.
If you don’t have the space for a full-on real-life Fortnite game, you could simply get your child and their friends playing online. Ask a few parents to bring their consoles along and then let your guests play Fortnite to their hearts’ delight.
Treasure Hunts
A lot of the time, parents want to use their child’s party as an opportunity to get them away from their computer, smartphone, TV and other digital devices. If you want to unplug your kids from the digital world, a treasure hunt is a great way to do it. Fun, exciting and energetic, a well-planned hunt will help to get your child and their friends working together and allow them to make some great memories.
If your party is taking place in the winter months, or if you don’t have a suitable outside space for the treasure hunt, you’ll need to hide your clues and prizes around the venue before your guests arrive. Try to make the clues a little challenging so that the kids have to put some thought into each one before moving onto the next.
If you have a large garden, or if the party is taking place in a local park or woodland, you can hide the clues and prizes all around the outside venue and let the kids run wild. If you want to introduce a competitive element to the game, you could split the group in two and have them competing to find the prize.
Treasure hunts work especially well as part of a pirate-themed party. However, they can be incorporated into any theme so don’t be put off if you’re not flying the Jolly Roger at your event.
Balloons
For a while, this traditional piece of party décor fell out of fashion. However, thanks to the wealth of new designs and new products on the market, balloons are firmly back in favour.
The great thing about using balloons in your party décor is that you can achieve big results fast. A balloon garland, balloon arch or balloon ceiling will instantly transform the look of your venue and help to get your guests in the party mood.
What’s more, balloons can easily be adjusted to suit your theme. For example, if you’re hosting a unicorn party, you can have rainbow-coloured balloons or a garland of pastel-shaded inflatables. If you’re basing your theme on Fortnite, opt for camouflage balloons, while a forest party can have earthy coloured balloons and a princess party pink, silver and gold inflatables.
Use helium to help give your decorations an extra lift and make your venue look even more impressive.
Unicorns
Unicorn parties have been gaining in popularity for some time now and the trend shows no signs of waning. Especially popular with girls and younger children, the theme is all about rainbow colours, black eye lashes, pink and pastel shades and mythical creatures.
If you’re hosting a unicorn party, there are a few essentials you can’t do without. One of the most important elements is the cake. The centrepiece of all kids’ parties, the cake at a unicorn-themed celebration should be multicoloured, covered in decorations and sporting a single horn. If you’re not a confident baker, it’s a good idea to hire a professional, or ask a friend, to make the cake for you.
You can also give the rest of your food table the unicorn treatment. Think about which treats can go multicolour and look for sweets and snacks that come in a variety of shades. If you have the time, you could make cupcakes, cookies or s’mores with a rainbow theme or you can simply head to your local supermarket to see what brightly coloured food they have on offer.
Use balloons to bring your venue to life and create a feature wall complete with an image of a unicorn to give your décor a focal point. Ask kids to come in multicolour fancy dress and keep some rainbow capes or tops on stand by for those who don’t have time to put a costume together.
Forest Parties
Recently, we’ve seen more and more parents go back to basics and opt for off-grid forest parties. A great opportunity to bring kids a little closer to nature, they’re a wonderful choice for a spring, summer or early autumn celebration.
If you have a garden, or if you live close to a park or woodland, take some time to decorate your party area using bunting, flowers and lights. Place picnic blankets on the ground to help keep kids’ mud-free and put up a trestle table for your drinks and snacks.
As your party will be off grid, you’ll need to think a little outside the box when it comes to entertainment. Treasure hunts can be a great option for forest parties and you could also hire entertainers to make balloon animals and other woodland-themed items for your guests.
If your party is taking place in the winter, or if you don’t have a suitable outside space to make use of, you can move your forest party indoors. Use green, brown and red balloons to give your venue a woodland feel and use tree-shaped cut outs, green streamers and fake leaves to complete the look.
Foodie Parties
These days, kids aren’t satisfied with frozen pizzas, oven chips and crisps. Instead, a lot of children want something more interesting and a little more fun.
If your kids are fans of all things food, why not make an edible element a big part of your theme? You could get the kids making their own pizzas, their own sushi, decorating their own cupcakes or frying their own burgers. Not only does a foodie theme help to get kids excited about food, it also helps to teach them to create tasty treats themselves and means they’ll be more likely to eat the food when it’s served.
If you’re going to host a foodie-themed party, make sure you ask the parents about their kids’ dietary requirements. It’s very common to have vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free guests, so make sure you cater for everyone.
DJ Parties
Although DJ parties have been around for a while, this is one theme that never seems to fall out of favour. A DJ party is a great choice for kids who are just starting to get into music as it gives them the chance to take control of the playlist and stamp their personality on the party.
To make the most of your theme, hire a DJ or a professional entertainer to come along and teach your kids how to play records, mix tracks and get the crowd going. After their masterclass, your child can perform their very own set in front of their friends to kick start proceedings and get everyone in the party mood.
The other elements of a DJ party are fairly flexible. You can decide if fancy dress is appropriate and go as flamboyant, or as minimal, on decorations as you want. This flexibility makes DJ parties a great choice for slightly older kids and for parents who don’t have the time, or the energy, to put hours into decorating their venue and planning party games.
Once your child has performed their set, you can either organise dance competitions and other games or you can just let the kids dance and have fun. Hire a professional entertainer to keep the crowd going if you want to take your party to the next level.
Princess Parties
Like DJ parties, princess parties are enduringly popular, especially with girls and younger children. Offering the perfect excuse to dress up and behave like royalty for the day, princess parties can help your little ones feel extra special.
The most important elements of a princess party are the costumes and the entertainment. Get these right, and your guests will be happy from the moment they arrive to the time they head home.
In order to ensure all your guests are dressed as fairy tale princes or princesses, you need to give parents plenty of warning. The more time they have to make or buy their costumes, the better the outfits are likely to be.
Next, you need to think about the entertainment. There are few things more exciting for kids than meeting a real-life princess, so why not hire a professional princess to come along to your party for the day? They’ll be able to lead the kids in a variety of games, get guests into the party mood and ensure no one feels left out of the festivities.
Decorate your venue with balloons, streamers and bunting to give it a magical feel and make sure you have your camera handy to take pictures of your guests in their great outfits.
Party Favours
Kids have always expected a party bag as a going home gift. Recently, however, favours have started to become an increasing big part of the birthday celebrations. These days, a lot of children expect their favours to be themed to match the party and most will want to see unique and original presents inside their going home bag.
Although you don’t need to go overboard when it comes to creating your party bags, putting a little extra thought into the contents and the presentation will help to impress your guests and keep them happy. If possible, try to personalise your party bags. You could ice a biscuit for each child using their initial, create a princess badge or crown with their name on it or order a load of Fortnite- or pirate-theme bandanas or t-shirts for your guests to take home.
The more unique your party gifts are, the more they’re likely to impress your child and their friends.
Social Media
Social media is now a fairly inescapable part of modern life and a lot of the kids who attend your party will already have social media accounts. Incorporating some elements of social media into your party will help you to curate the content that’s uploaded, keep an eye on what your kids are sharing and give your party a modern, digital twist.
The way you include social media in your party will depend on the age of your guests and the social media platforms they use. However, before taking and uploading photos and videos, it’s important that you get permission from the parents whose children are attending the party.
If your child and their friends are into Instagram, you could create an Instagram corner complete with props, dressing up clothes, frames and backdrops. This will allow them to create unique, eye-catching photos that can then be uploaded to their social media account.
Other platforms, like SnapChat and Facebook, can also be easily incorporated into your party theme. However, make sure you check your privacy settings before you upload to ensure only friends and family can see your content.
Photobooths
Whatever age your kids are, there’s a very good chance they love dressing up and looking at photos of themselves. You can indulge this passion, and create some fantastic photographic memories, by having a photo booth at your next party.
If you have the budget, you could hire a professional booth complete with a printer and props. This will make it easy for your guests to dress up, take photos and have fun. If you don’t have the budget to hire a booth, you can simply make one yourself. Head to your local charity shop to pick up some props and outfits and then make a backdrop out of old sheets or colourful fabric. Set your camera up on self-timer and place it on a table or tripod. Your guests can then have fun dressing up, taking pictures and being silly in front of the camera.
Print out some of the best photos from the day and send them out along with your thank you cards. Alternatively, create an online album for other parents to have a look at.
Drones
Believe it or not, drones are a becoming a big part of kids’ parties. Parents are using drones to create fantastic aerial videos and unique photos of their event. If you have a drone of your own, make sure you take it along to the party so you can fly it overhead while the kids are having fun. If you don’t have a drone, see if you can hire a photographer or videographer to take the images for you.
Kids’ parties have come a long way since pass the parcel and stuck in the mud were the order of the day. Instead of traditional party games, kids now want interactive entertainment, bespoke themes and a whole lot of personalisation.