If you’re looking for a unique theme for your child’s birthday party, then creating personalised t-shirts for your guests to wear could be a good idea. First of all, if the party takes the form of an outing, then having these distinctive t-shirts is a great way of keeping track and easily recognizing all the children, not to mention the fact that they’ll love the fact they stand out. Conversely, making these t-shirts could be a fun activity for the children to take part in at the party, and can also leave them with a good souvenir and nice memories of the day.

Of course, a lot depends on the other plans for the party, as well as budget. However, there are a number of options for using personalized t-shirts at a child’s birthday party.

Printed T-Shirts

As you may expect, the easiest and most convenient way of getting personalized t-shirts is also the most expensive. There are a huge number of companies who specialise in printed t-shirts online, so if you have the time to shop around then you may find reasonably priced products. As is often the case, if you purchase your products in bulk, then you are more likely to receive a discount.

If you do choose printed t-shirts, then the chances are that you’ll be planning to hand them out to the children at the beginning of the party. If this is the case, then it might be wise to set up a designated area for visiting children to leave their clothes. Depending on the age of the children, you may wish to use post-it notes to label the children’s clothes to avoid confusion.

Fabric Markers

On the other hand, using fabric markers is a cheap and easy way to create personalized t-shirts. You can buy packs of multiple plain t-shirts from many retailers so there should be no problems there. Fabric markers may be slightly harder to acquire, although most craft shops should be able to supply them. If not, then permanent markers are an even cheaper option, but are still effective.

There are a few options with these types of t-shirts. If you plan to hand these t-shirts out on arrival, then in the days leading up to the party you might want to set up a production line in the home with your children to create these unique t-shirts for the guests. However, a more fun idea might be to allow the guests to create their own t-shirts as the main activity at the party. This is something that many young children won’t have taken part in and they will be left with a nice memory. You could give the children their plain t-shirt once they arrive and have a number of pens and markers set up on a table so they can get down to it as they wish.

Fabric Paints

Fabric paints are another, messier way to allow the children to create their own t-shirts. These go towards creating more colourful t-shirts that are more likely to stand out to anyone compared to t-shirts created with pens. Another advantage with paint is the use of stencils, which will allow any children (no matter how unimaginative) to create an attractive t-shirt.

If it’s a nice day, then this is the perfect sort of outdoor activity, both from a child’s and a parent’s point of view. Firstly, children are more likely to enjoy anything outside on a sunny day, and more important for the parent, there is much less chance of paint getting splattered all over your belongings if you’re outside. However if the weather doesn’t allow this, then make sure plenty of newspaper and other protective materials are put down on the floor and over other important bits and bobs around the house.

Another idea is to have soap and water at the ready for when they have finished, as legions of paint-covered children walking to the sink is a recipe for disaster in any home! It might be a good idea to give the children aprons too, or some old clothing that you don’t mind getting covered in paint. Finally, let the parents of the visiting children know your intentions in advance, just so they don’t turn up in their best clothes.

Whilst an activity like this at a birthday party may take more organizing and preparation, it’s definitely something to consider. The souvenirs and memories will stay with the children for years to come.

Earnest Parenting: help for parents who want to memorialize life on a t-shirt.

Image courtesy of cheerytomato via Creative Commons license, some rights reserved.