3rd birthday party for my daughter

[lighthouse17]

hi
I am planning for a birthday party for my DD and I don't want to spend a fortune. We have a quite a big size house with a nice garden so I am thinking to have it at home. However at least 20 people are coming this includes adults and the kids so I am thinking it's going to be a nightmare for me. What do you think? Do you think it's better to do it somewhere else?
if i do it home , I will rent a bouncy castle but what happens if it's raining that day , I can't imagine anything worse than being stuck at home with all these kids.
By the way it's going to be end of September so the weather should still be nice....
Any thoughts?

[mouldycheesefan]

Yes you need a rainy day plan. Which could still be at home but organised chaos is better than run riot chaos so plan some activities in advance.

[lighthouse17]

what kind of activities would you suggest for 3 year olds? I still find that her concentration isn't very long and same as her friends same age.

[mouldycheesefan]

So lots of short activities then
Dancing
Musical statues
Treasure hunt
Face painting
Simple crafts
More dancing
Time to eat
Etc

[Scarydinosaurs]

For three we just had a bouncy castle and let them crack on with it, I didn't need more that. At four I would say activities are more necessary, but three they were pleased with just jumping on the trampoline.

What is your face painting like? You could get some face paints and do some simple stencil sorts of designs?

[Scarydinosaurs]

Oh- and covered bouncy castles are the way forward!

[mouldycheesefan]

Scary dinosaurs but if it was raining what would you have done? Would you have let them go on the bouncy castle outside in the rain?

[Scarydinosaurs]

Yes- it had a roof on it. However, we hired a small clubhouse at a cricket club, so had plenty of indoor space too.

We had a party at the same place the year before where it had rained, and there was a bouncy castle with a roof on it, and the kids loved it. I think they actually preferred it, the weirdos.

[lighthouse17]

thank you for the suggestions. I will definitely look for a bouncy castle with a roof
so would you have all these people at home? or would you rent somewhere?

[Scarydinosaurs]

We used a cricket club, where we had the clubhouse and the cricket pavilion. It was very cheap and if you have any cricket clubs near you I would check as September is the end of season and I found it was MUCH cheaper than the typical church hall Type place and so much cheaper.

[Leeds2]

I would prefer out of the home as there is then a definite end time!

[attheendoftheday]

The asset of using a hall is that you can easily keep and eye on the kids as they're in one big space and the cleaning up is easier as someone can can the kids home while you cracking on with it.

For that age I'd just get all the big toys you have or can borrow (some bouncy castles hire things like space hoppers too) and let the kids play.

It's helpful to have a craft activity out to one side as it gives shy or overwhelmed kids somewhere to go. Something like colouring sheets printed off the Internet or a big quantity of homemade playdoh.

[Misty9]

We did a similar party for ds 3rd birthday - at home. Probably had about that many in total too with baby siblings and parents. We had bouncy castle in the garden, decorated crowns to wear, musical statues/bumps, pass the parcel, and birthday tea. We ran out of food and booze for parents and the kids hardly ate anything! Was a lovely party. He's 5 soon and all the sibs are older too so it's halls from now on. Enjoy :)