Top 3 Ideas for a Musical Birthday Party

You want it to be the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!  Perhaps it’s your child’s first party (that they’ll remember…) or maybe they only get a party on birthdays 5 and 10, so this one needs to be extra special. Here are my top 3 ideas to add to your possibilities.

1 Create a Theme Around Something Musical They Love –  A song they like to sing, like Old McDonald, their favorite CD, or even a music DVD.  My niece, who just turned two, is crazy for our Singin’ Safari DVD, so their Mom and Dad surprised her after her nap with a room full of posted pictures of safari animals, had safari decorations, plates and napkins, some new stuffed animal friends and had the Singin’ Safari DVD playing where everyone joined her in her antics – dancing like an orangutan, crawling like an iguana, rocking her stuffed animals and on and on.  The adults joined her at something SHE enjoyed, creating memories of time well spent with those she loves.  What a gift! Cost: $

2  Invite a Musical Guest – Mini-concert or mini-class, there is an abundance of musicians who will come into your home and do a party performance. In my days as a Kindermusik educator, I offered a musical-birthday party package that included a “class” where parents and children, ranging in age from newborn to age 7, were in a circle together playing instruments, singing and dancing together. I also included (as an option) an instrument for each child to take home, like a jingle bell, or set of rhythm sticks.  Click here to see a birthday package offered by The Music Nest.  Cost: $$

3 Go on a Musical Outing – A concert or musical, a music store or studio, taking a small group of children to a musical event can make for quite a fantastic party. Let’s say you decide to take that group of 4 year olds to a music studio for 1 hour, and record them singing a familiar song (maybe even happy birthday!), and give them each a CD copy to take home. Or perhaps you have the resources to take them all to see musical The Lion King, and buy them each their own CD so the experience can live on forever.  On the low-budget end of the party spending scale, why not take a tour of a MusicSchool?  Perhaps MusicWorks in Bellevue, or Music Center of the Northwest  in Seattle. Cost: $ - $$$$

Are you also thinking about giving musical gifts?  There are so, SO many musical gifts from every price range to consider! Their first drum for the very young, a keyboard for the nearly 4, that red guitar that your 6 year old has been dreaming about, or even their very own copy of the orchestral score for Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev…all musical gifts that will inspire your child to do more music. 

At every age, at every stage, there is something that will excite your child’s musical spirit and raise their musical intelligence, all adding up to creating the best gift, and party ever!

 

Please add your comments and party ideas below. Your fellow parents will appreciate it.