6 Easy Ways to Keep Kids’ Birthday Parties Simple + The Secret Life of Pets Party

We recently threw a Secret Life Of Pets party!

If you have followed this blog for any length of time, then you know I love throwing big parties for my kids. I look forward to their birthday parties all year long.

Elias turned 8 this summer, and we decided it was time for a not-quite-so-big birthday party. He could invite eight friends to see a movie, then come back to our house for pizza and cake. Parents were invited to stay or pick-up their child at the end of the party.

He decided to invite his friends to see The Secret Life of Pets. Honestly, after so many big parties, it felt so strange to not be making lots of decorations, planning big games, etc., but it was perfect for him and this age. Here’s how we kept it simple for Elias’s Secret Life of Pets party.

Send evites

Rather than print the invitation, we simply emailed an invitation through evite. It saved a lot of time and money by not having the printed invitation, and it made it easy to communicate with the guests.

Buy pre-made decorations

I love a good theme, so I wanted at least a few The Secret Life of Pets party decorations. Party City was having a 50% off sale, so I bought them there, but Amazon has everything too. We got the door hanging (which I used as a small photo back drop), tablecloth, paper dinner plates, dessert plates, napkins and hanging decorations. It kept things simple, and I didn’t have to make everything!

Order cake from a baker

I enjoy baking cakes, but after buying the past few years’ birthday cakes, I find it is a lot less stressful to buy party cakes. I enlisted the help of local Nashville baker Whitney Waters (email me for contact info), and she did an incredible job on Elias’s Secret Life of Pets cake. Isn’t the dog awesome?

Not only was her decorating totally on point, it was seriously the best tasting birthday cake we have ever had.

Past cakes: Star Wars cake, Hello Kitty cake, Fairy Party cake, Minions cake and Finding Dory cake

Don’t go overboard on food

Rather than order pizza, we simple made a bunch of frozen pizzas. This allowed us to not order too many pizzas and kept cost down. I also made a simple Italian salad for the adults.

Have a silly string war

What boy doesn’t love silly string? I bought cans 90% off at Target after Halloween last year, knowing that they would be put to good use at some point.

Each child got two cans because I learned after Elias’s Star Wars silly string battle that one can didn’t go very far! The kids an absolute blast in our cul-de-sac. Ezra wasn’t sure what to think of it all!

Play yard games

We also had a variety of yard games set up for the boys, like corn hole and Frisbee golf.

Give balls for favors

Instead of favor bags, all the boys got light-up footballs that I scored 90% off at Target in their summer clearance. I was so excited to get the $10 balls for $1. They were a big hit and the boys had fun tossing them in the yard. I also liked the idea of giving balls as a nod to the dogs in The Secret Life of Pets.

Elias loved his Secret Life Of Pets party! It was a totally easy and fun birthday party and reminded me that things don’t have to be complicated to be fun and memorable for kids. That said, I still prefer going all out – ha!