Children’s Birthday Party Etiquette

Happy Birthday!

• Keep the guest list to a reasonable number. A good guide is one guest for each year of your child’s age, plus one.
• Don’t distribute invitations at day care or preschool unless everyone gets one. Prevent hurt feelings by calling or mailing invitations instead.
• Have plenty of adult help on hand. Even as they approach age six, preschoolers need lots of watchful, if subtle, supervision.
• Expect your young host or hostess to greet guests. They should also learn to say “thank you” for gifts and “good bye” to everyone.
• Plan lots of activities, even if you don’t do them all. Make sure the games leave everyone feeling like a winner. And be flexible – kids need some free play time, too. Alternating planned activities with free play usually works well.