These days, little girls no longer want to be Ariel from the Little Mermaid or Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. They don’t want sparkly tiaras and ruby slippers – they want braided hair, crop tops and the latest version of Sing Star. No matter what you might think, it doesn’t make it any less true.
Times are changing and icons are changing along with them. Whilst it’s important to set boundaries for our daughters and make sure they know what’s appropriate, it’s also important we don’t stifle their personalities or creativity.
If your little girl is intent on becoming a pop princess when her next birthday rolls around – don’t panic. You don’t have to let her dress up as Rihanna or Lady Gaga. She won’t be running round in hot pants with a fake tattoo and a gold chain.
All you’ve got to do is find some balance between what’s actually out there and what’s appropriate for your child to be exposed to. Here are some tips and tricks you can use to throw cool, suitable parties for kids.
Get With The Party Glamour
Before the party officially starts, invite your daughter’s best friends to help her get ready for it. Set up a “glamour station” with make-up, nail polishes and her favourite dresses. Make it clear the makeup is for one night only.
Your job is to supervise the party preparations and provide help with hair styling, cosmetics and nail polish. Set up a rudimentary red carpet with a roll of cheap maroon material and take photographs of the girls as they strut up and down it, suggests HowStuffWorks.com journalist Denis Harrison.
Very Important People
Why not make some “VIP lanyards” you can give guests as they arrive? That way everybody will look like they’re backstage at a concert. The added bonus is you won’t forget their names either – it’ll be as if each guest is wearing a name tag.
These lanyards don’t have to be anything special or expensive. Just print the appropriate amount of name tags and then “laminate” them with strips of clear tape. Punch a hole through the stop and attach a coloured ribbon and voila, you have a set of VIP passes.
Decorate & Enhance the Party
When it comes to the decorations for your pop princess party, you shouldn’t have to think too hard. All you have to do is fill your house with lots and lots of coloured balloons and make sure that there are paper streamers hanging from all of the door frames and the ceiling. Twinkling fairy lights work especially well too, so hang strands of pink and white lights across the floor.
You could even use fairy lights to decorate your makeshift red carpet or the walkway leading up to your front door. If you’re feeling really ambitious, buy some cardboard cutouts of your daughter’s favourite pop stars. Strategically place them around the room and then invite guests to have their picture taken with them.
Bring Out That Star Quality
There are some obvious choices when it comes to the entertainment at your pop princess party. Games like Just Dance and Sing Star are perfect for little girls who fancy themselves as future starlets. If you’ve got the right consoles on which to play them, snap up a few of these games and invite guests to have a go, suggests Yahoo Voices journalist Rochelle Connery.
The great thing about young children is they rarely feel embarrassed – you’d be surprised at just how easy it is to convince eight year old girls to get up and sing along to Taylor Swift songs. Do be careful though – there’s nothing in the pop princess party rule book that says that you can’t get involved too!
Kevin Maddox is a full time stay at home dad and a part time blogger and editor. For help and advice on throwing great parties for kids, he recommends DNA Kids. He can usually be found giving advice to fellow parents on his blog or caring for his two year old twin daughters.
