1. Theme It Out!

I love a good party theme. Pick a theme and carry it out through every part of the day—the invites, the food, the decor, the games, the cake and more. It doesn’t have to be a Power Ranger theme or Dora the Explorer. Don’t limit yourself to whatever is on Party City’s shelves.

Try a color party—if your child’s favorite color is blue, serve blueberries, blue kool-aid, blue yogurt and blue jello. Or do a rainbow party and make these yummy rainbow cupcakes! One of my favorite themes is a circle party…let the kids play ring-around-the-rosies, play with hula-hoops and bouncy balls! I’d love to do a Mad Scientist party and I am absolutely doing a pirate party one day!

2. Skip the Games

When you are hosting young children—you know, the ones that still need their parents at a party? Don’t try to do games. Just set up a few stations around your house and your yard. Let the kids and parents walk around at their own speed. They can get to all the stations or not.

Stations can include a craft, a game, a snack or an activity. Once I even did an individual scavenger hunt for a birthday party! Get creative and let the kids make their own order of the day! You and the kids will feel less stressed!

3. Honor Your Child.

If you are a big planner like me (or you just spend a bookoo of money) birthday parties can sometimes be stressful! Don’t let the stress and details of the party distract from your child. It’s not about giving your kid what they want, or letting them rule the world on their birthday. It’s about honoring them, letting them see how much you love them.

So, hang up a few extra pictures, make a slideshow to play during the party or just make sure to give your child a special gift before the party starts. Let your child know you honor and celebrate them more than anyone else!

Tell me about your favorite kids’ birthday party!

Well, for all of you who are wondering how and why you should use social media, here are some fun ways to make social media work for your family! You don’t have to be geeky, techy or even own a nice computer.

1. Start a Facebook Group. It’s as easy as clicking on Create Group and following the directions. You can write on the Family Wall, start discussions about who’s bringing what for Easter brunch, post photos of Uncle Jim Bob’s recent birthday party and even add events like holidays, t-ball games and ballet recitals. Not to mention how this may keep your crazy Aunt Judy from commenting on everything you post on YOUR wall.

2. Twitter Baby Book. Sign up for twitter and instead of tweeting “I’m going to the gym” type what your kiddo is up to. “Watching Elmo while stuffing face with waffles.” OR “Mommy loves to tickle my tummy. I love her!” OR “HELP! I JUST GOT A TOOTH!” You can chronicle the firsts from your phone or computer and you’ll never have to dig out that silly baby book again. You can even use twitpics to upload regular pictures. Even if no one else knows this account exists, you’ll love to look through it one day!

3. Flickr. Flickr is a photo sharing website. But unlike Snapfish and Photobucket, it’s a community, too. Photographers and other people like to showcase their brilliant photography. I like to showcase my kids’ chalk drawings. Once you’ve uploaded pictures, you can do so many great things–edit, organize into sets, view by date or location, share via a private link with friends or family, tag people, make comments and even print copies! How fun if your grandma could just click over to your Flickr page and print off whatever pictures she wanted–she’d never complain you didn’t send her pictures!

4. Replace Google. I use Twitter and Facebook to find out almost anything I need to know. This morning I decided to make some frosting for some cookie bars I made with my daughter. I only had a bag of chocolate chips, half a bag of powdered sugar, no butter and no cream. I tweeted out “HELP ME MAKE FROSTING”. Within minutes I had 3 recipes. And one of my twitter followers even walked me through the recipe! I ask my peeps on facebook and twitter about everything from cooking to local finds to computer questions.

5. Skype. You may have heard that skype is a way to ditch your phone and talk for free through the internet. Well, that is one great feature. But I use Skype to chat. Yeah, just old school chatting. My friends and I use it to say hi, to bounce ideas off each other and to plan events. Plan events? Yup. You know how it takes like 3000 emails to figure out a night on the town? (Or is that just me?) On Skype, you can create a private chat room and while you’re each on your own couches watching The Biggest Loser you can figure out where you’re going to meet, how much money to take, who’s driving, who’s carpooling and if you need to bring a camera.

Skype also has a video chat feature. I don’t use this as often because, let’s face it, that means I’d have to wear make up every day. But my friend Mandi lets her kids video chat with their aunt so she can cook dinner in peace. That is virtual babysitting, y’all!!

So, what are you waiting for? Jump into social media!

Tellus has several large exhibits. I’ll give you my take on each, ok?

1. Fossil Dig & Gem Mining. Basically, when you are toting a 1 year old, two 4 year olds and a 6 year old, this is going to be the best thing ever. Tellus has a huge room full of dinosaur fossils, you can use your paintbrush to dust away the (rubber) rock to see the skeletons. Or sift through the sand until you find your own fossil to bring home!

2. Gem Mining. Oh, did I say fossils were the fave? I’m sorry, it was actually Gem Mining because the kids got to stick their hands in water and get soaking wet! It was all set up like an old sluice–the kids grabbed a pan and actually panned through the sand for gems. We collected quite a stash of very pretty stones!

3. Mineral Gallery. Tellus has the largest collection of amazing rocks I’ve ever seen. Things you’d expect like quartz and copper and birthstones. Many of them were from Georgia (which made me want to start digging in my backyard!) But there were also weird rocks that looked fuzzy, rocks that fluoresced brighter than spray paint and strange outer-space looking rocks, too. I didn’t know rocks could be creepy.

4. Science in Motion. I have to admit the kids weren’t too into this. It was transportation through the ages–models of early cars, spaceships and more. I wanted to read every sign and think about the people who rode in these things. They just wanted to touch the astronaut suit.

5. Fossil Gallery. Remember the T-rex in Night at The Museum? Well, I think he actually lives at Tellus. His body filled the entire lobby. I know because my 4 year old daughter covered her eyes the entire way through the lobby. So, I didn’t get to see the rest of the Fossil Gallery, but I’m guessing it was pretty cool.

6. My Big Backyard. Now this is where the kids really got to play. It’s a giant hands-on back yard complete with toolshed, greenhouse and giant tree. The kids got to play with lights, rainbows, wind, magnets, magnifying glasses, make weather and more. Not to mention run around like wild crazy people.

There is also a planetarium and a solar house. I honestly cannot wait to go back and check these out. Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for kids. But my friend is a member and can get two guests in free with every visit–so I didn’t pay a dime!

I just found out SciTrek has been closed since like 2005 (where have I been?), so if your little scientists want some hands on fun, why not hit up Tellus? It was sciencerrific! Er, tellus-icious! Oops. I mean, it was…really fun.

Columnist Article

1. Pick a Friend

Don’t invite everyone you know. It’s not a carnival. It’s a date. So pick one friend your kid really likes…or one mom you really like!

2. Pick a Time

Kids have about an hour to two hours max in them. If your kids can do more, it doesn’t mean the other kids can do it. Be respectful. Leave ‘em wanting more.

3. Pick a Spot

Playdates don’t have to happen at your house and in your playroom. In fact, my favorite playdates are the ones that are far far away from the mess and confinement of my little house. Here are some of my favorite playdate places:

• a fun park and playground (KaBoom has local reviews)
• libraries (they always have storytimes and almost all of them have puzzles, toys and rocking chairs!)
• Pottery Barn Kids (they host special events like singing/story times and holiday events)
• Mall playgrounds (great for cold days–my favorite is North Point Mall)
• Local bookstores (they usually organize a story time, but they almost always have a train table and are most-likely hooked to a coffee shop for some grown up indulgence)
• inflatable playgrounds (I like Monkey Joe’s because they have FREE wi-fi!)
• Museums and other “grown up” places (get on their email lists because they always have preschool or kids events)
• Field Trips (think local farms, art studios and workshops)

4. Pick up.

Clean up before you go. It’s a good habit to teach your kids and makes others happy to see you come back.

So, what did I miss? What’s your perfect playdate?