Glow sticks for kids party

[Deleted User]

I'm organising a disco party for my son's 6th birthday. Hall booked and a friend is doing the disco for free. He said he'd do a smoke machine and lights etc and we'll do organised games as well as dancing. We are having it in a church hall which is a fair size.

I have never done a party like this, always had something at home or just gone out for the day. How many children would you invite? I am not doing food as such as its from 6pm-7.30pm, but am providing a small cup of sweets and a drink half way through (copied this idea from the school discos).

My dj friend said it would be cool to hand out glow sticks to the children too, thought I would do this instead of party bags:D plus send them home with a piece of cake too. Good idea/bad idea?

I've been looking online at glow sticks but the choice is confusing and the prices vary. So I first thought I need to determine how many children, then I can think about the cost of glow sticks.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

kirstle99

You can get glow in the dark wristbands from Home Bargains, think its 70p for about 20. I used them at my son's 5th birthday party as they needed identifying to use the bouncy castle at a venue that also had a wedding. They loved them :j

shortdog

I've always hired halls and DJs for the kids parties, as its cheaper and easier in the long run.
My advice (from experience) is:-
How many kids? Depends how many your son wants - if you have a DJ and a hall, and are not doing food as such, the sky's the limit really - my daughters party last year there were 120 invited, and 90-something turned up. However, you need to make sure you have plenty of adult helpers. Good rule of thumb is approximatley 2/3 of those invited will turn up, and 1 adult to every 8-10 kids is a good number. If you know a few teenagers who are good with kids, you might find they're willing to come along and help play party games and things for some sort of reward - big bag of sweets, or a pizza at the end of the party and such like.
If you are handing out drinks, my advice is to buy the kwenchy cup things from asda or the like - less spillage as they come with straws, cheap (at about 10p each), and no waste, as any that don't get used can be saved for another time.
Glow sticks - poundland sell glow sticks in packs of 20. Just make sure that none of the kids is a chewer, as the stuff inside them is toxic and burns.
Smoke machine - keep it to short bursts, and check with parents beforehand - my sons asthma is set off by smoke machines, and you don't want a wheezing child in the middle of the party!
Make sure you supply tea/coffee/soft drinks to the adult helpers.
Lastly, have a sheet by the door, and get the parents to write down a contact number when they drop the child off.
Good luck!

suki1001

If i could make an alternative suggestion. I'm not a big fan of glow sticks etc, you only need one child to bite into one and it's horrible stuff if it leaks, plus they only get thrown in the bin once they've stopped working.

I would be more in favour of something they could reuse such as those snap on reflective wristbands, such as this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-X-HIGH-VISIBILITY-REFLECTIVE-BANDS-SLAP-WRAP-SNAP-ARM-ANKLE-HI-VIZ-/130597642010?_trksid=p3284.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D21%26pmod%3D370651909556%26ps%3D54


You can buy velcro ones with led flashing lights at the pound shop.

Just a thought, plus they can reuse them again and they're quite good for visability/safety etc.

They're a bit more expensive, but at a £1 each cheaper than a lot of party bags.

kglo_karl

We gave glow sticks as part of a party bag and they were really popular. We now supply these to friends & family for their parties. Obviously I dont want to come across as touting for business but would be happy to offer a deal on the ones we have left over.

gingin_2

suki1001 wrote: »

If i could make an alternative suggestion. I'm not a big fan of glow sticks etc, you only need one child to bite into one and it's horrible stuff if it leaks, plus they only get thrown in the bin once they've stopped working.



.

I was at a party when a little girl was hysterical because her eye was hurting, I could see that she had some of the glow dye on her skin and it must have also got into her eye when the stick broke.

The problem is to activate them you need to snap them back and forth and if you are too vigorous they can break, I would supervise the activating of them and don't let them swordfight with them as I think this was the cause of what I saw.

They are fun but if you have gor 20+ hyped up six year olds I would proceed with caution

MissMotivation

they sell them in Poundland, 2 big ones in a pack, the bracelet ones or a pack of about 10 smaller ones....for a pound lol.

minimoneysaver

Sorry to be a party pooper, but I have to say, I was cracking a glow stick for my daughter and it exploded in my face and went in my eye!!! I will never again let my daughter near one of those things. They are so dangerous. I would be so angry if anyone gave my daughter one.

CuppaTea

Sorry to read that Mini, I don't blame you for thinking that.

May i enquire as to where it was purchased from, i'm wondering if these ones from the pound shops are more likely to do this than a more expensive type?

suki1001

CuppaTea wrote: »

Sorry to read that Mini, I don't blame you for thinking that.

May i enquire as to where it was purchased from, i'm wondering if these ones from the pound shops are more likely to do this than a more expensive type?

Personally I wouldn't risk it either - irrelevant whether some are more robust than others, the stuff inside is poisonous.

meer53

I'm another one against glo sticks. My daughter has had one snap in her face. It would be awful if you'd supplied them and a child was injured. I wouldn't want that risk.