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Original poster

If you’ve recently organised a birthday party for your 5, 6 or 7 year old...

44 replies

Ohfgsnotagain · 13/03/2022 17:32

What type of party was it? How many children did you invite eg whole class or select few/bunch and how much did you spend?

I’m trying to organise a party for my 6 year old. The standard in her class seems to be whole class, hired hall, hired entertainer to run it (which is fab but approx £250 for 2 hours) plus decorations, food, cake, goody bags etc..... it’s totalling to an eye watering amount of around £700! Seriously considering taking 10 friends to a soft play party package instead.

OP posts:

OdeToSadDisco · 13/03/2022 20:00

DD turned 6 recently. We did a trampoline park party for 15. Including food, cake and party bags it cost around £300.

ElliotGoss · 13/03/2022 20:57

DD is 5 in April. She is having a scientist party at a local venue that specialises in parties. It's £400 for 30 kids (mix of school friends, nursery friends, club friends and relatives) including food. I've spent another £60 on a cake. £20 on the invites (They were gorgeous though). Probably another £30 on party bags and will spend roughly the same again on decorations. She has had some seriously awful birthdays that have broken my heart (family drama and covid) and I'll have a newborn so I'm throwing money at the problem!

redchicken · 13/03/2022 21:01

We join forces with other children in the month - whole class goes and rent out a soft play or trampoline place, order pizzas and mums bring the birthday cakes. If children want to bring a gift then suggested is five pounds or voucher for 5 points. So much simpler and keeps cost down for parents hosting and parents giving gifts.

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6 year olds

Scotinoz · 13/03/2022 21:05

We’ve had a mix recently - nerf gun, trampoline park, old school style at house with party games and tea. All have been very much enjoyed.

SugarMiceInTheRain · 13/03/2022 21:05

I just did a movie party for 8 yo DD and she had 7 friends over, they watched Encanto on Disney + then ate party food squeezed round our kitchen table. I put up lots of bright decorations round the house. All loved it and a few parents said they might copy the idea of a movie party

CaramelEmporium · 13/03/2022 21:11

Local cafe/ pottery painting about £11 per head for the painting plus home made food.

Wigeon · 13/03/2022 21:18

Cannot believe the cost of some of these! At that age we mostly did parties at home - traditional party games, maybe a craft activity of some sort, traditional party tea, everyone seemed to love it. Very low cost. Around 5-8 guests. My DDs are only 10 and 13 now, so this wasn’t that long ago.

Twizbe · 13/03/2022 21:21

We did the whole class in a local park for our son's 5th birthday.

We asked parents to stay as they were going to be playing on the equipment.

We had snacks and cake. Pass the parcel and a few other games.

We did party bags and offered to buy all the adults a hot drink from a local cafe.

This was in January. We were worried about the cold but the kids loved it.

MotherWol · 13/03/2022 21:31

Whole class party for DD’s 6th birthday, we did a joint party with another child from her class. Hired the adventure playground (£100) did snacks and pizza, no entertainment besides the playground and some music. Very relaxed and low-key, the whole thing came in under £200. Plus it’s a nice venue to hire as they’re a charity so the money goes back into the community.

womaninatightspot · 13/03/2022 21:34

I'm organising a party at the moment, live rurally so doing it in the woods. Marshmallows round a campfire and a treasure hunt for for 12. I'd agree it either costs money or time, sometimes both. I think the party will cost around 200 quid. Half of that is party bags which I've splashed out on some nice craft stuff. That way if it's rained off I can take them indoors with a nice premade activity and some party games. Other half is food, decorations and some reusable bits and bobs tarps for den building etc.

Figgygal · 13/03/2022 21:36

My youngest turned 5 in October just after starting school
He wanted his nursery friends there which meant we had to arrange it before he started school but he also wanted a trampoline party which had a max of 15 so we only invited a handful from school.

Tiddlesthecat · 13/03/2022 21:44

How do you get from £250-£700?
Daughters sixth party - 35 kids invited. Hall hire £80 for four hours (to allow set up and tidy). Bouncy castle £80 for two hours. Food for kids £40 (had loads left over). Cake ingredients £20. Tea/ Coffee/biscuits for parents £10. Party bags/prizes £60. £290. I could have done it cheaper. Most I know probably spend around £250 or less for a kids party.

safefacespace · 13/03/2022 22:00

12 for laser tag £16 pp

DockOTheBay · 13/03/2022 22:05

Party at home. 6 friends, birthday girl and her sister. Pass the parcel, musical statues etc. She loved it

Cake & cupcakes - about £20 because I chose to buy a shaped cake tin
Food - £10 ish (frozen pizza, mini sausages, fruit and veg)
Decorations - cost of printer ink + £1.65 for balloons
Entertainment - £1.50 for pass the parcel gift, about £3 on other sweets and prizes.
Party bags - about £15 in total

bluebunnyblue · 13/03/2022 22:09

In October our 7yo did a Clip'n'climb party, joint with another girl in her class, 18 kids in total and about £20 a head so each family paid ~£180. This included the climbing and the party food.

In January our 5yo did a Little Gym party, 16 kids in total, again about £20 ahead. This time it only included the gym activities, we had to supply food.

DockOTheBay · 13/03/2022 22:13

£20 on the invites
Wow!

Makeitsoso · 13/03/2022 22:13

I’ve done two. For one we hired a cheap hall, a bouncy castle and then I bought some crafts and made the food. It cost probably £250 but hall hire was something like £30 so very cheap!

Second one my DC invited 7 friends from school to a soft play party. Cost less… £150 ish but also a lot less effort!

DC preferred the hall party but I was super stressed so wouldn’t repeat it!

Makeitsoso · 13/03/2022 22:16

@SugarMiceInTheRain

I’m definitely stealing this for next time!

badlydrawnbear · 13/03/2022 22:16

DD was 7. Her party was at soft play (I thought she would be too old but I suppose they missed a lot of soft play parties in lockdown). She invited a selection of school friends, there were about 12 kids there and I think it was £12 each for everything except party bags and cake. It was the day after DH’s funeral so needed to be as easy as possible for me. For party bags I got a couple of big boxes of various fidget toys from The Works and shared them out with some packs of sweets.
She went to a friend’s party recently in a church hall. About £20 kids, bouncy castle, interactive science activities entertainer, take-away pizza, sweets. I don’t know how much it cost though.

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