Whole class reception party - what to expect?

[NoLostCause]

DS1 (4) is starting reception next week. He birthday is the first week in October and he really wants a party. He doesn't know anyone going to his new school, although the majority of his class will already know each other from attending the attached preschool.

He wont really have time to get to know people before we have to organise and send out invites, so I was thinking of doing a whole class party.

The local leisure centre does parties, we've been there before and it's good and affordable. However, their party room has a max capacity of 25 children. His new class will be 30 children and there are about 5 others he wants to invite from his old preschool.

How many children usually actually turn up to a while class party? Can we risk it? It'll probably be one of the first of the year so I don't know what to expect.

I feel simultaneously stressed that either too many people will come or that nobody at all will show up!

I wouldn’t risk it if their limit is 10 children smaller than your invite list. There’s a good chance other parents see it as a chance to get to know the class parents and kids so you might get a good take up on your invite at such an early point in the school year. Are there any church halls you can hire instead? Also parents often stay for reception parties, so would the leisure centre accommodate 25 kids and parents?

I would do something separate with the other 5 children. Maybe have them over for a tea party or take them to the park on another day.
I think you can expect 5 out of 30 not to turn up, and I’m sure that even if you do end up with 26/27/28, the leisure centre will turn a blind eye. They’re only small 4 year olds (as opposed to hulking 11 year olds!). But pp has a good point about checking to see if they can cater for parents too as most if not all parents will stay. Some might even have siblings who won’t join in for the actual party but will sit with their parent.

You'll need to get a venue that can take the whole class and the 5 pre school children. At our school, a lot of them will turn up, including the parents. It's a great opportunity to meet the other parents.

My Dd's birthday is late September, just a couple of weeks after starting so we didn't do a whole class party until Year 1 as there wasn't time to organise it all. Just had a party with some of her pre-school friends instead. I wouldn't book something that can't accommodate everyone. If it's the first party, they might all be keen to attend.

Otherwise you could look for a local hall and hire an entertainer to come?

For that age I would either do a whole class party but you can't rely on 5 not coming or inviting just the boys. That is normally acceptable as well.

I would do your non-school friends separately.

A hall with an entertainer also works well at that age.

You should definitely expect the whole class. It's prime "meet everyone else" territory. You need to find a bigger venue.

I would be tempted to just do something with the 5 from pre school and do a bigger party next year

You need a bigger venue, they probably won't all turn up but they might and then what do you do?

Reception parties are IME mostly about the parents meeting each other with a kids party on the side.

Reception parties were very well attended at our child's school. It is a chance for the parents to meet as much as anything. You will need to interact with these people at various times for the next 7 years so it is worth getting acquainted (at least to find out who you want to avoid). Expecting ten not to turn up is asking for trouble. Also figure out what you will do about siblings.

OK I will rethink and send out some enquiries about local halls. You're all right, it's too risky! I'd like to do something this year to help meet some parents, especially as a lot of them will already know each other and we're one of the few new ones.

Another question - if I do a hall party will a bouncy castle and maybe a bubble machine plus food/cake be OK or will I also need to organise party games?

Some softplay allows you to hire the whole venue early or late. It's a good option if you don't fancy getting an entertainer separately. But whole venue means you can allow the siblings to stay which makes it so much easier for kids this age. Parents won't want to dump and run yet.

If you say on the invite that due to numbers, unfortunately siblings will not be able to attend, a fair few people who have siblings and no childcare won't be able to come which would free up numbers.

The siblings don't get party food so don't worry about feeding them. It's just easier for childcare if siblings are allowed. A lot of the siblings will be younger as well.

Soft play would be ideal but I can't find anywhere locally that would offer whole venue hire, most have a party capacity of 10-15 and then charge extra per child making it really expensive. I hadn't really considered siblings, but DS2 (1) will be coming so if we can find a venue that works I wouldn't mind a few coming if they really need to.

Ah, if there are no whole venue hires, then the best option is hire an entertainer and a village hall. You can usually hire inflatables too. It gets easier in after year 2 while the parties get down to 10-15 kids.

I think you’ll be fine with the first idea, not everyone will turn up and people will pull out in the day.
you can always say please RSVP by the 25th September as we need to give final numbers to the venue.

I find you either get very few, or all of them turn up. I have 3 children and they had whole class parties in reception, 9 out of 23 came to my one childs. It wasn't too bad because cousins and friends siblings (i told them to bring) made up the extra that I'd paid for. My youngest had his 5th birthday earlier this year, and there was 54 children in total... People turned up bringing the invited child and siblings without letting me know. I could have cried. Thankfully the hall could accommodate the number.

I would try and find somewhere that holds the maximum he wants to invite, just incase they do all turn up.

@NoLostCause We have just been though this. 30 kids in class. Everywhere said 25 kids max. We found a venue, sent out invites and have had a grand total of two RSVP so far! No idea if everyone else will just turn up or not bother!

@ohsoso That's what I'm worried about! A class WhatsApp has been set up and I messaged earlier in the summer about a potential park meet up and got absolutely nothing back!

Everyone turned up to DD's September reception party. Parents all stayed too so I provided them with snacks and soft drinks.
I booked a hall and entertainer.

Leisure centres, village halls, community halls, libraries, working men's clubs. Those would be where i would look for big rooms that will allow you to have a bouncy castle and a load of excited kids.

At 4yo, keep the party to 2 hrs, first hour for bouncing and playing, 30 mins for food and blowing out candles, then 30 mins for you to pack up/sort out cake into party bags while the kids play and then start to filter off.

Bouncy castle and bubble machine with some music will be plenty, they don't need party games or curated activities. Throw a load of blown up balloons around and they'll be happy as the proverbial pigs in shit.

Only thing about music is it needs to be loud to be heard over the bouncy castle.

For food, keep it really simple, the kids aren't massively interested they would much rather be bouncing and running around so there's little point going complicated. I try to stick to a fully vegetarian menu to avoid having to police the ham sandwiches.

2 types of sandwiches - jam or cheese
Crisps - big box of assorted bags
Little cakes/biscuits - jammy dodgers, chocolate fingers, mini rolls etc
Veg - cherry tomatoes and cucumber rounds
Fruit - melon slices and berries
Squash for drinks - at least 3 children will spill their cup and the rest will abandon them and drink from whichever one they find.

Parents will have to stay so it's nice to have some nicer biscuits available for them if you can and maybe some nicer fizzy drinks/flavoured water. If the venue has tea/coffee making facilities I would just point then to those and let them help themselves.

You'll also need the following items:

• roll of bin bags for tidying up and to contain 30 oddly shaped/large gifts that you'll squeeze in the car
• kitchen roll - for spills
• paper plates/bowls/napkins/tablecloths
• duck tape to fix down the tablecloths
• knife and candles for cake
• ziplock bags for leftovers
• a few plasters just in case
• any decorations/balloons you want to put up
• party bags if you're doing them

You will likely find that you get people showing up who didn't RSVP and some siblings tagging along.

@CyberCritical This is so helpful - thank you!!

Oh and if you have any family friendly pubs like the ones with whacky warehouses, sometimes they do kids parties before they open to general public.

I had this situation last year, my son was starting reception and turned five at the end of September.

We hired a hall and a bouncy castle, invited 29 and 28 turned up.

Buffet food and tried to do a few games of pass the parcel but all the kids wanted to do was go mad on the bouncy castle!

Was a great way to meet parents and put names to faces, though

We got 20 out of 30 accept in Year 1.

Writing names on cups worked really well so people didn’t keep using new cups each time they wanted a few sips. Obviously keep a few extra but it definitely reduces waste.