You don't need to be a professional disc jockey (DJ) with fancy electronics to DJ a birthday party. All you need is a laptop with music, a collection of CDs or records, a CD or record player, and a little creativity. By planning ahead and selecting a play list that is full of the birthday boy or girl's favorite songs, you can be a great at-home DJ and for a much lower price than hiring a professional.

First, create your play list. Think of all the songs that you want to play during the party and write them down on a sheet of paper. You should use some of the birthday boy or girl's favorite songs, but be sure to mix it up. Add slow songs, fast songs and all different genres of music to ensure that everyone will like the music and the play list won't get repetitive. It is also fun to include some group dance songs such as "The Electric Slide," "The Macarena" or "Everybody Clap Your Hands." These songs will get everyone on the dance floor.

Take your list and make sure that you can locate all of these songs, either using CDs or records or the music software on your computer. If you are using music software, you can create a play list online and order the songs however you wish. If you are using CDs or records, place the albums in a stack according to the order you want to play them and put sticky notes on them to tell you which track to play. This will make the pauses between songs shorter, so more people will continue dancing.

Set up for the party. If the laptop, CD player or record player has low-level speakers, make sure to plug in speakers that will be loud enough for everyone at the party to hear. Clear a space in the party venue that will be designated "the dance floor." Make sure that the speakers are closest to this area. Make sure all electronic equipment is plugged in. Do a sound check before the party begins to make sure everything is working correctly.

During the party, use your laptop or music player to play your selected play list. If you have plenty of music, tell the party-goers to make requests. You also can dedicate songs to people, such as the birthday boy or girl. If there aren't many people dancing, use faster-paced music to get everyone on their feet. Save the slow songs for later during the party.