Birthdays are a time to celebrate, but they can also be a stressful time for parents. You want your child to have the most memorable birthday ever, and you want them to remember how much you love them. One way to do that is by throwing a surprise party for them! The best birthday surprise ideas for kids will depend on their age and personality. But here are some fun ways to make their day special without ruining the big surprise!
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The best birthday surprise ideas for kids
- Present a homemade cake at the end of their birthday dinner
- Order a pizza and have someone in your family dress up as the pizza delivery person
- Write an anonymous letter to your child, asking them what they want for their birthday. Wrap it in a gift and then give it to them after you’ve written it!
- Create a scavenger hunt for your child with clues that lead them to different places or toys. You can include some small prizes along the way if you like!
- Go on an adventure with your child. Let them pick out a place and then go explore together! They will love this surprise because they’ll know that you planned just for them and had fun doing it!
How to keep the secret
It’s important to keep the secret, so if possible, don’t tell your child that they’re going to have a surprise party. It may be tempting to let them in on the secret when you can’t resist showing them the decorations, but it will make for an even better experience if they don’t know what’s coming!
There are ways of keeping a secret as well. You can have conversations with friends and family members about their upcoming birthday party plans, and then say something like “I’m getting him this new game” or “She loves these presents from her grandma,” without giving away that it’s a surprise party. Then when your child finds out about the party, they will be excited about all of the special things people have been buying for them!
Another way to keep the secret is by having someone else help you plan the party. That person won’t know it’s a surprise either so you’ll both be able to pretend like you’re doing back-to-back birthday parties. When your child arrives at the party location, they won’t suspect anything until they open their gift or find out who is waiting inside!
The best age-appropriate surprises
For kids who are 2-4 years old, the best surprise is a Disney subscription box and a treasure hunt! Give them 3 or 4 clues and let them find the “treasure” (a small prize like a Lego set) or surprise them with their favorite Disney character stuff toys. For kids 5-8 years old, you can have a scavenger hunt with 10 items on their list. Kids 9-12 years old love games like laser tag or escape rooms. And for teens 13+ years old, they’ll love anything to do with their favorite movie series.
Surprise them with a cake and candles
One of the best birthday surprise ideas for kids is to announce that they have a special visitor waiting in the living room. You then lead them into the room and reveal a cake with candles on it.
To keep things fun for the birthday boy or girl, you can let them blow out all the candles before cutting their cake. This will take away some of the pressure from blowing out all of the candles at once and make them feel like they’re really part of this!
This one is perfect if your child is a little shy or reserved as they won’t be put on the spot to sing a song in front of everyone in attendance.
Kids love surprises, so you can definitely count on this being one of their favorite birthday surprise ideas!
Surprise them with an animal friend
One of the best ways to surprise your child is with a new pet. You can make this the focal point of their birthday party by decorating with animals and having animal-themed snacks. There are plenty of animal shelters that would love to have an adorable critter come in on their special day. If you live in a rural or suburban area, you can also do a pet-themed scavenger hunt for them to find the new pet that they get to keep for their very own!
Surprise them with a trip to the zoo or aquarium
Kids love animals, so why not take them to their favorite place on earth? If you live too far away to take them to the zoo or aquarium in person, you can use Skype, FaceTime, or another way of calling a friend’s house next door. You can get your child dressed up and pretend that you’re going over for a visit. You can also print out pictures of animals from the internet and scatter them around their bedroom. As they wake up and start exploring their room in awe, they will find all sorts of animals waiting for them!
Surprise them with video messages from friends and family
This is a great way to make your child feel loved, because their friends and family members will be sending them messages. You can send out a few invites with a specific time for the video messages to go out, then send another message later on with the party location. This will allow you to surprise your child with the party location, but still let their friends and family show up on camera.
When it’s time for the video messages to go out, you can have each person record their message individually or all at once together. If they record separately, have each person say something different about what they like about your child so that they feel extra special!
Conclusion
Surprise your child on their birthday with one of these great surprise ideas. You’ll keep the secret and they’ll have the most memorable birthday ever!
