Treat your child to the best kid's birthday party

Kids look forward to their birthdays all year long. Here are a few easy tips for making it memorable.

Kids look forward to their birthdays all year long. The good news: there are lots of simple yet splashy ways to get ready for their extra-special day, and this is a time to get really creative. Here are a few easy tips.

• First, let the children make their own party invitations. They can pull together fanciful creations with stickers, crayons and coloured paper, or hone their design skills on the computer. It's fun for them and gives the invites a special, personalized touch.
• On the day, use bright paper plates, napkins and confetti to add colour to the table.
• Make the birthday girl or boy's seat of honour stand out from the rest: crown it with streamers and garlands or a bouquet of balloons.
• Use plain paper tablecloths and put a few cups of crayons on the table so your pint-sized guests can practice their artwork and be entertained while they wait for their food.
• Of course, blow up plenty of colourful balloons. They can serve double-duty as place cards if you write a child's name on each and tie it to his or her assigned chair.
• Finally, opt for a sweet and scrumptious wreath to make your party unique: use toothpicks to stick licorice, jelly candies and candied fruits onto a Styrofoam form.

Here is what you will need:

1. Cups
2. Strings (about one metre/three feet long)
3. Balloons (filled with helium)

Fill around 10 cups halfway with water. Dip the end of each string in a cup and put everything in the freezer. After freezing, tie the balloons to the strings and distribute the cups around the room. As soon as the ice melts, the balloons float up — one after the other. One warning, though: don't do this outside, as balloons represent a threat to birds and animals, which can swallow them once they've deflated.