Creative and Unique Birthday Party Ideas for Girls

For a mom, celebrating her child`s birthday is a must-do duty. It takes a lot of planning and coordination and almost always, executing the decided plan is a tedious job. The plan along with suggested options are thought of,  months ahead since coordination and execution takes longer time.

It is a no-brainer to celebrate birthdays for babies up until toddler years. During the first three years, I did them in my house with family and friends as guests. Since, she was too little to do games and there were one or two children attendees, a simple get-together with great food and drinks were sufficient. It was also time to reunite with family and friends to see each other at least once a year.

I always had a theme for each party. Since I assumed that small children had more visual appreciation and familiarity, it would be great if she sees her favorite cartoon character on her cake, balloons and other party items.

Each year, we had different themes, all of them from her favorite television programs on Disney Channel.  There was Backyardigans; Dora, the Explorer;   then,  Disney Princesses such as Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast; and Cinderella. 

When she started kindergarten, birthday celebrations were a different story. This was when parties started to be more children-centered. There were more or less 30  classmates, both boys and girls plus other non-school friends such as neighbors, children of my friends, cousins, etc.

This was  also the time for more creative, innovative and unique birthday party celebrations. Good thing, there are "salones de fiesta infantiles" (space for hire for children`s party) near the place where we live in Buenos Aires. The birthday party package include 3 hour use of the place, animations, games and activities for children plus food and drinks for little ones.There is a place for adult guests also, however, the hosts should bring food and drinks for them or request for a catering for additional fee.

For the whole 3 hours, children were kept busy and entertained with group games, dancing with bubbles and disco lights, puppet show, face painting, balloon making, etc. In-between-breaks were provided to allow them to eat their snacks and free time activities such as outdoor football for boys (during summer and if the weather is good) , doll house for girls, inflated castles and labyrinths, and others.

These are less-stress parties, since the whole package is already laid out. The stressful part is the cost. But, what the heck, I saved on effort.

Of course, I also  made them themed-parties based on my daughter`s fancy at that time.  Her classmates were surprised and delighted when she appeared dressed as a princess with a crown, when it was time to blow the cake. Princess Aurora of Sleeping Beauty was her favorite when she was four.

By the time my daughter turned five, she already outgrew Disney princesses.  She adored a TV personality named Panam who sings and dances for kids and dresses up with braids and colorful costumes. I bought a dress and tried to imitate the personality by sewing in butterflies and colorful beads onto the dress and used ready-made braids in different colors on her hair.

At age seven, themes have already been forgotten. She just wanted to dress up with a beautiful dress and just be herself. Maturing enough I guess. We just put some creative candles and flowers on her cake.

Every year we did it on different party salons so that the children will not get bored, taken into consideration that these are the same invitees. Luckily, each salon has different packages, activities, food and costs to offer.

As always, I have concluded that months of preparation for a 3 hour party is lot of work. However, the happiness that it brings to my daughter is nothing compared to my tired aching body and my lonely pocket.
 

My daughter`s drawing on her 6th birthday

Conceptualizing a celebration for my daughter`s 8th year needs much more creative and unique ideas. I have listed here some party ideas that I think are suitable for eight years old onwards. 

1. Spa Party composed of all the beauty perks such as facial treatment with creams and natural ingredients such as cucumbers on the eyes; foot spa, manicure, pedicure, hair and make-up. All the while, the girls are made comfortable in bathrobes and bedroom sleepers. There are salons specializing with this type of party and  some groups for hire which can bring the spa party to your home, an alternative way to cut off the cost. 

2. Pajama or Sleep Over Party which is done from late afternoon and overnight. Activities can vary from videoke, watching movies, some table or group games, story telling/reading, singing and dancing. Depending on your house space, you can invite a couple of her friends and request them to bring sleeping bags.

3. Sports Party  such as football for boys and hockey for girls. These are  sports which Argentines are so passionate about. A swimming party in summer or spring time is another great option. There are some sports club or gymnasium offering  party packages which include  swimming instructors to guide the kids and some water activities.

I know of a salon which specializes in adrenalin sports activities which are suitable for kids. Activities like wall climbing, zip lining and  rope jumping will surely keep them on their toes.

4. Art and Crafts Party which can vary from painting small wooden items, water color or acrylic painting on paper  or canvas,  doing origami and cut-out figures and garlands, making doll clothes from paper or cloth small trinkets such as bracelets and necklaces using strings and beads  and a lot more.  

What is great about this idea is you can design the craft activity based on the materials that you will buy. The good thing is that the girls can bring home their creation as souvenirs.

5. Food Party which I thought should not use fire of course, for the girl`s safety or the actual cooking part should be done by adults. It can be decorating previously baked products such as muffins, cake pops, small cakes, sweet balls and other goodies.  Decorations can vary from cream frosting, chocolate syrup, sugar flowerettes, chocolate chips, small candies, gummy bears, coloured sprinkles and any other items which you can buy from baking stores.

Or can it be pizza and the kids can put the toppings  they want. On summer, you can buy ice cream and the girls can choose what yummy treats they want to put on top.

6. Disco Party complete with disco dancing lights and lots of music options for the girls to have fun. Or you can hire a group to create a disco ambiance in the living room of your house complete with disc jockey spinning popular music that girls love.

7. Costume Party of which you can specify on the invitation that the girls should come on their best costume. You can use your imagination such as depending on the season and the celebration month. For example, if it falls on November, can be halloween. In spring time, they can come in outfits with flowers and butterflies. While on summer, they can use fluorescent-colored tops. Or it could be superhero, princess and cartoon characters outfits.

From among these options, my daughter and I will select which is more feasible.  Of course, some options can be mixed and matched. The great thing is that we already have something to start off and the rest will later fall into place.  I am pretty sure that whatever option we choose will be a creative and unique birthday celebration and one that will be memorable to my daughter.

When Your Child Is No Longer A Baby

Time flies fast. It has flown quite rapidly that it seems just a distant past when my daughter was still a baby. Now she is turning 8 and with that comes a lot of changes and complications.

And I guess, I am yet not ready  to let go.

I still want to envelop her with my loving embrace but soon my arms will no longer wrap entirely around her. She is growing bigger everyday.  And surely, will be taller than me when she reaches the adolescent stage.  She finds it amazing that  she now measures up to my shoulder.
 
I still long to cuddle her and sing to her songs when I put her to sleep. How I cherish the feel of her small hands when my slightly bigger hands envelop hers when we walk side by side.

How do I know that my "unica hija" is no longer a baby? These are the telltale signs (some realistic, others ridiculous )  that I find out day by day:

Drawing made by my daughther

1. No longer wants to call her a baby. She requested me not to call her that especially when I take her to school. It`s ok if I use that word at home if I can`t delete it rightaway. She sometimes reprimands  me whenever there is a slip of the tongue, saying, "Mom, you said it again". Oppss..

2. Being slim and petite myself, some of my old clothes when I was a lot slimmer can fit her now. I even gave her one of my summer tops which she adores so much. Pretty soon, we will shop for the same clothes size. Not to mention my shoes. She now wears a size 32 and I am size 35.

3. A small child asks never-ending questions. Bigger children not only ask but has never-ending explanations for everything.  She argues, drives home her point and sways my opinion and gets what she wants in the end.

4. Has some level of independence already. She can now take bath and dress on her own. No longer needs me whenever she uses the bathroom. Well, this is a relief. Now, she knows about intimate body parts and how she has to protect or take care.

5. Making future plans such as planning to live alone or living with her best girlfriend. Asking questions on when I can allow her to do this  and at what age I had  my first boyfriend. Sometimes she says, she will not get married or  don`t want to get pregnant (this after she asked me how she came to this world). Then, after some time, for whatever reason, these plans will modify or change.

6. Wanting to have an intimate diary or journal with lock and key. This she requested as a birthday gift. I told her that she has lots of notebooks and pieces of nice papers to write on. But she insisted that she can`t write her secrets there. Oh well, even small girls are entitled to privacy.

7. Turning out to be my good friend and companion. We find common things to do and enjoy doing them. I was no longer the only one to decide on what things we have to renovate in her bedroom. She has her own ideas on how she likes it. We shop, watch movies, walk around, eat out, paint some stuff... together.  She is even my fashion police, telling me which  clothes and accessories look good together.

The list doesn`t end here, it will go on and on, as the days go by. I just hope that I can guide her properly as she traverse life from one stage to another. I just wish that she remains my sweet little baby even as she grows bigger and taller than me. That she preserves her inner child spirit and zest when she has grown into a fine young woman.