5 Seriously Cute Kids Birthday Party Ideas

Kiddie parties are big business here in Dubai, but if something a little more homely than renting a soft play or going down the big venue route is more your style, then one of these mega cute ideas might be the perfect thing for your little one’s next shindig.

1. Teddy Bear’s Picnic

I love this theme so much that I chose it for my littlest son’s first birthday a few months ago. It works equally well for girls and boys and can be bought inside too, during the hot summer months with a picnic blanket and scatter cushions. Here are a few ideas:

• Have a basket with bear ears attached to headbands to hand out when guests arrive.
• Buy a teddy bear shaped cutter to create bear-shaped cookies and sandwiches.
• Add one gummy bear to the end of fruit skewers.
• Make brown paper bags into teddy-shaped favour bags, with the help of coloured paper, glue, and ribbon.
• Hand out copies of ‘The Teddy’s Bear’s Picnic’ as a party favour.
• Head to your party location early to hide bears – and start the party with a bear hunt.

2. Garden Bug Party

When I asked my nearly-three-old what he wanted on his birthday cake this year, he replied ‘bumble bees’. So that was that. I went about planning a bug-themed party for him and his friends. If you are craving a garden party, but are let down by the steamy Dubai weather, this is the perfect idea to bring the outside into the air conditioning (with no chance of flies buzzing around the food either…) Here are a few ideas:

• Make a beehive cake from three levels of cake, covered in yellow icing. Attach bumblebees to the outside.
• Buy a pack of plastic bugs and trail them across the food spread.
• Decorate cake pops with black and yellow stripes, and then stick half white chocolate buttons onto the back for each of the wings.
• Thread grapes onto kebab sticks, then add two eyes to the end grape in black icing for eyes – healthy fruit caterpillars!
• Make individual cups of chocolate mousse, add chocolate shavings to the top and a jelly sweet snake, for a fun ‘earth worm’ themed desert.
• Play ‘Pin the spots on the ladybird’
• Set up a craft station at the party for making bug masks.

3. Chef Party

If your little one enjoys helping you in the kitchen, a cookery theme makes a great theme for a birthday party. But if you don’t want to clear up the mess, why not hire Le Pain Quotidien in JBR, who can host the perfect party for budding cooks (call 04 419 0062 for details)? Wherever you host it, here are a few ideas:

• Wrap paper invitations around rolling pins.
• Personalise aprons and chef hats with fabric pens for all party guests and hand them out as the children arrive.
• Bake a plain sponge cake for each child and let their imagination run wild with different colours of icing, sprinkles, and decorations.
• Let kids add toppings to their own pizza bases – a ready-made idea for feeding hungry party-goers too!
• Scrawl the party menu on a chalk board.

4. Pilot Party

Is your child inspired by all the airplanes they hop on? Host a flight-themed party with fun decorations and food ideas. And if you really want to treat the birthday girl or boy, order an outfit from the new Emirates Little Travellers collection so they look the part on their big day.

• Send invitations in the form of boarding cards.
• Set up a photo booth with a variety of pilot-themed props, including hats, goggles, and badges.
• Decorate your party venue with garlands of paper airplanes.
• Add small paper airplanes to the top of cupcakes
• Bake a simple cake and place a toy airplane on the top
• Label fruit juice as ‘Jet Fuel’.
• Bag up food and label as ‘Inflight Snacks’.

5. Art Party

Creative kids? Hosting an arty party not only gives you free reign to get bright, bold, and colourful with the décor, but it also gives you a ready-made entertainment idea for kids to get crafty. And this idea works for every age group, right from the tiniest toddlers with finger painting up to older children that can create real works of art. Here are a few ideas:

• There are no rules with colour – pick as many as you want and clash hues for fun, colourful décor.
• Stick lolly sticks in crispy cakes before they set – and then dip the end in a different colour of icing to make fun paintbrush-like treats.
• Forget balloons or banners – paint a large canvas with your child’s age as a centerpiece.
• Serve cupcakes or iced biscuits in clusters of colours on an easel.
• Give each child an apron, canvas, brushes and paint – and let them create a masterpiece!
• Buy a multipack of crayons – and then tape four colours to the front of a colouring book as a party favour for each child.