In this article, you’ll learn how to plan a kid’s football party.
If you’ve got a younger football (or soccer) fan at home, you know that sooner or later, you’re going to have to plan a soccer party for them.
To make the task easy for you, we’ve broken down everything you need to know in simple steps.
Let’s get started!
Find the party space
The first thing to consider is where you’ll be hosting the party.
For a football party, you’re going obviously to need the ‘football field’. This can be your garden, a stretch of grass or an actual football pitch.
If you don’t have the required space near-by, you can book an indoor or an outdoor field for the occasion.
Just keep in mind that you’ll be given the space for a set period of time. After that, you’ll need to continue the party elsewhere (or end the party).
You’re also going want to have a second separate space for the food and presents etc. (if it’s a birthday party) This means you can set up the table ahead of time and not have to worry about preparing things during the event.
Again, if you don’t have space at home, venues usually have dedicated food areas.
Note: If you don’t have space at home, you can also book a function room for the occasion. These are just empty rooms that cater to all occasions.
Choose a date
Now that you know where, it’s time to decide when.
If you’re booking a venue or a function, give them a call to check for availability as this might be limited. If you’re hosting the party at home, pick the date that is most suitable and the closest to the actual birth date.
At PartyWizz, we usually recommend that parents don’t rule out Sundays. Saturdays are the obvious choice, but for that reason, they tend to be busier.
If you’re planning the party during a busy time of year, Sundays are likely to be a lot calmer. You’re therefore much more likely to get the booking (and guests) you want.
Make a guest list
For a birthday party, the ideal number of guests will depend on the kid’s age and individual preferences. It all depends on the child’s personality and what they want.
For football parties, you’ll want to invite a slightly larger group to enough to play. For example, 12 kids in total, to have 2 teams of 6.
If you’re going to be travelling by car during the party (for example to go to the football field), make sure you organise carpools ahead of time, so that everyone fits.
Plan the activities
When it comes to football activities, you can either do them yourself or book a football entertainer to make it really easy and stress-free on the day.
The benefit of booking an entertainer is that they’ll have all the equipment and the technical know-how to teach the kids new techniques
We also recommend not just having a football match. Instead, consider having multiple football activities, ending the session with a match.
For example:
- Dribble obstacle course
- Penalty shot relays
- […]
You’ll find that after half an hour of running around, the kids will have run out of steam, so start slow and build your way up to the main game.
For older kids, you can extend the amount of time. For example, in Ireland, under 13s tend to play 2x30min with 8 players on each team.
We also recommend not making the football pitch too big. At that age, the scoring is the fun part. Not the running back and forth.
Get some decorations
Now it’s time to decorate the house/venue to match the theme of your event.
At PartyWizz, we usually recommend not going overboard. Let the football theme speak for itself with the games and the equipment.
Instead, focus on having a nice table and a couple of extra decorations (for example balloons) to make the meal as fun as the rest of the party. Finding football tableware in the shops should be fairly easy.
Plan the food
The two most common timings are to start the party early afternoon and have cake before the presents or to start the party (very) late morning and have lunch and cake. It’s up to you and your preference.
For some general party food ideas, you can check out our dedicated article on the topic. If you want to go the extra mile, you can serve football-themed food. For example, muffins with football pattern-icing.
Don’t forget the party bags
Party bags have become a staple for kid’s parties.
For some ideas of what to put inside a party bag, you can check out our separate article on the topic.
Let the other parents know if you put anything “special” in the bag… especially if it’s something gooey like slime. No one wants carpet stains.
Also, if you’re based in Ireland, we provide pre-filled party bags for many party themes. You can find them listed in our store.
Send the invitations
Now it’s time to craft the invitations and send them out. Ideally, you want to send them 3-4 weeks before the party. From experience, we feel that this is the sweet spot.
You can either stick to digital invitations, which is the easiest option or send out physical invitations, which can feel more special.
Regardless of what option you choose, we recommend you stick to digital RSVP’s. It will make your life a lot easier. For small groups, WhatsApp (or any other messaging tool) is fine. For larger groups (10+) you might want to use an online RSVP tool.
When it comes to designing the invitations, we recommend using Canva. It’s a free drag and drop tool for creating designs and they’ve got a great selection of pre-made templates you can use.
For the wording of the invitation, we’ve dedicated an entire article to the topic with multiple examples you can copy and paste.
Have a schedule
It’s not a business meeting (far from it) but having a schedule/outline will help your peace of mind on the day. You don’t need anything exact. Here is an example:
- 10:30 – Welcome the guests
- 11:00 – Football activities
- 11:30 – Football match
- 12:00 – Lunch
- 12:30 – Cake and presents
- 13:00 – Free play
- 14:00 – Parents arrive, and perhaps stay for a cup of coffee
Depending on the duration of the activities, you’ll want to adjust the schedule. You might also want to have the activities after lunch. It’s entirely up to you.
Note: We’ve allowed 30 minutes for lunch and 30 minutes for the cake and the presents. We usually feel that’s plenty of time.
That’s a wrap
We hope you have a great party and you have lots of fun.
PartyWizz enables you to easily book the finest entertainment online. We pride ourselves in only partnering with the best kid’s entertainers in the area.
If you’re based in Ireland, and you want to book a football party entertainer, check out our website.
