We started putting work into Ivan's birthday parties around his third birthday, too. I think it's important to keep everything as simple as possible, both for yourself and the kids. Don't over extend yourself or get too overwhelming in the activities. She's only three, so she won't need much to be impressed!

Also, play off your daughter's interests. Ivan loves music so a lot of our parties have revolved around music. We try to think about what Ivan would enjoy and go from there.

Here are some things we did for him and his pals:

*For his third birthday we set up one of those gym parties at a local sports club. We got to spend an hour on their play equipment (they had a big padded room with tumble forms, a trampoline, a climbing structure with tunnels and slides, balls, hula hoops and a big parachute). We pretty much just let the kids have at it. The club provided lunch and all the paper goods. All we had to do was bring a cake. It actually wasn't too expensive (when you figure what you're getting), plus there was no clean up afterwards! The down side is that they were very strict about timing (we had to get out when they told us to).

*For his fourth birthday we asked a children's band to come perform at his school. We were friends with the band so we got a good deal and again there was no clean up. It was fun to include Ivan's classmates and others from the school in the celebration, then we had family time at home with cake and presents.

*For his fifth birthday we wanted to keep things simpler so we just invited a couple of friends out to a concert and lunch at a restaurant. It was easy for us and still a lot of fun for Ivan. I've also always wanted to invite a couple friends to a baseball game for his birthday (because Ivan loves baseball) but Red Sox tickets are so expensive!

*For Ivan's sixth birthday we did the big party event at a theater. It was very similar to what we got at the sports club, but this time we got to attend a kids' concert first then enjoyed lunch and cake in the theater after everyone left. The theater provided lunch and paper goods, tickets for all the families and free popcorn during the show. All we had to do was bring a cake. The performer sang happy birthday to Ivan from the stage and gave us all great discounts on CDs and merchandise.

*Ivan's seventh birthday was just a couple weeks ago and we decided to do our first big party at home. I worked with another children's musician ahead of time and we arranged an exchange of services. I helped her set up her website and newsletter and in exchange she performed at Ivan's party for free. We went with a balloon theme (because Ivan loves balloons) so we had lots of balloons in the yard, a balloon activity for everyone to play with, balloon animals (we had to look up how to make them) and all the kids got punch balloons and other balloon toys in their goody bags. I also set out outdoor toys in the yard (like our small trampoline, rocking horse, hula hoop, exercise ball, etc). The hard part was that we were responsible for all the food and the clean up afterwards (which probably took the rest of the day after everyone left), but it was much more casual and we had more time to spend with everyone. Ivan really enjoyed it!

Photos from the party on Facebook.