You know what needs to be done. You know what you want the final event to look like and feel like. But you don’t know how you’re going to fit it all into your busy schedule. Here’s your solution. Use this handy birthday party planning checklist and your child’s special day will be a cherished lifelong memory for you and them.

Ten weeks in advance

Talk with your child about what kind of party they want to have. This is not only a great planning tip, but it is a great opportunity for some fun time with your birthday girl or boy. Encourage them to tell you about how they feel about turning a year older, what their hopes are for the coming year, and work together to plan something special that both of you will be looking forward to.

Two months before the big day

Decide who will be invited. Will you invite the whole class from school, neighborhood friends, buddies from Scouts or other friends? Sometimes you just can’t invite everyone. And this can be a tough thing for a young child to understand. So use this as another opportunity to spend time helping your child develop new emotional and social skills. Work with them to help them understand the limits of the venue and any other restraints on the size of the party. Also, be sure to consider the feelings of children that won’t be invited. If there are 20 children in your child’s class at school, and they only want to invite 17 of them, this can be a good opportunity to learn about your child’s school life. Find out why they don’t want to invite only three people in their class, and work through any issues. An ideal solution will include inviting everyone in the class, and your child understanding how it would have felt to be one of only three kids not invited to something.

Six weeks out

Finalize your date. Book your venue. Send out invitations. This is a lot for one week. You don’t have to wait this long to finalize your date and book your venue. But, don’t send out invitations too much later than this. You know how busy you are. Everyone else is in the same boat, and they need to plan in advance.

Four weeks before

Make your master checklist including what you need to make or buy for: goodie bags, decorations, food, games and crafts, entertainment, games, plates, cups, and beverages. Make a grocery list.

Order any specialty items like your theme party cake and any items that are personalized. These can take a while. Even if you think you can get them in two weeks, ordering them in advance is easy, so why not take a little pressure off and get it out of the way in advance?

Three weeks before

Check in with anyone who hasn’t RSVP’d and make sure they got your invitation. Line up your party helpers including older children and parents who will help out on the day of the party. Do your party decoration and goodie bag shopping, and pick up anything you’ll need that isn’t perishable.

Two weeks before

Confirm. Confirm. Confirm. Anything that isn’t in your direct control needs confirmation, including your venue, catering, special orders, cake, speciality items and more. No detail is too small. If you think the venue is booked from 11am to 3pm, and that it will be available an hour before for setup, confirm those details. If you are expecting help from on-site staff, confirm that too. If you just confirm the date, but not the details, you could end up with a huge headache on the day of the party. Avoid letting miscommunication ruin your child’s big day. Confirm. Confirm. Confirm.

One week in advance

Make calls to anyone who still hasn’t responded, and confirm your final attendance numbers with your venue, caterers, and other service providers.

Put the goody bags together. Get your kids involved. This is a great opportunity to teach them about the importance of gratitude and showing how much they appreciate their friends by giving them a small token to say, “thanks for being there on my big day.”

Three days and counting

Make sure your helpers all know where and when to show up, and what their roles are. Go back through your checklists and take care of anything that has slipped through the cracks.

If you’ve followed the list to this point, you should be in pretty good shape. You should have a great day. If you’ve already decided to have your party at Rebounderz in Lansdale, here are a few more tips specific to your child’s birthday at the trampoline arena.

Rebounderz birthday party tips

When the time comes to send your invitations, we’ve made it easy for you. Download our printable invitations. They include all of the day-of details your attendees are going to need, including a map.

Include a copy of our waiver with your invitations. Every jumper must sign a waiver, and it’ll be a big help to you if everyone shows up to the party with a signed waiver in hand. We don’t want to see any tears because someone gets dropped off without a waiver, and can’t participate in all the birthday fun. And, we know you don’t want that either.

You’re all set

That’s it. You and your little one are all set for the big day. Whether it is for a birthday party, or just a day of family fun, we look forward to seeing you at the Rebounderz Trampoline Arena in Lansdale.