To say "no presents necessary" for 5y/o party

If you write no gifts people will think you're asking for cash 😄. Sorry but you can't win. Save the pressies your child doesn't want and regift. He will be invited to numerous bdays so atleast you don't have to pop out to get pressies all the time.

I can always donate to the summer fayre I suppose!

Just make sure it's not the one where the giver might attend. I'd be a bit upset to see a gift I'd chosen, or helped my child to choose turn up at the school fayre. Though, unless it's something very specific you'd probably get away with it.
Better to send to the food bank or a woman's shelter.

Don't brag about how much stuff you have. I would put it in the invite and it may make a difference to someone

Also, as others have said, some will still bring gifts and you then create a socially awkward atmosphere at the party where those that have followed your instructions of no gifts feel embarrassed.

The five year old will feel a bit miffed if they have no presents to open, if they've been to other parties and seen the birthday child receive presents.

YABU

She's a kid, let her open her 'stuff' and have that pleasure while she's still young.

Also, bringing a gift when you've been invited to a party is ingrained in most people's cultures and a lot of people would feel too awkward to turn up empty-handed.

We had a whole class party for my 5 year old back in November, and everyone brought a present, including one little girl who doesn't really play with my DS but still got him a small Lego set.

We recently received an invitation to that little girl's whole class party and it asked for no gifts. Now I feel a bit worried the parents thought we were being grabby by not saying no gifts on our invitation. Sorry but you can't really win!

The idea of reselling unwanted gifts on Vinted above is good. I try and do a toy clearout before a birthday party.

People have been marking their friend's Birthday with gifts for ever.

I'd find it really hard to explain to my 5 year old that even though he went to parties where he took a gift to the Birthday child, that he wasn't getting any gifts from his friends.
Picking out, wrapping, giving, receiving thanks and (hopefully) knowing a gift you've given is bring the recipient happiness is all part learning to think of others.

Has your child said they don't want presents? I think it's a bit mean to make that decision for her.

We have $2 coins here, so lots of people do “twoonie” parties. Or, if the child is animal mad, bring a donation for the local animal shelters.

People are dicks and will bring gifts no matter what you do. I put on my 5 year old's invitation please don't bring a gift because we don't have a car and won't be able to get home with all the gifts. Pretty goddamn clear! About half still brought a gift! We had to struggle home carrying a mountain of stuff and if there had been one more thing we would have had to leave it behind.
Recently we've been invited to some parties where they set up an online collection and said if you'd like to put a pound in here we can buy this new Lego set or whatever, seems like the best idea to me and what I'll do next time.

I think it's mean, sorry. DD5 was invited to a 'no gifts' party a few months ago, something we had never experienced before. The explanation given was 'environmental reasons.' I couldn't turn up to a 5 year olds party with no present no matter what the parents wanted, so DD chose a very small craft set to wrap up for him.

Think it’s a bit sad! Let your kid have a proper birthday. She can say charity donations only please when she’s a grown up

Part of the fun of birthday parties when they are primary age is choosing a present for their friend. I love asking my kids ‘what is Emily/Peter/Jessica into’ and hearing their answer and we buy something accordingly. It shows their thinking and observation skills and they get so excited handing the present over.
Yes the kids will end up with junk they don’t need but you can syphon that into the charity bag

It’s simply the social convention to bring a gift to a child’s party. No one will feel put out by bringing a gift, but people will feel confused if you ask them not to (because socially it will still be implied that they are meant to). Just accept the gifts. It’s the kind thing to do. And it’s lovely and exciting for them to receive presents. Just scale back on your family gifts. I agree, it’s annoying and I hate all the excess stuff (same with party bags, you will be expected to do those too), but it’s just part of the deal if you want to have a party.

I tried this with my daughter’s 5th birthday - whole class + others, early in the academic year (so first all class party), and as the youngest child we were full to bursting. I think I said something like “as it’s such a big party please don’t feel you need to bring a gift” or something. We got presents from everyone.

We always said no gifts in DC school. The norm was £5 in a card and it's so much easier than trying to pick up a gift for every birthday.

We used to say: Your presence is the present! If you'd like to give something small, £5 in a card would be more than enough.

I think it's very noble of you to not want people to bring gifts and I completely understand your reasons for this. I just had a birthday party for my 1 year old and wanted to tell people the same, but DH said let people bring what they want. Turned out everyone brought a completely different gift and most things we didn't actually have or know we wanted/needed!

Meh, I never buy gifts! I stick a tenner in a card as I know how overwhelming it can be to receive 29 gifts at once!!

My living room still hasn't recovered from dd's party at the end of last year!! 29 gifts just before Xmas and DH let her open them all when had to pop back to party venue for some forgotten bits!! 😱😱

I think it just makes things awkward for the other parents tbh. Just let them get a present.

People will bring them anyway. I think it's better to suggest that if people want to bring a present, something small is perfect. Our class do the fiver in a card thing and that works really well.

That seems really mean - opening all the presents afterwards is one of the joys of whole class party (and they are otherwise few and far between 😂). You might find you get cash anyway, probably 1/4 of the gifts at my six year old's party recently were cash or gift cards.

Children love to give presents and my son is very attached to some of the things he was given, which are things I would never have thought to buy him.

Just let them bring a gift, people will spend within their budget hopefully. You might only have a few whole-class parties and there’s something special when you’re 5 about having so many presents to open when you get home!

Most people round here put a fiver in the card. Some add on a packet of sweets as well. So you dont end up with loads of stuff and the birthday child can buy themselves one thing they really want.