Activities for the Grandkids: How to Organise a Family Friendly Party

Between picking who to invite and selecting the right caterer, planning a kid’s party can be tough work. But add the parents’ (and grandparents) satisfaction levels into the mix, and you can be left feeling completely frazzled. This is especially true if you’re gathering adults who have never even met each other yet! With this being said, while there are probably plenty of other activities you can organise with your grandchildren, a party can be a great experience for both children and adults.

With a little organisation, you can create a day that everyone can enjoy. Here are six tips to make sure your next kid’s party is a smash hit for everyone.

1) Choose a Location

The location is crucial when it comes to hosting a kid’s party. It needs to be spacious enough for everyone to move around, but not so large that it feels empty.

Fortunately, most places in Australia have no shortage of local function rooms, so finding a place to host your party shouldn’t be as hard as asking around. If you have a smaller gathering, you can even contact small restaurants to see if they can accommodate your mini-crowd.

If your outing isn’t going to take the whole day and the weather is good outside, you could even consider having a barbecue party in a local park. Just bring a local barbeque grill that meets the Fire Danger Rating criteria along with some food, send out the invites, and you’re more than halfway there!

That said, adults will appreciate being able to sit at a table, so make sure you have enough chairs for the picnic. Also, be sure to ask your guests beforehand if they have food preferences, as this gesture will help you make slight food adjustments as needed.

2) Hire a Caterer

Hosting a party at home is a completely viable option granted that your house can accommodate the gathering. But from cleaning to meal prep, it can be a lot of work—especially if you’re moving around trying to keep everyone of all age groups happy!

Wherever you are in Australia, you should have some good options around you. Take Newcastle, for example – if you want to make your life (and the party) a whole lot easier, there are plenty of great local catering options to consider.

This will take care of the food situation so you can focus on entertaining and being with your guests at the present moment. You also won’t have to worry about doing the cooking if you’re not a complete pro at it, and everyone knows how much the food sets the scene at most parties!

3) Let the Kids Plan

Every parent wants to see their kid have the time of their life at their birthday party, so get them involved with the planning process! This way, they’ll enjoy their independence while helping you out with some tasks as well.

For instance, you can help them plan a program for the party or create a playlist of their favourite songs. You can also let them choose the theme and decorations for the big day. Kids enjoy the thrill of the present moment, but they need to hone their planning skills too!

By getting them excited about the party, they’ll feel an added weight of responsibility to make sure everything goes well. As a result, you can spend that extra time making sure the adults at the party are enjoying themselves as well.

4) Prepare Your Space

When hosting a birthday party for your grandkid, ensure there’s enough room for everyone to move around freely. If the turnout is larger than expected, you might need to rearrange your furniture or bring in extra chairs.

You should also do a quick sweep of the place before everyone arrives to make sure there aren’t any potential hazards lying around. The last thing you want is for a child to be injured at your party, which can be a bad experience for everyone.

5) Prepare Some Activities

No matter how much energy kids seem to contain nowadays, there are bound to be some lulls in the party. To avoid any awkward silences, it’s a good idea to prepare some activities that everyone can participate in—both kids and adults.

One way to do this is to have some interactive games that everyone can join in on. For example, you could let them play the “Bring Me” game, where they have to give the host an item depending on the criteria. Charades is another good one that can make for some fun laughs. For less physical activities, trivia games are always a big hit.

If you do plan on having some more high-energy games, be sure to mention that in the initial invitation. No one wants to work up a sweat in smart formal attire!

6) Don’t Keep it Too Long

Sure, you’d want your guests to have the time of their lives. But at the end of the day, not many adults have the energy to party for hours on end—even if you’ve done everything you could to make it a good one.

The key is to find that sweet spot where everyone’s had enough fun without getting too impatient. Kids may be energy-goblins, but they do get tired after three hours of non-stop fun. Adults find two to three hours ideal before they start to feel angst.

Of course, you can always gauge the engagement level of the guests by a quick observation. If people are starting to get fidgety or leaving early, then it might be a good idea to start wrapping things up.