Kids' birthday parties, why do we bother?

[Clangeroo 10]

I know exactly what you mean and how you feel - also those people that dont turn up, you wonder why and if youve done something to offend? - it happened to me, and the person concerned never even mentioned it when we next happened to meet. Very odd!

 

I am also trying to organise a party, but feel like soft play area parties are kind of a rip off, but the only option for tots unless I go to a lot of trouble myself, - I went to one yesterday and felt like they only had 10 mins to eat, (my lo takes forever to eat) and that buns are put out at the same time as sandwiches - a disaster in my opinion as the child wants one, yet If you say 'no you have to eat your sandwiches first', they are all gone by greedy kids with faster appetites by the time a sandwich has been eaten! then the table is cleared away and the adults devour the remaining sandwiches regardless of if the kids have finished - arrgh. my lo came home hungry and I had to give her some more dinner, which I thought was bizarre giving that the party probably cost £100 plus! not saying which playcentre tho!

 

Anyone any sensible ideas on a party - im not tight, just wanting a venue more caring.

[honeyb35 10]

I'm cheap at half the price, literally.

Five could .... very detailed face paints, suited and according balloon models, nail art for the girls and a circus skills master class. Yes, I could do that

 

that sounds fab! I wish I'd known that for my daughters party! Instead I ended up at a fun factory 2 weeks after giving birth, eeek!

I'm taking her to see Cinderella at the Lyceum next time!

[lyndix 10]

I usually let my kids choose half a dozen mates to have for a sleep over.

We get lots of goodies in dvd`s, games, cake, cook pizza and chicken and have a whale of a time.

[stuchyg 10]

its always the way and its not just kiddies partys that it happens to just think back to the last time you tryed to arrange a night out or a meal you get 20 people saying yes then 5 turn up

 

with the kiddies i always only invite very close friends the ones you know you can depend on and trust so lindix how you fixed for november

[lyndix 10]

its always the way and its not just kiddies partys that it happens to just think back to the last time you tryed to arrange a night out or a meal you get 20 people saying yes then 5 turn up

 

with the kiddies i always only invite very close friends the ones you know you can depend on and trust so lindix how you fixed for november

 

Is that an invite stuchyg?

[stuchyg 10]

Is that an invite stuchyg?

 

well we will need someone to scare the kids so that they stay away from anything dangerous

[lyndix 10]

oh, I`m good at scaring kiddies!(and grown ups)

[sauerkraut 10]

I'm now in my 14th year of kids birthday parties and for the first time ever I was contemplating booking some kind of venue for my son's party, but having seen this thread I'm glad I decided not to!

 

Up to now I've always done traditional parties - junk food and all the usual party games. It goes down well to give everything a theme, one of our most successful ones being a detectives party where all the games were played under the guise of being a detectives apprenticeship, and once "qualifed" as detectives the children were able to go and track down a thief (i.e. a glorified treasure hunt). It's not at all expensive, everyone has a great time, and numbers aren't so important because you haven't pre-booked anything.

 

But I've found that although the traditional parties have worked really well for girls, things have once or twice almost got out of hand with my son's parties where only boys have been invited. They get over-excited and one or two love to stir up all the rest. It's been a bit of a dilemma this year because my son really wants a fun party like his sisters have, but two years running he's been quite upset at things getting so rowdy. He's actually asked me not to invite his best friend (who lives next door), because he's usually the prime culprit for winding everyone else up. I can see that getting very awkward

 

At least this year my teenage daughter has very kindly offered to enlist the help of some of her friends (who themselves have little brothers and know the form!) so we'll have a few extra entertainers/bouncers on hand I'm also re-thinking the food so there'll be fewer e-numbers & chemicals stirring things up. But if anyone else has any good riot-quelling tips I'd be very thankful.

 

Sorry about the long post. Birthday parties are a subject close to my heart

[sauerkraut 10]

Just resurrecting this to report I survived my son's party.

 

We split the guests into groups (divide and conquer!) and did a kind of town quiz/treasure hunt, where the answer to each question was a number, e.g. how many red front doors in a particular road, which number gets you a salami pizza at the pizza place, etc etc.

 

When all the answers were correctly found they made up a telephone number (my mobile), which the kids then rang to find out where the treasure was hidden. Obviously the helpers with each group knew the correct numbers in advance, so were able to guide in the right direction where necessary.

 

Just thought I'd share it in case anyone was stuck for ideas.