How to make an adults' party kid-friendly?

[ThePartyArtist]

DP and I are planning a joint-30th birthday party this autumn, which would be at a venue other than our house (thinking of a local café / bar type-place). My question is how can we ensure the party is fun for quite a diverse crowd, as the majority will be childless friends & relatives (multi age), but there will be a few friends with a baby / toddler (none with more than one child per family)? People will be travelling from the other end of the country so I want to make sure they can enjoy themselves even with a little one in tow.

Any practical suggestions on setting, timing, activity, provisions etc. for making an adults’ party kid-friendly would be very welcome!

How about a 'kids corner' with colouring in books, some toys, bubbles, balloons etc.

You could make each child an age appropriate party bag in advance with lots of little token gifts to keep them entertained.

Ensure you offer appropriate kids food alongside the adult options.

I'm assuming it's a daytime party, as anytime after 8pm I'd prepare for kids to get tired and start melting down and parents to get stressed.

I'm not sure about your budget but would their be a possibility of hiring a mobile creche, and a separate room in the venue to show a kids movie / let kids run around.

Thanks for the ideas! The party bag is a good one (no budget for creche, plus not worth doing for a handful of babies).

With the exception of one or two young teens, it'd be mainly babies / toddlers, and probably only about 6 of those. It's really only about 6 couples (out of about 120 people) who will have kids with them, so I'd like to make it an evening do (at least in part) so that it keeps an adults' party vibe.

I do realise though, an evening do is going to be tricky for those friends with kids (and most of them don't have anyone to leave babies with, and will be travelling). Can you think of a solution? I was thinking a party that spans daytime into evening, but I don't really have the stamina to start before 5pm and go through to the early hours, and 5pm is probably about peak time for toddler meltdown?!

If I was invited to a special party (30th) in the evening. I would definitely not take ds, I'd either get a babysitter or come alone (without dp) . My ds is always in bed by 7pm and trying to keep him up any later always results in tired tantrums.

However, some parents are happy enough for kids to sleep in pushchairs whilst they enjoy the party. But that depends on the age/temprement of the child. It wouldn't have worked for us.

I'd make clear on your invites that children are more than welcome but parents shouldn't feel obliged to bring them . They might relish the opportunity of a child free night.

You may also struggle to find a venue that is licenced for children in the evening?

why don't you give them a ring/email and see what would work for them.

We have a local restaurant with a courtyard type garden that do very fancy garden party type events / bbqs .... a mid afternoon (for food) into evening may work if it is an early autumn party.

having said that I am not a late night party person, prefer daytime events....

...also depends on the vibe of party you are after. daytime parties are more sociable and people tend (ime) to chat more and get to know each other, so work quite well if you have people who don't see each other often / extended family etc.

Evening parties tend to be a little more about the drink......

Thanks everyone! I think probably an evening / nighttime party would be best for us.

It's actually only 4 couples (out of 120 or so people) I am thinking about with the baby situation. All but one would be travelling from the other end of the country. The kids will be 6months, 1yr, 2.5yr and 4yr.

I suppose I should probably just go for it with an evening do (if that's not too selfish!) and they can work out what to do with the kids - either leave them with partners and only one of the couple attend; get a babysitter (but that means being away from child for whole weekend so unlikely) or bring kids to a late party...

I can't really see any other solution if we want to have an evening do... in people's experiences would a 6pm start help at all, or is even that too late with the above ages?

I'd like to keep the budget down. Does anyone have practical experience of making a pot-luck supper arrangement work? (I have been to one wedding that did that and it was a bit of a logistical nightmare!)