Do 3 year olds have birthday parties?

nightsky224

So my daughter will be 3 in November.

I have reserved a local gymnastics free play session (essentially soft play but without all the other children for 1hr then 1/2hr to eat food we will provide) it costs £150 for up to 30 children (we will prob have 10-15 children)

My question is am I crazy! It seems like a lot of money for a 3 year old right!

We did consider having it at home but we don't have masses of space esp when you squeeze in parents and siblings and the fact it will be Nov.

(For my daughters 1st and 2nd birthday we had a joint party with the other NCT kids at a hall we had for free and we hired some soft play and did some food. It cost about £25 per child because it was split between 8 people and was very simple to organise but that's not happening this year)

StokieBecks

Would it cost you £15 to take your child to a soft play area normally? Then add on to that the cost of food.

Only you can decide if it is within your budget or not.

suejb2

They do if you want them to have one. In my opinion preschoolers don't have an expectation of a party. We did family ones at home .

sheramber

My grandson had a party in a local community centre that did parties so there were play items available. There was a room and kitchen to bring your own food/ decorations etc.

PasturesNew

We just had sandwiches, squash, biscuits and a bit of cake when I was growing up - at home. Oh - and jelly! Yes, late November.

There's a photo of my 2nd and there appear to be about 6-8 scoffers round the table, so not big.

If you don't want to spend so much money, then get a grip on who is invited and why .... and rein it in to "just a few sandwiches, bit of drink, cake and a couple of pass the parcel games" ... then send them packing.

Wizzi

We’re doing one for my three year old in October - combining with an NCT friend to share the cost and the organising! If we hadn’t been lucky enough to be able to do that we would have had one anyway though.

My daughter was definitely aware she wanted a party and what sort - hopefully not too spoilt but we had a little one at a soft play centre last year and now that’s all she talks about in relation to her birthday. The party (and soft play/bouncy castle, which she doesn’t go to that often) is definitely higher up the list than the presents. So we spend more on the party than the presents. If we didn’t have the money we wouldn’t, but it’s a lovely thing to be able to do!

Don’t know if proper parties are more common at earlier ages as so many more children are in childcare. We have a big list of friends from her childminder whose parties she has been to, or that she wants to come.

We have about fifteen children to invite also, and the idea of fifteen toddlers plus their parents (as both parents always seem to come in my experience!) in my house is a bit horrifying frankly.

I’m hoping when she’s older we can narrow it down more when she has proper particular friends, and also when they could play games like pass the parcel etc. with a bit more understanding, we can have proper birthday teas at our house. I might be being unrealistic there though!

nightsky224

Wizzi wrote: »

We’re doing one for my three year old in October - combining with an NCT friend to share the cost and the organising! If we hadn’t been lucky enough to be able to do that we would have had one anyway though.

My daughter was definitely aware she wanted a party and what sort - hopefully not too spoilt but we had a little one at a soft play centre last year and now that’s all she talks about in relation to her birthday. The party (and soft play/bouncy castle, which she doesn’t go to that often) is definitely higher up the list than the presents. So we spend more on the party than the presents. If we didn’t have the money we wouldn’t, but it’s a lovely thing to be able to do!

Don’t know if proper parties are more common at earlier ages as so many more children are in childcare. We have a big list of friends from her childminder whose parties she has been to, or that she wants to come.

We have about fifteen children to invite also, and the idea of fifteen toddlers plus their parents (as both parents always seem to come in my experience!) in my house is a bit horrifying frankly.

I’m hoping when she’s older we can narrow it down more when she has proper particular friends, and also when they could play games like pass the parcel etc. with a bit more understanding, we can have proper birthday teas at our house. I might be being unrealistic there though!

Yes I think you are right I am hoping when she's a little older and can play games we will have tea parties at home etc. She is so excited about it that I've decided it's worth it and same as you mentioned, she doesn't need much so most money spent on party rather than presents.

Murphybear

I remember when my niece was 3 she had a friend of similar age so they got together and hired the nursery for a small amount of money and did an old fashioned party. From what I remember most of the children didn't eat a lot. This was a few years ago before party bags and so the whole thing didn't cost much. I knew someone who made cakes to a professional standard so I provided a My Little Pony cake which the kids loved.

welshbabe88

Hmm - but I think if you start big its hard to rein it back to a home party afterwards - and once in school they tend to wnat to ask the whole class - so you'll have trouble cutting down.
We mostly had at home parties - think there is way too much spend on parties these days - and the expectations then just get bigger and they expect more and more every year.

Murphybear

welshbabe88 wrote: »

Hmm - but I think if you start big its hard to rein it back to a home party afterwards - and once in school they tend to wnat to ask the whole class - so you'll have trouble cutting down.
We mostly had at home parties - think there is way too much spend on parties these days - and the expectations then just get bigger and they expect more and more every year.

Sad really. The first birthday party I went to was in the 1950s. Nothing elaborate, basic food but the enjoyment was just being there. Plus of course the pass the parcel, small gifts wrapped in newspaper:D. There were enough for each child to have one and the canny person in charge of music made sure every child got something.