Kids birthday party advice.

eckythump

My D.S is fast approaching his 4th birthday and would love a Birthday party for his friends(we have up til now had small family gatherings)
we are on a very tight budget and the local soft play centres are so expensive £10 + a head.
having a party at home is not an option as we are sceduled to have building work done.
the other option is to hire a local hall
the catering would be no problem as I am a chef.
Trouble is I have no idea how much an entertainer or a face painter would cost.
what are the pros and cons of organising a party ?
what sort of entertainer/games for 4 year olds
we are south wales if that helps .

blabberwort

I would say that if your on a tight budget then an entertainer etc is probably not the way to go. Im not sure how much but for what you would pay you can probably do just as good a party for half the costs.

I did a budget party for my daughter years ago and the children loved it. I took a portable cd player, bought bits and bobs cheap for games such as pass the parcel, musical statues etc and a buffet food. The most expensive cost for me was probably hiring the room at a community centre.

Most partys last 2 hours max and when you account for the time taken off for eating/arrivals/leaving it wont be long that the children will need entertaining. By planning games you can basically entertain the children yourself (with a bit of help from family or friends) . Games such as previously mentioned like pass the parcel/musical statues/pin the tail on the donkey. Theres obviously loads more but these are off the top of my head.

Entertainer or homemade games done by yourself im sure your childs party will be great

eckythump

Thanks
I am just worred it will be too babyish for him.
Since he started in the school nusery he is adamant that he is no longer a baby.
I know he really wants a party at the local soft play centre and I just want him not to be disaponted.
he is not a spoilt child but since starting school he is struggling to understand why he has less than his friends.

andrealm

How many children are you planning to invite? Could you limit the number if you want to have it at a soft play?

Is this place anywhere near you? They do parties from £6.99 a head and it includes a party bag.
http://www.scallywagscastle.co.uk/PartyPackages.htm

Hiring a hall can be quite cheap, it just takes a bit more effort in doing the food,organising activities and clearing up, not so bad if you can rope some friends and family in to help.

For my DD's last 2 birthdays we hired a community hall for about £4 an hour and a bouncy castle(about £50) We also did Pass the Parcel. Not sure how much we spent on food. The advantage was that you could invite lots of children for no extra cost as you aren't paying a price per head. All the kids seemed to enjoy it but this year we've decided to go for the easy option and have her party at a soft play, it's about £6 a head.

I'm not sure how much entertainers are but I think they can be quite expensive.

If you can rope in a few people to help you, you could do party games. You could always do face painting yourself or maybe a friend could do it?
Bring a CD player and do a "disco"

GobbledyGook

I always do parties with musical chairs, pass the parcel, musical bumps etc in a hall for my eldest and her and her wee friends always love it. I think that so many parties are held in soft play and the likes now that a "traditional" party (for the want of a better word) is a novelty to them and they really enjoy it.

Liquorice_Twirls

Tbh a party that you organise and is not at a soft play centre or featuring the same old entertainer that pops up at many of the parties WILL be a change for these children. They are only 4 or 5 after all!

Why not make it a fancy dress party, or have a theme say cops and robbers or whatever your little boy is interested in? Nearly everybody will have something to hand that they can dress up in and that is exciting to start off with anyway.

Have a good search on the internet for some slightly different games so that you are doing the old games with a twist, although at 4 I don't think they will be all that familiar with them anyway.

My advice is not to give lots of prizes for each game or they all come to expect something. One of the best games we played was one where you put sheets of newspaper on the floor of the hall, but there was one less than the number of children. You played the music and when it stopped everyone stood on a sheet, the one that didn't have a sheet had to wear a very silly hat for the next lot of music and so it went on, the hat being swapped each time. No winners and no losers in my experience equals no tears.

Team games such as a hot potato race where the kids are running back and forth say collecting things for their team went down well as kids do tend to get into the team spirit.

My SIL went round the pound shops and got presents instead of party bags and had a sort of lucky dip, one for boys and one for girls on the way out along with a piece of birthday cake.

Just make sure you have plenty helpers who can do things like setting the food out etc while you are doing the party.

Spongbong

I would say don't bother with an entertainer. Children that age are often freaked out by loud, overly boistrous strangers dressed in wacky outfits.

LEJC

In my experience it has always been better to go somewhere for the party ie pay the price per head as that usually does really include everything.My son is now 12 and over the years we have done the homemade party and the pre organised and once you add up all the bits and pieces and the time taken to organise it the costs usually have been the same.My advice would be to start with a budget and stick to it. Are you planning on a few children or the whole year? the answer to that will probably determine the type of party you have.
What type of parties are his classmates having..theres nothing wrong with doing something similar or even is there another child at school that you could hold a joint party with..thus inviting the same children but sharing the cost..... younger children really do like the ball pit type parties does your local sports centre have a soft play area,these can sometimes be a little cheaper than the large company type place?
Is it to be a summer party? how about a picnic in the park where everyone either brings a bike or a scooter and you section off an area of grass and have some cones etc for them to go around.My son still says his best party was the one where we hired the local community centre and car park,some motorised cars and constructed a track for them to go round(and we didnt let the january weather get to us!)
Hope you have a great time.

retro_bluebell

We had an entertainer/disco for my daughters 4th birthday but only because my in laws paid for it otherwise we couldn't have afforded it! It was fab and all the kids loved it (may have been different if it was a clown *shudders*) Our village hall lets you hire a bouncy castle for an extra 5.00 an hour and the option of hiring the toddler groups toys- have you asked if yours does anything like this? Otherwise I agree with the party games etc, it will be a lot of work on you but Im sure it will be fun

mrsa

I have done 2 hall parties for my son around that age, I found a 'theme' is alot better, We did a 'hilarious hat party' where everyone (Including adult family members!) had to wear the craziest hat they could find, and all games changed to the theme..i.e...pass the hat, musical hats etc. As well as a 'decorate a paper hat' craft table. I did the whole party including food, decorations and party bags for under £80 (Around 50 people) with most items from Ebay. I also did a magic party.
It is cheaper than a playcentre but takes alot more work! I think the children enjoyed it so much more aswell.

Glad

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