Tips on How to Throw a Perfect 3rd Birthday Party

So your child is about to graduate from the terrible twos. First off, congratulations on surviving. It’s an impressive feat for any parent. So want to know the best way to celebrate the achievement? It’s by throwing your little one the best third birthday party possible! But how do you make it the best birthday party for both you and your child?

Here are some tips to help you make sure you get it right and enjoy it along the way.

Who to Invite to a 3rd Birthday Party and How

It’s not like 3-year-olds have a Facebook pages where they can easily invite their friends. And if they do, we’re not sure if that is impressive or terrifying. So what’s the best way to invite their friends to their birthday party and how many should you invite?

Since, in all likelihood, you won’t have the email for all of the parents of their little playmates, that rules out the online invitation. Pre-packaged invitations are a nice and usually an easy solution. However, if you’re feeling adventurous, there’s another option: enjoy some bonding time with your little one and make handmade invitations for their birthday party with them. You do the heavy lifting and let them draw a picture on the front of each one. It’s cute for the invitee and fun for the birthday kid.

The question is, though, how many invitations do you need to get/make?

Keeping a party with children of this age manageable is key. More than 15 kids and you’re going to need a group of parents the size of the US Women’s Gymnastics team just to keep things from devolving into chaos. Just do what feels most comfortable to you.

Oh, and you don’t have to invite the entire daycare or preschool class.  Award-winning author Stacey Gill makes the great point that “It’s your party. It’s your terms.” Let’s be honest, they’re three. They won’t remember who was and wasn’t invited but they will remember if they had a good time.

What are the “Must Haves” at My 3-Year-Old’s Birthday Party?

Simple food is a huge key to a successful 3-year-old birthday party. Pizza and cake will usually get the job done. You want food that they can easily eat and is simple enough that all guests will enjoy it. Don’t get fancy with toppings or cake flavors. Stick to the classics like cheese, pepperoni, vanilla and chocolate.

Also, like the food, keep the party simple. You don’t need the most elaborate theme ever. Build the birthday party theme around something your birthday child likes. Something as simple as a cartoon they enjoy or more general like pirates, princesses or even bubbles will work. Lastly, find a venue to host your party that is private and safe but allows the kids to be kids as well. Parks are nice but it’s easy for little ones to get overheated and it is about as easy to keep the kids in one location as it is to herd cats. That, and you never know who could show up in a public location. Indoor and supervised is always the best.

Should the Parents Stay at a 3rd Birthday Party?

The simple answer is yes. At 3-years-old, as mentioned above, you’ll need help keeping the kids in order. Also, at that age, some kids may not be ready to be left alone at an event like a birthday party. Much like yawning, temper tantrums can be contagious so you don’t want a crying kid to ruin the fun at the birthday party for everyone else.