9 year old son birthday party is this fun or a rubbish dea ?

[Grk]

My son is turning 9 in a few weeks (he has ADHD and potentially autism but he is the sweetest little boy ) he does act very immature and speech is babyish and delayed so does show a big difference between his class mates when there together!

As much as I'd love to do a big hall party with a bouncy castle with all his class and other friend's,its going to be super stressful for us all not to mention the cost hall hire bouncy castle food entertainment ect and I don't think he'd fully enjoy it and will become overwhelmed so we're considering a small gaming party at home for about 10 kids max (all boys he wants ) after school for a few hours going from 3.30-7pmish

Son loves gaming! the switch, the Wii, any type of computer console ! We was thinking setting up the consoles on various TVs around the house. Getting McDonalds for dinner and just letting them do whatever they want . We do have toys, hot wheels, building magnets, mini figures(Minecraft,mario,Pokémon) just random bits of toys, bored games and loads of Lego that is broken down so they can rebuild what they want but will they get bored? We've got a small garden so no trampoline or outdoor toys

Would pass the parcel be too immature at this age any party games any ideas truly welcome. We live in a small village we have a bowling alley that does party's but that's all there is .

It sounds brilliant, they'll love it.

Sounds good to me. My DD had a pass the parcel when turning 9 with things to do in it e.g. tell a joke or do 5 star jumps. We put 2 options on each so they weren't put on the spot.

I do think that's quite a long party though. Here parties tend to be 2 hours. If it's straight from school 3.30ish, I'd do pick up by 6.

Sounds pretty great to me. I think my youngest took a few friends to a trampoline place for his 9th birthday. Quite low key, 2hrs max then we were home.
I wouldn't do pass the parcel. At that age they're just happy to hang out, play some computer games and eat some food. Easy!

My boys would have loved that at age 9. I think we went to a laser place, I certainly wasn't doing huge hall parties by then.

Sounds fun, but possibly too long a party to keep them entertained the whole time. A couple of hours, yes. I think pass the parcel might be a bit too babyish sorry.

I would only do 2 hours and probs not all over the house. It will become chaotic and kids will end up where they shouldn’t - my eldest was adhd/asd and too much of everything everywhere was overwhelming. Keep it simple and if you want to do pass the parcel/games, so those first then good then gaming after because once they’re gaming it’s tough to get them off and they probs won’t want to stop gaming for PtheP and food!

@UdoUboo don't be sorry honestly I want opinions thank you
Yes maybe a 6 pick up is better then. If they come home from school and play then they ate around 5 ?. We could cut cake then a bit more play before pick up.
He wants a Capybara themed party also so everything capybara related 😂 temus got some great bits for party bags I'm already looking.
His struggling who to invite though also because he doesn't have many close friends and I feel guilty you can't invite everybody

10 kids is a lot to have round. I'd go for 3 guests plus birthday boy. Any more and there's potential for fighting over whose turn it is, who has been playing the longest. One console or game will turn out to be the favourite and they'll all be crowded round that one.

Home from school, quick snack, gaming till 5 ot 5.30, takeaway pizza then more gaming until parents are home from work and ready to collect.

Honestly doesn’t sound like a proper party to me. Kids separating into different rooms to stare at separate screens.

can’t they play a real life game together? I think Board games are a nicer idea. Ds recently went to a party where they had a treasure hunt with clues hidden through the house and garden that they all loved.

There’s a gaming party bus thing around us, it comes to you and has loads of consoles and stuff set up inside, funky LED lights. Might be worth seeing if there’s anything like that around you if you did want something outside the home.

Are there games he likes specifically that lend themselves to a tournament sort of setup so it has them playing together more than individually? Like a FIFA tournament or that sort of thing? Just thinking it might become fragmented with everyone off doing their own thing.

@friendsonly I totally get what you mean as I dud think the same hence I wanted advice
Son favourite thing is gaming however and most of the friends he wants is also .we do have an open plan house living room dining room and kitchen so the game consoles can allbe set up in one room so there together and then they could go to his bedroom if they wanted to play with toys also

A party should be something you enjoy, if he likes gaming then a gaming party it can be!!
maybe don’t badge it as a party, just invite a couple of friends back after school to play (then they can play whatever they fancy) and tea with birthday cake. I’d keep pick up 6pm at the latest.

I’d just do a couple of hours or so, get some pizzas or McDonalds in and let them loose on the games. I wouldn’t bother with party games at that age, I think they’ll probably just want to keep gaming! I’m sure they’ll all love it - kids don’t really have that high standards when it comes to parties. If they get to play with friends and get to eat junk food, they’re happy!

it sounds fun but be warned they will probably all be very hyper and loud. I once did a party at my house for DS when he was about 7 and I had 5 boys and it was an insane couple of hours. I would definitely just do 2 hours or maybe 2.5 at a push.

the gaming bus is fun - mine have been to parties with a gaming bus before. However I do think they’re probably costly.

Im sure they’ll enjoy it either way. I get that he likes gaming and most of his friends will too but it just seems like what they’d do on a normal evening home alone or having friends round on a random school night for dinner and not much of a party.

Sounds like fun, op.

I'm also arranging a 9th party for a group of kids aged between 4 and 10. Also worried that pass the parcel might be a bit babyish for the older ones. I'm thinking about doing a lucky dip instead. Amazon have gaming themed party favours that you can buy by the ton and cheap as chips. Maybe you could try that instead of pass the parcel?

Sounds fun but could be tricky if arguing over consoles/games? Gaming bus could be fun but expensive? If you have a load of Nerf guns my son aged 10 has been to and loved lots of Nerf parties at home. The little Nerf guns you can buy for around £2 so I have done one each as a party bag before :)

This sounds brilliant OP.
My son would love it - he isn't allowed screens at home (but I am totally aware he uses them at friends' houses and that's cool) so he would feel such a rebel hahaha
Oh and he would love a bit of cheeky pass the parcel. Probably would play it cool but secretly love it.
Hope he has a fab day.

Have looked into a party bus thanks for those recommendations, there is one that would come to us however 90 mins is £205 but the kids could then play all different sorts of games on it

Or there's another one that is cheaper £160 for 90 mins but the kids all play the same game
It looks and sounds great but wow it's a lot of money!
Oh I can't decide now because they'd also be kept in one place all in the bus and it looks amazing so would be more exciting than a house but £200 is more expensive than what the bowling alley would cost to hire for 10 that includes food

Agree! I don’t get why gaming is a party these days.

my friend’s son has ADHD and was adviced ro reduce screen time and junk food, but this child is having a gaming party w McDonald’s?

We did pass the parcel for a 9th birthday party and they all loved it 🤷‍♀️ not sure why people have said it's babyish.

It sounds cool. I'm sure as long as your son has the kind of party he likes that's all they matters. No young boy will complain about gaming and eating McDonald's.

I think you should ask him what other activities he wants? Just stuff you can do or make at home obviously. To me pass the parcel is grand but I'm not very up to date with such things!

I think 10 x 9year olds is a lot to have in the house (even for a couple of hours). I would be inclined to go with the cheaper gaming bus so as they a playing the same game, assuming it is a game that they all play so as they don’t bicker over who is playing what and it is hopefully less overwhelming. You might also find that you can’t get 10 kids after school. Some might have clubs and things that the parents don’t necessarily want them to miss.

Update- we decided on 7 friend invites gone out and we've reduced the time down now so earlier pick up now I'm starting to think on what else to do to entertain them. I've ordered a pinata from temu . Really not sure about pass the parcel

What about the thing where you hang up donuts on strings and you have to eat them without using hands? It’s very silly but went down a storm at the very mixed age family event we were at the other day.

Have you got much garden space?