Toddler birthday party help please

[Hogu]

I'd like to give my DS a little party for his 3rd birthday as we've not been able to celebrate it
The last couple of year due to lockdown etc.

Just a few family and friends but our list is about 30 people (including babies/toddlers) which would be too cramped in our little house.

Is it overkill hiring somewhere for a 3 year olds birthday? I'm so out of touch with these things!
Also how far in advance do you invite people to these things? It's 3 months away so how much notice do I give people (once I've found a venue)

And if I'm inviting one of his friends do I invite their mum AND dad or just mum from
Our toddler groups??

I wouldn’t invite the parents to a 3 year olds birthday party - you invite the child and at that age it’s a given that a parent will come with them (mum or dad depending on what’s on). But it’s not an adults party so they don’t need an invite!

At that age we just had a couple of friends over, no one seemed to do large parties until reception.

I would hire a cheap village hall and a bouncy castle. Say cake and drinks provided, do it 2-4 ish so too late for lunch and too early for dinner!

Send out invite about 4 weeks before! Don’t bother with party bags, I would personally say no presents please and voila!

I hired a church hall for my DD’s 3rd birthday (she’s now 7). I had a bouncy castle, party food and set up a craft table with colouring in, gluing etc, also had a speaker with music playing. I had NCT friends from when she was a baby that we were still friends with (8 of us total- both parents and the toddler for each family), my family (my brother, SIL and their three kids, my sister and my parents), DD’s dad’s family (his brother and 2 kids, his mum and partner and his grandparents), two families from our street who had two kids each, a handful of my friends who had young kids themselves but weren’t necessarily “friends” with DD. She attended private Nursery at the time but we didn’t invite any friends from there as didn’t know any parents, all different drop off times etc. The following year when she turned 4 she was at school Nursery and she had a whole class soft play party.

It is overkill, but if you’d like a party then that’s absolutely fine! Personally, I’d invite a few children over this time and wait until age 5 - Reception - before inviting the whole class and hiring a village hall.
3 is a funny age for parents staying. When my elder child was that age she didn’t like to stay at parties unless I was there. So you can assume your little party guests will be fine to be dropped off alone. It was quite rare for both parents to come along, though there was always the odd family who treated a party as a family day out and came en masse. I’ve never held or been invited to a children’s party which specified how many adults could attend with the child. I think best to invite the child only, and be flexible if a parent or two wishes to stay with them.

DD's 2nd birthday is coming up and we've hired a church hall, along with children's entertainment (who also provide lunch) & face painter.
I think we have around 20 kids coming aged from 6 months to 8 years) with 1 or 2 parents.

Because her birthday is the 18th December, I've sent invites out already because I wanted to make sure it was worth having a party or if we had lots of people unable to come, we would've just had a small family party at home.

I didn't explicitly invite parents, but it's mostly just mums that are coming, with the addition of a couple of dads. I'm just providing hot drinks and a box of M&S biscuits for the parents to pick at.

When it is your child's birthday party you need to plan a party that they will like. Not what would suit the wider family. Is he goi g to enjoy a party in a village hall or somewhere like that with thirty people? If most of them are young children he might but if there are lots of adults it can turn into a party that is not about him.

@ItsAllComingBackToMe Actually my ds is the other way round, he much prefers adult company to children!!

It's hard because he doesn't have any real friends yet being so young but I'd like to celebrate with close family and friends. Like I say, my house would be too small for even just a few people

I don’t think it is overkill, especially given the last year or so. We were living in a small flat when DS turned three so we hired a room in a local children’s centre. I think we had around 8 children and their mums and dads in most cases - we just invited the kids but assumed mums and dads would come, particularly as we were all friends. Also my mum and dad. We had party games, food and they could play with the toys in the centre.

3 year old party with a bouncy castle? Crazy suggestion. The risk of harm from that.....

Why not have a couple of different parties? A small one with a few other toddlers from nursery or playgroups with a parent, and then another one for family /close friends that wouldn't have so many toddlers.

We had a small party with 7 friends, some from nursery and some who are friends since baby days. Hired a church hall which came with the bouncy castle.

We did a mess free craft activity, brought lots of Happy Land and Megablock toys.

The bouncy castle was a big hit but we made sure the numbers on it were controlled, I think never more than 2 at a time.

If you can I would keep family and friends seperately, 30 people is huge for this age and can be overwhelming.