Would you send your 6/7 year old child to a woodland party in December?

[OhNoooooooooooooooo]

If your 6/7 year old (Year 2) was invited to a den building party in the woods in mid December.... Would you say yes?

DD is desperate for a birthday party in the woods where they can build dens, do s'mores, play on rope swings etc and have pass the parcel round the camp fire. That kind of thing. We'd have hotdogs for food.

However her birthday is 19 December. So would do party weekend before like the Saturday afternoon, 1-3 that kind of time..

Would be in our private woods behind the house, so no issues of access etc it's a contained area. It has a campfire circle already. Can easily get a gazebo through for rain....

Would you think adults would need to stay? I
Do you think I'm mad even contemplating this??

This.

If its a private woods, you can knock up some kind of shelter the day before for when they are eating and somewhere and you can cut the birthday cake.

The only downside is the weekend before Xmas is going to be very busy for families going away/Xmas shows/visiting families/markets/Xmas shopping. You might be better off holding it at the beginning of the month.

They're 6 and 7, in year 2.... not 2 years old. why would they need help wiping? If a child that age needs help wiping the parents would stay as surely they wouldn't expect an unrelated adult to help with their child's toileting?

Kids aged 6 or 7 not being able to do wild wee’s and needing help from a parent to go to the toilet - seriously - then that is exactly the reason they would benefit from this kind of experience. Obviously special needs aside but dear god the rest of it is banana’s.

Would you really let a six year old wander off in the woods unsupervised by an adult?

I would come, but that's because we never turn down a party unless we've already committed to something else. I'd privately think it was a bad idea though and would be better done with an unofficial birthday in the spring/summer. My dd has a May birthday and I won't consider hosting a party without an indoor venue, if only for a fall back. I'm not bothered about the cold, but the rain can make plans really miserable. I've been to some pretty washed-out parties in July.

We’re already in the woods and they are walking about 3 trees back and wee’ing behind a tree before coming back. So yes. It’s hardly wandering off into the deep dark woods. On our camp we actually have a compost toilet but also encourage wild wee’s should they wish to do so within the boundaries of camp. It’s very important that kids learn independence - there is no ‘wandering off into the woods’ about it - that’s a massive overreach

I’m not sure a kids party where everyone is bound to be giddy and distracted is the best place to do that.

And that’s fine that you think that but my view is based on nearly a decade of running parties and camps for children of all ages with and without parents there and in all weathers and I can promise you we haven’t lost a child yet to a wild wee in the woods. It’s also fine if your child is unable to do it without you there or would be unable to walk straight back to the activities after they have done one - as a parent you would presumably either stay or make the hosts aware but I can promise you that even when ‘giddy with excitement’ kids are capable of following basic instruction (special needs aside and you’d make hosts aware of that).

Yes but nobody expect rain in July so aren't prepared, whereas if you now youre going to be outside for 2 hours in December (wherever that may be; woods, playground, city visit, chritsmas market, fun fair), you wouldn't go in a dress and party shoes, or short and thshirt, would you?

Well, lucky for you, your kid isn't invited :P

I’m heartbroken 😂

I think this sounds like a wonderful idea. I’d very happily send mine, but I wouldn’t want to stay at that age. A weekend in mid December is going to be tricky though. Lots of people will be busy with pre-Christmas things. Do it late November or mid January instead.

Absolutely yes. Well ours are teenagers now but tbh are out all day in all weathers at the weekends through the winter and they would’ve loved this.

My kids would absolutely love this. Great idea. I would want to drop and run though unless mulled wine is on offer in which case watch out.

My son would LOVE this!!

I would definitely send mine.

From experience as a cubs leader, tell parents to send sensible footwear & coats they don’t mind getting muddy. You wouldn’t believe the number of kids who turn up in crocs or converse & are worried about joining in.

My DC would love this. I'd hate it with a passion, I'd prefer if I could drop and come back later rather than spend 2 hours stamping my feel to keep warm making small talk.

So yes but only if parents can leave.

My kids do Cubs/Beavers and they've done forest school holiday clubs in the past so I would gladly accept an invitation like this and I would send them in suitable clothes/shoes. My advice is to give very clear instructions about what they should wear - warm clothes, wellies or waterproof shoes/boots, waterproof coat, and waterproof trousers if they have them. Maybe do a WhatsApp group invite and suggest parents message in the group if they need to borrow anything.

My child had a forest party in December for their 7th birthday.

Everybody said yes to the invites 😊 We were lucky with the weather, and everybody had a great time - definitely one of my favourites.

My son has the same birthday and we've had nearly 100% attendance at his parties.I think it suits a lot of parents to drop their kids off for a couple of hours and do some last minute shopping or whatever. So I would not invite many more than you want to come.

Also I would give them an opportunity to go back to the house for the loo. Maybe take a group of anyone who wants to go, an hour or so in. I think that would be logistically easier and also kinder to 6/7 year old girls who have not necessarily been taught how to manage with jeans, potentially tights under jeans for warmth etc and are used to weeing behind a locked door with this group.

A friend of mine did a woodland party for 7 year olds and three of them ran off and hid. Properly hid, for hours. They didn't even come out when their parents arrived. But it sounds like this is a more contained area so you are not going to have that problem.

Yes but parent drop off as optional. I would drop off.

Most definitely. Children nowadays don’t get nearly enough of this type of outdoors activity. Sounds great OP!

We had a woodland party in January and it was great. Warned everyone in advance to dress appropriately and had a fire for s'mores. We were lucky with the weather but would have done it even if it was wet.

Sadly some kids still turned up in party clothes and totally not the right shoes. But we had a blast!

Sounds amazing! Mine would’ve loved this whatever the weather. I’d happily have stayed and mucked in too (d’you need any help, I love this kind of thing!)

Tarp is quite cheap so I guess you could make a more rustic shelter under trees beforehand if needed, but TBH, kids I’ve known don’t mind the rain, it adds to their excitement.

So many easy and cheap activities to do for the time of year as well (fircone baubles, twig stars, bird feeder fat balls).

Maybe just have a few old coats, blankets or gloves handy in case anyone gets a bit cold.

Yes I would. I threw a forest school party in early feb for a 3 year old. However there was a storm the day before and it nearly got cancelled so think about wet weather plan. Noone said no and it was beautiful sunshine the day after the storm.