Your child’s birthday is the anniversary of that wonderful day when your little bundle of joy was introduced to the world. Every year, your kid grows taller, stronger, more well-spoken (oh boy), and they become more independent. Another thing that happens with time is that their interests change — almost every day, it seems.
So, what do you do for the kid who is at that magical young age where they evolve by the second? What do you do for the kid in their early teens who are approaching adulthood and knows it? The first thing you need to do is take a deep breath. Don’t get stressed out over the party. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel here. Read on to see these timeless celebration ideas and activities that kids always have and will love.
Keep it Classic for Young Kids
The best thing about young kids is that they just want to have fun. They are full of energy, and they love to burn it. At a birthday party, all they really want to do is load up on sugar so that they have even more energy and burn it at even higher rates! You may want to show some discretion when it comes to hyping other parents’ children up on sugar, but feel free to provide them with high-energy activities to keep them occupied.
Ever since they were introduced to the market, bounce houses have been a hit with young kids. A bounce house will entertain every kid at the party for hours, and they are relatively inexpensive. If you have a winter baby, that pretty much takes outdoor birthday celebrations out of the equation. However, there are indoor bounce house rentals as well. No matter what season of the year your child’s birthday falls into, you can rent one and literally have the kids bouncing off the walls.
Let’s keep the whole bouncing/hopping theme going: potato sack races are fun no matter how old and cool you are. There’s just something exhilarating about hopping, falling, rolling, and laughing your way to the finish line. Silly competitions like this and three-legged races will never lose their cool.
Rites of Passage for Your Child in their Early Teens
If you have a child in their early teens who’s getting a year closer to crossing the threshold into adulthood, then first of all, yikes! Second of all, this year you should treat their birthday like a rite-of-passage type of deal.
For fathers of daughters, use this birthday as an opportunity to show her that she will always be your little girl but also recognize and honor her (slow!) transition into womanhood. Take her on a fun daddy-daughter date. She will be moved by the love that you show her, and you will set a high bar for the boys that have to follow your act.
For fathers of sons, your son is longing for the day when you call him a man. He might not be there yet, but you should acknowledge that he’s getting close. Take him on a father-son camping trip. If your son is used to camping, then make this outing a little more rugged than usual. Use your time with him to have those deep father-son conversations that grown sons always recall in times when they are in need of wisdom or just a fond memory.
Children are whimsical. In fact, it is likely that your child changed their mind about what they want to be when they grow up, and in the last five minutes at that. However, there are some timeless party and celebration ideas that your children will always love.
