If you did a whole class party, how much did it cost you?

[35andThriving]

Also, what did you do in terms of activities?

I am looking to organise a party for an 8 year old. I have never done it before and wondered if people would share their experiences / thoughts

Thanks.

Most cinemas do a weekend morning kids show. At Odeon you can take in your own snacks ( not sure about other cinemas) so for a class of 30 plus four adults you're looking at £110 for tickets, plus a snack bag you make yourself with water or juice, hardbody and popcorn.
Meet at quarter of an hour before the show. Parents take them back after the film, or, If you have the budget go to one of the restaurants near the cinema for the kids meal afterwards. Frankie and Bennies do a kids meal which would bring the whole thing incl cinema to less that £10 a head.

Church hall and disco/entertainer was approx £300 including food and party bags

One of the cheapest and least work we did was hire a cinema - £150 for upto 40 then food approx £50

If it's February you should be able to get good deals on Easter eggs for take home presents! (Dd is March bday and that always went well - we stacked up a variety and let them choose)

Did one for dd's(6) birthday in December.
It cost about £400+
Had a magician, food, birthday cake, party games prizes, party bags, decorations.
Next Year she will be inviting ONE friend for dinner at McDonald's 😂😂

I always do it at home. I make the birthday cake and lots of desserts. All decorations from Amazon or eBay. Most recently I had a bbq (autumn time) and fed all the kids and parents and siblings and even some grandparents. Lots of booze for the grown up and juice for the little ones. Everyone always have a great time because it’s like a big play date! The numbers do tend to spiral out of control sometimes but it’s all good fun.
A friend of mine makes pots and pots of stews/curries beforehand which always goes down well too.

We did one for DS’s 4th birthday, it cost about £500 all in 😳 the biggest cost was an entertainer (£250) so you could do it much cheaper by doing party games etc yourself. Then it was £50 hall hire, about £50 on kids’ food (sandwiches, crisps, sausage rolls etc), £50 on party bags and £90 on a fancy cake I had made (which was lovely but I wouldn’t bother again, it got cut up straight away for party bags and DS wouldn’t have cared if it came from the supermarket!)

There were no 5th birthday parties due to COVID. Now the 6th birthdays are rolling around and there have been a few whole class parties but not many - a lot seem to be doing smaller parties for 10/15 kids. We’re following suit and doing one for 15 for DS.

Village hall hire for 2 hrs DNA kids party entertainers ..disco we had games and food for 40 kids and parent,,sweet trolley party bags £600 quid, I did way too much and wouldnt do the same again but I would have the entertainers they were amazing,I thought with being a nationwide company they might at best be average but they were brilliant!

I did in November!
Large garden so I hired a mobile farm for 7 year old DD for 3 hours. No cap on numbers with the ' small events " package which said class parties/fetes/weddings and they also did the entertainment ( eg party games, animal handling, alpaca walking). It cost me £300 when you factor in hot dogs and cake for 30 but given the cheapest option for trampolining was £13pp for an hour, I thought it was an absolute steal!

Thanks for all these responses. I feel like I have a few more options that I wouldn't have thought of without this thread.

DD’s 6th birthday party she had a joint party with some others in her class. It was at a local trampoline place. It was amazing but so expensive at £20 a head! A full class plus siblings came to around £700! We could only afford it because we split the cost with a number of other families.

I did a big one for my DS's class when he started school, it cost me nearly £500😳
I am planning to do one for DD when she starts in September, time to save up!

Do you definitely want an all class party? I have to say my daughter has actually enjoyed the most have been the smaller ones. The big ones always seem to get a bit overwhelming. I’m torn between doing an all class one as there have been so many or just doing something quite small which I think she’d actually prefer.

We've always done whole class parties and whether we do it at home with an entertainer, or go to a venue like trampolining it's £200-300.

Bunnycat101 - Yes, definitely want to do a class party.
We haven't actually been at this school long, so don't want to pick and choose which kids to invite and accidentally miss off a child that could potentially have been a really great friend.

Thanks for all these suggestions.

[quote WakeUpLockie]@borisisaknob that is awesome, we have woods over the road - did you have to ask anyone or you just did it? I’d feel so shifty but sounds really cool![/quote]
Yeah just woods down the road. It's a kinda community thing so I just cracked on with it.

I don't think anyone "owns it" and a few people walking while the party was on said aww how lovely.

The community usually does an Easter egg hunt and a spooky walk at Halloween so it gets lots of use

Not a lot, under £100 but a long time ago now - 3 hours at village hall was £15, would be £30 now, entertainer was £40 because she was their old preschool teacher, then party bags, some craft activities and sandwiches etc. Only 20 in the class, small village school

I have a soft play party booked for feb. 30kids. 1.5 hrs £160.00. 30 party bags, around £50.00
Party decs/plates etc £10.00
Now just the food to buy. Probably £50.00

Thanks all.