Things you like and dislike at kids parties

Soft play are the easiest. There are some that are better than others. Parties in halls are usually hard work. We went to a nice one at a farm where the kids could pet the animals and there was also a soft play attached. I’ve only seen one good party entertainer in the 9 years I’ve been going to kids parties. Never seen characters go down well tbh.

I like the parties where I can just chat to my friends while the children use up their energy.

Bouncy castles are dangerous.
characters or entertainers are great. Some will bring things like parachute and disco lights and bubbles and lead the games and dancing.
i love when there are drinks and snacks for adults.

We did a walk through the woods and set up a table with some food and games at the end.

The kids absolutely loved it. They ran through the woods together, climbed on trees etc.

Very low cost.

Yes, these or the multi-sport YMCA type parties, where they run about a lot (and we have children with disabilities in my family, but all were welcomed and offered alternatives).
I hate the princess type parties when they just put on make-up and saying football is for boys!

Dislike lack of seating for parents, and party bags that are full of plastic crap. I’ve been to ones where the kids got a book and a slice of cake and I thought that was good.

Like:

village hall parties
plenty of hot drinks and food for parents
90 minutes max
buffet instead of individual boxed food for the kids
simple food and some fresh stuff
a quiet area with a craft, colouring in, play dough
loads of balloons, most kids will spend longer playing with balloons than on a bouncy castle
face painting or glitter tattoos

Dislike:

entertainers, my kids hate them as they’re always way too loud
people in those huge character suits - a handful of kids always freak out
music too loud
only beige food
party bags filled with tat
sweet cones

You'll never please everyone!

Where I live most people have pretty much the same sort of party, eg I can’t remember anyone doing a soft play party but there isn’t one nearby.

Went to a swimming party once, where as part of it, there was a room for buffet food. No need for games!

Hate party bags. We always used to do a fancy cupcake for them to take home

Like a speedy facepainter!

I like a soft play party, literally nothing to do to either as the organiser or the guest.

I don't mind a village hall type one but it needs to be a good entertainer. Neither of my DC like a princess and so always groan when Elsa/Cinderella/whoever turns up, especially if they switch the bouncy castle off.

Parties where there's wine but they didn't say so you drove and now you can't have a drink. The worst.

I don't like lunchtime parties, it just ruins the whole day, and my lunchtime.

Too many parents.

It might depend on the kids invited but my kids at that age liked:
Dressing up, simple games like a treasure hunt looking for coins/eggs/lego etc in the garden, simple crafts, action songs but mostly they won't really dance to a disco for more than a couple of minutes unless they are being told/shown what to do. A bit of space for running around like nutters. Easy to eat food (don't bother with sandwiches). We never paid for an entertainer but I teach so am quite capable of running activities for kids (especially as I had my retired teacher mum on hand to help), I can see the benefit of an entertainer if you don't feel up to doing it yourself. They liked soft play but it never felt very special especially if not private hire.

At age 4 I like 90 min parties with a small group of friends. There’s a small softplay near us which is relatively small and tame so it only attracts the 5-and-under crowd, and only has space for one party at a time. It’s lovely.

I also like the parties at our local leisure centre that have several bouncy castles and some “big toys” like trikes and tunnels and foam shapes.

I dislike long parties, parties with obnoxious entertainers, and parties where the food is served at 2pm-3.30pm.

Oh gosh, I've just also thought about parties over mealtimes where there are no adult snacks and I want to resort to cannibalism.

Don't give my kids beige party food, a huge slice of thickly coloured ice cake and then a party bag with haribo, chocolate and plastic junk in.

Also we went to one with a children's entertainer that did the same thing for nearly an hour. I was bored to tears.

I like them to get a good play time, soft play, castle whatever. Don't invite so many kids it's carnage though.

As an aside, why do some kids have to scream to play?

I went to one where I'd sexted the entertainer back when I was single. I did not like that.

Like: good entertainers who engage ALL the kids. Soft play if exclusive.

Dislike: bad entertainers, or bouncy castle free for all. Softplay in a massive space, not exclusive, so have to keep checking on your child.

Really dislike: Opening presents at the party. Please never do this!!

It goes to show you can’t please everyone as honestly I really don’t like parties at peoples houses and I always feel a bit sorry for the child. But some people seem to love them, although not sure how much of that is related to costs.

Go retro - pass the parcel, pin the tail on the donkey etc.

I can’t stand entertainers - they always have the sound up to max volume so the sound distorts it’s so loud. Most of the time my children won’t participate because it’s just too noisy and intimidating.
The best ones for me are when you either drop the children off and leave (ideal) or the children go off and play in someone’s garden or a village hall with an activity eg nerf, go carting, gaming (not loud disco/entertainment) with food and drink for the adults supplied.

Party games. There’s nothing actually wrong with party games being part of a party, but on a personal level I just sometimes wish people wouldn’t do them. My DD has Autism and while she enjoys being part of party games, she has a meltdown at the end if she doesn’t win.

Yep, that’s our challenge to deal with and the world doesn’t revolve around us. But quietly I dislike the party games very much.

My kids are older now, but a thing I really appreciated was snacks and drinks just for the adults if they are having to hang around.

Kids, to be honest, were happy with most things; theme entertainers, craft type parties, musical entertainers. Just do try to get reviews/personal recommendations because I think some people advertising can be pretty lacklustre. All the people we used were pretty good, one or two were really outstanding.

You may want to avoid lots of balloons lying around because sometimes what happens is the more boisterous kids discover they can pop them and you have 2 hours of balloons banging and the more sensitive children crying at the noise (and it's no picnic for the parents). I've seen it happen

Oh and I hate build a bear parties - so many tears at the end when some parents are buying their kids accessories and some can't afford it. Awful.

I dread the entertainers - give me a bouncy castle any day

I like it when they provide fizz and cake for adults 😁

I don't like bouncy castles if there are a wide range of ages at the party as the little ones get squashed.

And very simple party bags. A balloon, some crayons