Hosting a shared twin birthday party
can be hectic but also a great deal of fun. Here are some tips to consider when throwing a shared party for your twins/multiples:
- Make sure you limit the party to no more than two hours. This is a perfect amount of time for everyone to enjoy themselves without getting out of control.
- Plan small, simple parties. Resist the temptation to invite double the number of children at one party!
- Save the elaborate entertainment for older twins
. Most 3-to-5 year-olds like to entertain themselves. Your basement full of toys or the backyard swing set might be more fun than any costly entertainment you would hire. - Keep the food simple. Stick to child-pleasers, such as cheese pizza, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, or macaroni and cheese. Consider just serving cake and ice cream to eliminate extra clean-up and to cut costs!
- Enlist help! Be sure to get older siblings, cousins, friends, and family members to help during the party to help with crowd control.
- Does space seem to be an issue at your house? Then plan a party away from the house! One of my twin boys’ most favorite parties we did was when they turned 4 and we had their party in a conference room at the local firehouse. We brought in cake, ice cream, and snacks, and our local fire department gave everyone a plastic fire hat, coloring books, and other fun favors and we watched a fire safety video and then toured the firehouse! Other fun parties we have planned over the years included roller skating, an indoor swim party, a movie/pizza party, mini-golf, and bowling. Depending on the time of year, having a picnic at a park with playgrounds are always fun, too!
- Be sure to have a separate cake for each twin! Sounds like a lot of cake but every child wants to be able to blow out their own birthday candles and make their own wish! Consider using smaller, one-layer cakes and allowing each twin to choose their cake theme and how it is decorated!
- Sing Happy Birthday to each twin separately! Be sure to explain to party guests that you want to sing to each child and which order you will sing (for example, “we are going to sing first to Nick and then to James.”)
- When your twins have the same interests, often they will receive the same gifts from friends. Try using color-coded bows or stickers to label each of the gifts from friends as they arrive and number them according to the giver. Then allow your twins to open #1 first, then #2, and so on. It makes it easy for you to keep track of the guests that gave each gift.
- Want a quick and easy idea for “thank-you” gifts/party favors? Pre-make all your thank you notes. When guests are leaving, put the pre-made thank you note on a toy you purchase from the dollar store (like a kite, bubbles, or sidewalk chalk) and you have saved a step when the party is over!
- Keep your eyes open for all the wonderful ‘birthday clubs’ offered throughout the year to receive FREE coupons and goodies for your twins. Baskin-Robbins, McDonald’s, and Orange Julius have great offers, and be sure to also check out local merchants, too!
- Arrange to spend a day with them. Separately or together, to redeem all the birthday club coupons. If you collect all the goodies in one morning, you can take them to the park and make a day of it. Pack a picnic to save even more money!
. Most 3-to-5 year-olds like to entertain themselves. Your basement full of toys or the backyard swing set might be more fun than any costly entertainment you would hire.
and other fun favors and we watched a fire safety video and then toured the firehouse! Other fun parties we have planned over the years included roller skating, an indoor swim party, a movie/pizza party, mini-golf, and bowling. Depending on the time of year, having a picnic at a park with playgrounds are always fun, too!
? Pre-make all your thank you notes. When guests are leaving, put the pre-made thank you note on a toy you purchase from the dollar store (like a kite, bubbles, or sidewalk chalk) and you have saved a step when the party is over!
