Budget

Your kids’ party budget underpins everything. The kids will love the party whatever your budget, but you need to think realistically about how much you can afford and work from there. Then when you’ve worked out what are the priorities like venue, food, entertainment, decorations, start listing what you’d like to have. Then cost them and prioritise those elements.

If your dream party involves bouncy castles and climbing frames, is hiring a venue that provides all this more cost effective and less weather-dependent than hiring them at home? Or is hiring them for your garden or venue absolutely the way forward?

If you’re not having it at home, how much is the venue and what’s included? What extras will you need to supply?

How long will you have to keep the supplies going, or how long should your kids’ party be? I’d say anything up to 1.5/2 hours for babies, 2 hours for toddlers, longer for older kids.

If you’re having entertainment, what is the package? How many kids’? What is the deposit? How much extra will it be if you have more kids than first stated?

And this will lead us nicely on to the guest list.

Planning your kids’ party guest list

You’re ready to send out your party invites. Stop and think carefully about your guest list. Not to be dramatic, but this is something that could make or break your budget and your spirit! Things you absolutely need to consider:

• Your budget
• Your venue and how many can it hold (comfortably). Remember, if you’re at home and the weather is behaving badly, you’ll need to be able to accommodate everyone inside.
• Who you really want there – family, playgroup/nursery/school friends, neighbours…

• That, when you invite one child, that might actually mean 4 guests (if they have siblings and parents/carers are coming, too)
• Your entertainment. If you’re bringing in outside help, you’ll definitely want to have an extremely tight grip on the numbers. Prices are based on certain numbers (much like weddings).  Under or overestimating could leave you weeping into your piggy bank.

Party Games for a Disney Toy Story Themed Party

Of course, every party needs some games and entertainment and if you’re not getting in outside entertainment,  Pinterest is a great place to find some inspiration.

But, there are some classic games that are still winners, that you can easily adapt. That’s exactly what I’ve done for our Toy Story theme (and you can find some themed goodies at Party Bags and Supplies). What about:

1. Pin the sheriff’s badge on Woody
2. Soldiers bowling
3. Buzz Lightyear Pinata

Children’s Party Music

You can always use what you already have, or have a look on YouTube. Alternatively, Spotify has some playlists to try:

• Toy Story Soundtrack playlist
• For the younger kids and toddlers, Justin has a playlist
• A general playlist

Food and Drink for your Kids’ Party

So,  party food and drink is something that I definitely had to give a little more thought. Not just the actual food, but what to put it all in. I remember I’d been to a few parties with B as a baby and so I’d learned from that and come up with my own ideas. An important thing is to remember the people with kids/babies that they have to carry. They need food that is easy to navigate one handed and easy to carry. Think cups with reusable straws and even handles and lids.  They were a godsend for me!

If you’ve got babies coming, then there might be some restrictions on what they can eat and if you’ve got pescetarians or veggies like me, or people with allergies then don’t forget those options!

And a cake! Every party needs a cake. I found so many Disney themed options on Pinterest. My cake skills do not even nearly extend that far, so you can always just buy one and stick a topper on it like I did!

It’s not cheating, it’s being savvy, right!

Top Tip: Remember that parents with babies or kids they have to carry will need food and drink that is easy to navigate one handed and cups that are accessible and as spill proof as possible.

Toy Story Party Food Ideas

The great thing about kids’ party food is that you can make the simple quite magical with just a dash of creativity.  Add a couple of funny labels and you can make the everyday sublime! I’ve pinned lots to my Pinterest Board, but here are some:

• Slinky Dog Spiral Pasta
• Mr  and Mrs Potato Head Chips or Crisps
• Sheriff’s Badge Star Shaped Biscuits. Make or buy and decorate them yourself
• Pizza Planet Pizza
• Hamm’s Pigs in Blankets (veggie option here)
• Alien Green Jelly (Veggie option here)

Disney Toy Story themed Party Bags or Favours

So, you’ve got your decorations and games and food sorted and it’s time to bid farewell and thanks for coming. Phew! If you wanted to give a little extra thank you, then pre-filled party bags are game changers.  Out of the Toy Story pre-filled bags, the kids’ favourite was the huge Toy Story balloon –  balloons will always be winners! Then, the stickers, shooter, toy soldier and maze puzzle. The spin top was less popular, mainly because they struggled with it.

It’s not included in this pack, but I’d personally add the Toy Story jigsaw puzzle pack. They come in packs of 4, so you could buy two packs and separate them to put one in each of the 8 bags.

And one thing I really liked about the Party Bags and Supplies site is that Prefilled Party bags start from a very budget friendly £1.00. so, if you’re out of party bags ideas, just have a look, your inspiration is right there!

Buying party bags and supplies online

Where do you buy party supplies online? Well, I think we’ve established Party Bags and Supplies as a great place not just for kids’ party supplies, but for all party supplies.

I almost exclusively shop online and wrote some of my online shopping tips here. But, you need to have a level of trust in a brand, their site and products. So, what happens when you buy from Party Bags and Supplies? Well, first you’ve got to make the choice of what you want. That could take a while! Once you’ve ordered, you’ll complete your registration, place your order and choose your delivery option.

Trusted Shops

There was a little extra bonus option via Trusted Shops to guarantee your purchases. It’s not just for the Party Bags and Supplies site, it applies to any retailer with the Trusted Shops certification and symbol. So, that extra option was pretty impressive, I thought.

I got an immediate confirmation email and then just sat back and waited. My order came well packaged and with the reminder that the party bags contain small parts, so they’re not suitable for under 3s.

Of course, there’s no point in getting too stressed, the kids will enjoy whatever you do! But, hopefully, these tips help a little if you were looking for some inspiration and advice from one who has been there!

I shop online in most cases, but I only trust sites with the right security certificate (that little padlock where you see the web address is one thing to look out for).