Unless you work with Pre-School on a regular basis, what will be newest for you is organizing and entertaining small children. It’s not tricky or hard, but it does take preplanning.
You will need your own game plan to be written out as well as thought out. Find a party book with game ideas. Ask your sitter and your child’s teachers for ideas. When in doubt about the appropriateness of an activity, you’ve got your own test market. Try it out on your child. Remember that young children like games and activities they’re familiar with.
Creativity on your part can actually be a drawback. Do pick games your child likes and is good at. And yes, let the birthday child go first and win prizes. Play games that involve all the children and de-emphasize competition and prizes. Avoid elimination games. Otherwise, as children are eliminated you are going to have to find something else to amuse them. Have more games and activities planned than you’ll need. Some go fast, others won’t work at all. Be flexible, keep it simple, keep it moving and remember – the idea is for the kids to have fun, not for the parents to live up to a written out party plan.
Vicki Lansky’s practical, common sense approach to parenting is familiar to millions throughout the world. Vicki’s first book, Feed Me, I’m Yours, published in 1974, and still one of the most popular baby/toddler food cookbooks in the country, was followed by The Taming of the C.A.N.D.Y. Monster, a #1 New York Times bestseller. Her other titles include: Toilet Training, Birthday Parties Best Party Tips & Ideas For Ages 1-8, Dear Babysitter Handbook, Welcoming Your Second Baby, Getting Your Child to Sleep … and Back to Sleep, Trouble-free Travel with Children, Baby Proofing Basics and Games Babies Play From Birth to Twelve Months, Koko Bear’s New Potty, A New Baby at Koko Bear’s House, Koko Bear and the New Babysitter, and Koko Bear’s Big Earache. Vicki Lansky’s Divorce Book for Parents: Helping Children Cope with Divorce and Its Aftermath