To organise a children's party for 10am?

[sparklyjumper]

A party for 4-5 years olds. I want to do this but not sure if it's a bit early and will put people off.

Been over ideas, I'm on a budget, I will be doing the party with little help and it's my first one so don't really fancy keeping kids entertained with party games myself for 2 hours.

Best idea I can think of is hiring a Wacky Warehouse soft play for exclusive use meaning we can invite more children, I can do my own food and have a theme but won't really need to worry about party games, trouble is can only do this at 10am in the morning.

That should say 'Wacky Warehouse style soft play'.

I had my boys' party 10-12, it was not a problem. 4-5 year olds are usually up early, in my experience!

We had it at a local party place, they have these times available so must have successful parties at that time.

Only problem we had was some guests arriving late as they had to go to football training first.

fuck that's early! make sure they serve good coffee if you want people to come

DD1 went to a soft play party today at 10.30. Was fine.

(yes if it's a saturday lots of swimming/football/music etc pre paid courses are on at 10ish, and if it's a sunday people go to church)

I prefer an early party and the ones I've been to have worked well. Go for it, I say.

10am on a Saturday morning is peak time for activities. I think all of mine are doing something at that time including my four year old.

Id prefer this to the dreaded 2-4 slot which feels like it makes it impossible to do anything else onthat day2

Although at least at the time it would not eating into our day too much.

That's normal time for private hire. I've not had a problem with it yet.

The other private hire time is 4-6, weekday or weekend, which is awful as all the children are wired and tired.

I think the 10-12 slot is pretty standard for children's parties isn't it? Not too early at all.

How much notice can you give? Some children will have activities - swimming etc but given 3 weeks notice many would probably be able to make it. Does your dc have some specific friends? For my dc there are about 3-4 'essential' friends each, I generally check dates with their parents before handing out invites. Beyond those specific friends you could probably fill the place with second cousins thrice removed and my dc wouldn't mind. (well dd1 might now she's a bit older).

If there are any children in the class with a birthday around the same time I generally check that I don't clash with their plans, or sometimes have had a joint party with them to cut the costs and effort. We have a class list with DoB, but the teacher might be able to point out any relevant children with nearby birthdays, or send message to them. Hope it goes well.

Has anyone got any good ideas? Wacky Warehouse is an option but I'd be limited on numbers and of course some might not turn up and their place would be wasted. Plus exclusive use there is 9am and for a pricey fee. Any other time at the weekend is packed out and horrible and I wouldn't really go there myself let alone hold a party.

No way am I doing it at home my house is too tiny. I've looked at hiring halls but they cost as much as this soft play room and I'd have to organise all the games and I'm too lazy/disorganised/scared to do it. Do want to do my own food though.

I like a morning party. Play and an early lunch. Brill.

Wacky warehouse is my idea of party hell, we have always hired halls which is much cheaper if you do the entertainment yourself which is not that hard.

I think that's a great time for a party for little ones, gets it all sorted and saves having a day of the b-day child getting more and more hyper with expectation.

If people have footie or swimming (footie? Really? for 4yos?), well they'll either have to miss it or miss the party. That's up to them but I wouldn't factor it in, you can't really.

FWIW we avoided Saturday or Sunday activities on purpose till it was unavoidable, a lot older than 4yo.

It sounds early to me! But it's not unheard of for a party to star this earlier or even earlier if a special visit somewhere is planned. And five year olds are usually full of energy at that time. I prefer afternoons myself. But go ahead if that's what you want.

It's 3 months away so can give plenty of notice, looking now as this place gets booked up really early.

He's only in reception so don't know other parents too well yet. He seems to have one special friend and about 5-6 other established friends. So guess I could check with them if I go with the WW idea, still hate the bloody place though. Other place can have up to 35 children although I think realistically 20.

As for having it at home, two or three best friends, his own toys, and a bit of food would be ample for a 5th birthday.

I think it will be fine but some people won't be able to come because of saturday morning dance class, swimming etc.

Is a Sunday morning available?

Sounds good to me - 10am is almost afternoon for most 4 yr olds

Or for the price of 20+ at softplay, 3-4 friends plus an optional parent each to a "kids' special" screening, popcorn and a drink, then lunch at eg Nando's or F&B's - check your local big cinema like Odeon or Vue.

This is what we are probably planning for DS1's 5th. Our cinema is in a big "outlet village" so I expect most parents will drop and run, or send dad in while mum shops. The screening is 9.30 or 10, not necessarily a new film, and hellish pretty lively.

I'm with Horatia - Invite the 5 or so he is friends with, to your house. You can do the food, do a few games, and they will probably play on their own for a bit as well. It will be lovely.

sounds fine and preferable to the ones slap bang in the middle of the day.

Yanbu, I have a friend who always does them on a Sunday at 3pm arrrrrrgh!! 10am parties would be brilliant.