kids birthday partys when at school, the dreaded who to invite!!!!!!

zoesmummy_2006

Bailey i totally agree! Fortunately the parties shes been to so far and the one shes just been invited to are all the kids who she started school with, so that i dont mind.
Feeling happier bout it, i cant please everyone-but long as i please my daughter thats all that matters.
Hows this for moneysaving.....i printed her invites out, she wanted the new disney Tangled ones but they were sooo expensive on ebay so i googled n found some to print out! Perfect!! xx

Quenastoise

After the last party where most of the mums disappeared leaving us with their children in our care (some even didn't tell us that they were going :eek:) DS is definitely NOT having a big do again.

onlyroz

How much would it cost to hire something like a bouncy castle?

Nicki

onlyroz wrote: »

How much would it cost to hire something like a bouncy castle?

More than your house is worth if any of the little darlings gets badly hurt on it! Seriously, have you ever seen one of those things at a fête or fair. They are always heavily supervised to make sure no more than about 6 children are on at any one time and there is no messing around. Now imagine trying to supervise it in that way yourself plus keeping all the other children at the party entertained. I'd personally find that way too stressful. If I were going to spend that kind of money, I think i'd go for an entertainer to lighten the load, though to be honest, DS is 11 now and we've done most of his parties at home with good old fashioned party games and they have always been well enjoyed by the kids.

Talking of parents embarrassing their kids though, I remember my mum serving fish and chips wrapped in newspaper at one of my birthday parties about 30 years ago and being mortified. And all of my friends loved it, and talked about it for at least another 5 years and begged my mum every year to repeat it, though she never did. Leave em wanting more was her motto!

lolly101

zoesmummy_2006 wrote: »

dd started school last sept, when shen started there were only bout 15 in the class, after xmas the next lot started so now theres around 30.

its dd's 5th birthday in a few weeks and im starting to plan a party for her, but as cheap as i can cos im on my own and cant imagine daddy will contribute as he'll most likely do something for her at his. have got a hall booked in town, £20 for 2 hrs:), it's just the who to invite. she's very good friends with all the kids she started with, cant say that ive really noticed her being that friendly with some of the new starts, she has her favourite girls lol and thats it.

my cousin had suggested that if i was gonna do a party with the whole class invited then maybe i should have a little tea party or something at home for my friends and their kids. thing is, that just seems sooooo much effort, plsu the reason i wanna do it elsewhere is so my house aint a bombsite when partys over and everyones gone lol!!!
have decided that i wanna just invite the ones she started with back in sept and then invite my friends with their kids, there will be around 20 including couple 1yr olds, which is more than enough lol. does that seem unfair to the rest of the class tho??? god i wish her birthday had been before xmas lol!!!

dont even get me started on 'entertainers' for the party-she went to one on sat and i looked up the wizard entertainer they had-£120 for 2 hrs!!!!! blimey im in the wrong business!!!!!!! me and my cousin can dance to steps and macarena and saturday night etc etc, gonna get some music on and some disco lights and show the girlies how to do it!! dd loves that, she had me teaching her the steps ready the other night!!

That sounds great! I did the same thing for DS's 5th. I did the same thing as you're planning - took a stereo, bought a few disco balls, and everything turned out great. The kids were all so excited to be there that they just ran around like loons for 2 hours and the parents all said that it was a lovely idea (it makes a nice change to the usual package parties at the local play area!).

I wouldn't worry about being expected to invite the whole class, at DS's school there are usually 10-20 kids at each party, I don't think I've ever been to one where the whole class is invited... and I've been to A LOT of kids parties! I think that the parents and kids would understand completely - DS was once invited to a party and immediately said, 'I'm not going', when I asked him about it he said that he didn't want to go as he didn't really know the other child - which is what I imagine most kids would be like if invited to a party for someone they didn't know!

Apricot wrote: »

Just check with teacher re: giving out invites in school. In my little sister's school you can only give out invites in school if the whole class are invited. I don't think it's unfair that you don't want to invite the ones who have only been there a few months though although next year may be a different matter.

Wow, that's a bit harsh - and a bit mean of them I think, as many parents can't afford to invite a whole class, so the kids lose out. At our school the kids have drawers with their names on so parents just post the invites, which works well as most kids don't even notice you're doing it.

izzybusy23

Krystaltips wrote: »

My daughter is 7 in just under 2 weeks... We looked at all the party options we have at the moment and after weighing up the cost/effort decided to just go for a small party at home, she has invited 10 children (7 girls, 3 boys!) handed out the invites at school yesterday with no fuss...

I'm totally stealing the disco ball idea, we're going to be putting Just Dance on the wii for them to kill a bit of time, and do a pass the parcel, food will be in little boxes (like a healthy happy meal) served on a picnic blanket on the floor so hopefully not as messy as a help yourself buffet...

People think I'm nuts doing the party at home (especially since I just had a baby) but it was the normal thing when we were children so it can't be that difficult can it?!

Its my DD's 6th birthday in 3 weeks and I am totally stealing the disco ball light thing too! I am doing a party at home; just 6 girls plus DD and I have bought her a karaoke machine for her birthday so thought I would stick that on, plus they can do a bit of Just Dance on the wii, do a bit of musical chairs, musical statues, pass the parcel and do a pinata. I am also doing a little tea party with little cakes, sandwiches, jelly etc like the good old days. Last year she had a party at the gym we go to which was £130 then goody bags, year before that was at a soft play centre again with goody bags.. going cheapo this year and as my house is tiny she is limited to the number of kids she can invite. I have vetoed the ones she wants first though so they don't wreck the place!

That reminds me, must get invitations done!

izzybusy23

Becles wrote: »

That'll go down really well. They go to so many "manufactured" parties these days at soft play/bowling/swimming etc., where the entertainment is all supplied, that the children think it's a huge novelty when someone's Mam does the party.

I did traditional parties for my boys when they were little and they were really popular. At one a disabled girl from school came and we were playing pass the parcel with forfeits on the wrapping layers. The poor girl opened it and it said run round the circle as fast as you can - ooops So I lifted her up on my back and ran round the circle with her. She was giggling her head off and the bairns all thought it was absolutely hilarious His friends still mention it and it was years ago!

Don't worry about only inviting a select few from school. It happens as you can't always invite everyone. I can understand people getting upset when one or two get left out of a class, but when you're just inviting a number of close friends, parents understand.

OMG, Fab idea!!! I was wondering how I was going to time it just right so each girl gets a pressie; but the forfeit idea is fantastic; they can then get a little bag of sweets for their efforts! Thanks for mentioning this!

zoesmummy_2006

Im liking pass the parcel forfeits too! Normal pass the parcel is boring compared to that lol!
My friend hired a sml bouncy castle for her sons 2nd birthday last year n it was horrendous. My son who was 20 months naturally wanted a go with his sister, but all the bigger kids on her rd invaded her yard n took it over. I waited til theyd all !!!!!!ed off before letting my 2 on and soon as they went on the older ones came out again! One lad jumped on soooo hard, despite seeing there were little ones on there, that he caused who thing to lurch, my son went flying face first into side n split his lip! I was furious! He did come say sorry in end. No way will i be responsible for bunch of kids on one of them!! The local sports centre does bouncy castle parties n i was looking into that, then i found out the cost, £60 an hr then to hire room for food etc was extra £30!! Too much for my liking, even tho their staff supervise the bouncy castle etc.
Im really excited bout my daughters party now, i dont care if the school mums stay or not cos my family will be there to help, plus my friends with their lil ones. And the group from school are all just adorable anyways. Its gonna be FUN!

Becles

izzybusy23 wrote: »

OMG, Fab idea!!! I was wondering how I was going to time it just right so each girl gets a pressie; but the forfeit idea is fantastic; they can then get a little bag of sweets for their efforts! Thanks for mentioning this!

It makes the game last longer as well

I went to someone else's party with a bouncy castle and ended up supervising the children as they were all going mad on it. I caught a child as he bounced off saving him from falling, but I ended up with a sprained wrist