I think the biggest mistake people make when planning a childrens birthday party is that they DON’T keep the honoree in mind, as you said. I’ve seen many instances where mom or dad does what THEY think is neat, not what the child thinks would be fun.

Recently so friends of mine threw a “Rock ‘n Roll” party for their son. For invitations they sent out CD’s with custom labels on them that had the party information. They then burned a track of the child inviting everyone to their party with some cool royalty free background music. I thought that was a neat idea.