Turning four is a major milestone in any child's life and as you'll probably have already noticed, it can often feel like you have a mini teenager in the house. By four, kiddies are starting to become more independent, they prefer to play with their friends rather than spend time with mum, unless there's food involved, and they'll have learnt just how to twist you around their little finger to get what they want. Sound familiar?
Without a doubt, it's a great age and when it comes down to choosing a fourth birthday party theme, you'll want one that suits their miniature maturity. There's no question that the kids at a fourth birthday party still need close supervision though, you just have to try not to be too obvious about it and do it from a reasonable distance.
With all of those things in mind, it can be like solving a puzzle set by Mensa trying to decide which party theme suits your four year old best. If you're considering pulling your hair out in frustration, don't as it really does get easier as they get older. In the meantime, to give you a guiding hand through the maze of birthday party ideas for four year olds, Fly By Fun have put together here the party themes for four year olds that we know from experience are absolute winners. You'll love them and so will your little one.
This is a party theme for four year olds that works just as well inside as it does outdoors. Although admittedly, it is more fun for the little ones if the party is held in the garden.
If you can stretch to hiring a yurt and have a garden big enough, not only will you impress the kids, but the neighbours too. You don't need a yurt to make a glamping party a success though. A normal tent that's big enough to accommodate all of the guests is perfect and so are several small ones.
If you choose smaller ones you can set them up in a circle and create a fake campfire in the middle. That makes a super centrepiece for later in the party when you want to get the kids involved in games or calm down any over excitement by reading them a story.
When you can't get your hands on any tents, you can improvise on this theme by using large sheets or blankets. That works well indoors or, if you're exceptionally handy, you can even build your own teepees.
Best food for a glamping party is anything barbecued. It doesn't have to be complicated and you don't need to be a master griller to knock out burgers and hot dogs. Keep the party theme going by serving the kids toasted marshmallows on sticks.
NB: This theme can easily be adapted to create a deluxe Boho pillow party for girls or a cowboy camp party for boys.
Ninety-nine percent of four year olds adore having a beach party. If you live close by a beach and can hold the party actually on the sand, amazing. Set up a kid-sized beach volleyball net, split the kids into two teams and get them involved in a game. Beach balls work better for kids this age as they're easier to get over the net.
Organise a shell collecting competition followed by a sand castle competition and you'll have some happy little beach bums on your hands. Make sure you pack enough picnic food as the fresh air and exercise will leave the guests famished.
It doesn't matter if you can't get to the beach to hold the party. You can have a beach party in the garden or in the house if need be. Use blow-up palm trees and beach towels for decoration or if you have one, turn your garden shed into a beach hut for the day. Change the shell search for a scavenger hunt and making sandcastles for a Lego building contest instead.
What's better than one superhero? The answer to that question is - lots of them. Host a Marvel-lous party for your four year old and you could end up with more superheroes than Marvel and DC Comics put together. Let's face it, there's nothing cuter than a hoard of mini-sized superheroes charging around the garden pretending to save the world.
Unless you're happy to splash out on costumes for all the invited kids, you'll need the co-operation of the invitees’ parents. Ask them, or state on the invitation, to send their little one dressed as their favourite superhero. The girls don't have to be Wonder Woman or Cat Girl, they can be Spiderman or Batman too.
If yours and your friend's budgets are restricted, and let’s face it, who's budgets aren't after the last couple of years, you don't have to have proper fancy dress costumes that cost a fortune. You can have an economical superhero themed party for four year olds by cutting old sheets into cape-sized pieces and making Robin-style masks from card or material. The kids will have as much fun with those as they would with a costume that cost a hundred dollars.
Frozen is inarguably a party theme for a four year old girl rather than a boy even though you'll want to deck everything in a variety of shades of blue.
It's relatively easy to transform a room into a Frozen fantasy that will thrill your little girl. All you need are lots of light blue, silver and white balloons, white paper table coverings with edges trimmed to look like icicles and for that extra touch, glittery snowflakes dangled from the ceiling on transparent fishing line. If you have time before the party, you can also collect fallen branches, paint them white and place them around the room. They'll look even more like an enchanted forest if you put them in pots.
Keep your party princesses happy by showing the film or by having a karaoke sing-a-long session to, well, you can guess which song as you've probably heard it a hundred or more times before. Cupcakes iced with blue icing and topped with white chocolate snowflakes go down a treat as do blue slush puppies or smoothies.
Tip: If you want to add an extra wow factor to your four year old's Frozen party, we can't recommend checking out our Elsa and Anna entertainers enough. They really bring the magic of the film to life.
If Frozen is for girls then a Knights and Dragons themed birthday party is definitely one for the boys and not as difficult to prepare as you might imagine.
The same sort of cape we suggested for a budget superhero party is perfect for this theme and making knights helmets from thin card is pretty simple too. You'll find several different patterns you can copy by doing a quick internet search. All your mini knights need then is a sword to fight off the dragons with.
Okay, so you won't be able to get a real dragon to turn up at the party for the kids to slay and probably wouldn't want one if you could get it. Balloon battles are a super substitute especially if you fill them with water. A dragon pinata at the end of the party goes down a treat too.
While even Fly By Fun can't manage a real dragon, we can provide something similar that will have the kids mesmerised and that's a reptile show. Lizards do look like mini dragons after all and even more so when you're only four.
Angry Birds make people react in different ways. Kids love them to bits, but parents are usually not quite so keen. It has to be said though that hatchlings are too cute to be true and anyway, your kid's fourth birthday party theme should be about what they like rather than what you do.
The most important thing about hosting an Angry Birds birthday party is making it as colourful as they are. Stick to very bright primary colours for wall hangings, table coverings and balloons and you'll be halfway to creating the right backdrop for the party. Angry Bird disposable beakers and plates are readily available in stores or on the internet as are Angry Bird party favours bags.
If your youngster is anything like a typical four year old then they'll probably love anything and everything gross that's going. If they love to cringe, squeal and go yuck then you should consider giving them a slime themed birthday party.
You can find lots of simple recipes for making slime on the internet and you may consider dressing up as a mad scientist yourself. In all honesty though this is one party character role that's best left to a professional party entertainer. It prevents any unexpected chemical reactions if you mix the incorrect ingredients together. While the kids might enjoy the disastrous effect of a faulty experiment, believe us, it's not much fun when things go wrong.
Fly By Fun's slime entertainer knows his job inside out and will captivate the kids with his cartoon-style mad professor antics. The kids will love the show even more when he creates instant snow and mind boggling cola explosions. The bonus is, there's absolutely no mess for you to clean up. It's all done for you.
We'll be the first to admit that a crazy golf themed birthday party does take a bit of extra work to get right, but it's so much fun for the kids, it's totally worth it.
Before you enter into a state of panic thinking about digging holes in your lawn, stop. You don't need to and this theme can be done both indoors and out if you're imaginative enough. All you need are some books, plant pots, plastic tubing, cardboard boxes and anything else you can make an obstacle out of. You don't even need proper putters as for this age group makeshift ones made out of plastic tubing are a lot safer.
When you're making the crazy golf course indoors start in a room away from where you'll be serving the party food and drinks. Once the kids have played that will become the 19th hole where they get fed, watered and compare their scores.
If you're setting up the course outside you can add fun holes with water obstacles or a mini sand bunker to make playing a little more challenging. Make sure you have scorecards for everyone, adults to help keep track of who is doing what and prizes ready for any guest who scores a hole in one.
Wherever you make your crazy golf course you can keep the party buffet on theme by covering the table with a green cloth, have lots of green balloons and streamers plus a huge plateful of cupcakes iced with green icing and decorated with hole markers.
Tip: Whether you make the crazy golf course inside or out, forget using golf balls.They're too hard and can inflict injury so go for table tennis balls or soft foam balls.
It's never easy deciding on a birthday party theme whatever age your kids are and when they're about to turn four it can seem harder than ever. They're too old, and too with it, for some of the cuter themes like Peter Rabbit or Thomas the Tank Engine, but they're also not quite old enough for party themes like Transformers or Darth Vadar as they can seem pretty scary at that age especially when a life-size version turns up at the party.
If after reading through these birthday party ideas for four year olds you're still undecided as to what theme to choose for your kiddy's party, feel free to get in touch. Fly By Fun are Australia's leading child's party entertainment company and have been for years so we know what we're talking about. Our experience in kid's parties is infinite and you're welcome to make use of it. We look forward to chatting about your upcoming party needs because parties are what make us tick.