Parents often ask me, what is a good time to start the party activities? When should you book entertainment? Should the children eat before or after? Can children this young really play together for a full hour? Actually, planning a child’s party has a lot to do with TIMING. The timing and flow of a party, when worked properly, will ensure that children don’t get antsy and start running around the room. And when the kids are having fun, the parents can actually relax and have fun too.

Timing really is everything if you want everyone to have a good time!

Five Tips for Parties with Guests Under Five:

1. Book your entertainer 2 – 3 months ahead of time. The best entertainers are often solo-acts and their weekend schedules fill up fast. It is important to hire someone who really knows how to hold the attention of younger children who don’t have much of an attention span. When someone is particularly good at it, they’ll get booked up quick.
2. Do you have guests coming from far away? Is your family typically late or always on time? My general rule is to allow at least ½ hour for guests to all be there. You don’t want them to miss any of the fun. Having a few toys, coloring books, or sticker crafts are good busy activities for early birds.
3. Feed kids first. This applies for sit down dinners and buffets. Hungry children do not have fun. And if you’ve witnessed your child’s unexplained melt-down just before a meal time, you know what I’m talking about. But you do not need to allow for much more than ½ hour for the kids’ meal as kids will eat fast, if they eat at all. (Some are just plain too excited for the party!)
4. Time your activities. Overall, entertainment for younger children needs to be between 45 minutes to an hour at most. During that time, children will need a variety of short activities because they will probably tire of doing any one thing after about 10 minutes.
5. If you plan to have more than one type of entertainment, do things ONE at a TIME. For example, deflate that bouncy house during music time! Children cannot deal with more than one or two choices at a time; they will get overwhelmed. None of us like that feeling!

Focusing on one activity at a time makes a party more fun!