By the time you're ready to celebrate your child's fifth birthday they may well have already started school or be getting ready to go for the first time. Whether they've begun their education or not, you'll probably have realised that if you have a boy, they're a walking encyclopaedia on Marvel superheroes and if you have a girl, she's seriously savvy about Disney princesses.

At five years of age most kids have already developed their independent side and are easily able to communicate their likes and dislikes without having to resort to a tantrum of frustration to get their message across. That might seem like a bonus when it comes down to organising their party as they'll let you know loud and clear exactly what fifth birthday party theme they just can't wait to have.

Planning A 5th Birthday Party

While you may think that will make planning your kid's fifth birthday party an absolute breeze, wait for it. Kids of five still don't quite grasp the full concept of money and expense. Yes, they know what money is for and may even understand how to make a small purchase or put dollars in their piggy bank and that's great. Life, especially when you're five, is one big learning curve and as a parent, you have to be patient. Why? It takes a while for little ones to comprehend that having every single member of the Justice League turn up at their party just isn't going to happen unless you win the lottery.

Trying to live up to a five-year old's unrestrained expectations can be difficult. You may need to be extra imaginative to stay within your proposed party budget while not bursting their bubble. To help you out of that dilemma, here at Fly By Fun we've put together some great fifth birthday party ideas that will leave them totally wowed and you still with some dollars in your pocket.

Bug Party

A lot of youngsters approaching five have a fascination with bugs and if your little one likes to crawl around the garden looking under the bushes for creepy crawlies, a bug themed fifth party will be a big hit.

There are so many bug themes to choose from, but the most popular by far are caterpillars, ladybugs, snails, spiders and ants. You don't necessarily have to go for just one bug, as gross as it may sound, you can choose to have a multi-bug theme.

There's an amazing variety of mini-sized plastic bugs you can order from the internet to use in a bug hunt. It doesn't matter if you hold the party indoors or out, hide the bugs in accessible places, kit the guests out with collecting jars and let them loose to see how many they can find. It's good to put a time limit on the searching activity then get everyone together to have a bug count.

While bug sandwiches might not go down too well, bug inspired cupcakes topped with edible bugs, the candy kind not the sort they sell as street food in Thailand, are the perfect party treat and for more entertainment, the Ants movie is ideal.

NB: If you have a bug phobia, you might want to skip this kid’s party theme and go for something less creepy instead.

PJ Masks

PJ Masks has been a favourite kiddies TV program for quite a while now and PJ Mask characters Owlette and Gekko are certainly a trending kids party theme in 2022.

PJ Masks is a bright and colourful indoor party theme and one that you can really let your imagination go to town on. PJ Mask party backdrops come in all shapes and sizes, but if the party budget is tight, you can easily make one yourself. You don't even need to be overly artistic to create a great skyscraper city scene, just reasonable at drawing and colouring in rectangles and squares. Be generous with colour matched balloons and you'll be amazed at what you can achieve.

Once you've turned all the guests into mini-superheroes with a PJ Mask eye mask, get them to join in games like Pin the Tail on Cat Boy and Sleeping Lions where you play the part of a villain rather than a lion.

Cinema Party 

This is a super party theme when you don't have a great deal of space for a dozen kids or more to run around in. All you need is a decent sized TV or if you're happy to splash out to buy or hire one, a wall screen and projector. There are some very economical wall screens available now that you can link up to a TV or laptop so they're well worth checking out as they'll probably come in very handy on future occasions.

Set one room up to be the cinema with lots of cushions or small chairs for seating, close all the curtains, but keep the lights on until you're ready to start the film. You can go the whole hog on this party theme quite simply by printing a poster of the film you're going to show and a sign saying Screen 1 to stick on the outside of the door. Make it an even more realistic cinema visit by printing entrance tickets the guests have to hand to you as they go in. Get them all settled with bags or buckets of popcorn, and it'll be time for lights out and action.

Tip: Take a look at Fly By Fun’s party entertainers and you might discover one that features in the film you’re thinking of showing. The character being there to greet the kids after they’ve finished watching the film is a mega surprise they’ll go totally bonkers over. 

Barbie Party

This barbie themed kid's birthday party has nothing to do with the famous plastic doll. This is an outdoor party theme for a five year old where you get to show off your grilling skills and let's face it, who doesn't love a good barbie? The answer to that is everyone, kids included.

Set up tables on one side of your garden, preferably in a shady area so the kids are not sitting in the sun while they're eating. Go to town on matching disposable tableware, keep things colourful, yellow or red and white are great. A fun accessory for the kids at this type of party is a cork slouch hat, they totally love the bobbing corks and they'll stop any buzzy bugs getting too close.

If you're the one doing the grilling, dress up in chef whites and hat, you can even don a big false moustache so you really look the part. The food is best kept simple. Burgers, hot dogs and vegetable kebabs go down well as do corn cobs on sticks with a big bowl of potato salad as a side.

Obviously the kids are too young to take part in the cooking. One way of letting them think they've been involved is to set up a chocolate fondue and hand out marshmallows on sticks for dipping. The best party games for this type of theme are the classic ones like statues, musical bumps, and sack races. Just make sure the barbie is well away from the play area before they start running around.

Magic Party

Magic is a party theme for five year olds that always does the trick. Yes, we know that was a terrible pun so we hope you didn't groan too loudly. It's true though. Kids of this age are amazed by any sort of magic as they've yet to fully understand the art of illusion. We do recommend waiting until the kids are older before having the invitees sawn in half though as that can be a bit too much for this age group.

If you can get your hands on fancy dress top hats and magic wands for the kids, perfect, all you have to do then is teach them a few magic words like abracadabra and calabazoom and even when their spells don't work, they'll still have fun.

Unless you're practised at the art of pulling live rabbits out of a hat and doves from your jacket sleeves, the best thing to do entertainment-wise  for this party theme is hire a professional magic show. A magician will keep the kids totally enthralled and leave them with the illusion that magic really does exist. What better gift can you give a five year old than that?

Hulk Party

When you're expecting a horde of boys as guests at your little one's fifth birthday party, Hulk is a trending party theme that done right will leave them open-mouthed. In case you didn't know, while Hulk originally appeared in a late 1970's TV series, his recent resurgence in popularity came about when he joined the Marvel Avengers team. He is a now modern day superhero rather than the raging green beast from decades ago.

The usual colour themes for a Hulk birthday party are green, purple and black. As well as going just for balloons and table decorations in those three colours, you'll find there's lots of low-priced Hulk party accessories available on the internet. Admittedly some of the Hulk masks do look pretty gruesome so instead of those you might want to go for painting the kids faces green instead which is almost, but not quite, as scary.

NB: If you want to give your little boy and his friends a big surprise, get in touch and we'll tell you all about our fantastic Hulk entertainer. He is right now, believe us, monstrously popular.

Glam Glitter Party

Okay so you may have a daughter who adores the Hulk and there's no reason whatsoever why she can't have a Hulk themed party if she wants one. But just in case, she's not into hulking green monsters, we suggest holding a Glam Glitter Party and you're bound to put a twinkle in her eye.

There are three basic colours to go for when you're setting up for a Glam Glitter party and they are gold, silver and white. Go for glitter embellished decorations like balloons, streamers and hanging stars and combine them with plain ones. The effect can turn even the plainest room into something quite special.

This is a great party theme for girls to which you can add activities like jewellery making. The guest will be thrilled to bits when they manage to make Shimmer and Shine-style headpieces to wear and take home with them. Glitter-based face painting works well at a party like this too and if you're not up to doing that yourself, our glitter artists are only too happy to drop in and help make your little girl's fifth birthday day really sparkle.

Tip: As well as going well with Shimmer and Shine activities, Glitter Glam can be adapted to suit a unicorn or fairy themed party without too much trouble.

There truly are endless themes for a child's fifth birthday and these are just a few of the best that are trending in 2022. They won't suit every kid as every kid is different and they all have their own individual personalities. 

As parents, we tend to unintentionally generalise birthday party themes with gender especially where girls are concerned, but we shouldn't. If your little girl thinks Iron Man is amazing, an Iron Man party she should have. If your young man likes cooking, it's fine for them to have a Masterchef party or even a cupcake workshop at their celebration.

Here at Fly By Fun, we’ve been helping parents solve their kid's birthday party problems for almost fifteen years. That means we have a lot of experience in making special events happy ones. If you're having any doubts about the party theme you're considering for your little one's fifth birthday, contact us for a chat. We'll be more than pleased to help make sure that your party plans turn out just the way you want them to.