To host a kids birthday party in a public park

[FascinateSlashVacinity]

We were on holiday for my son's 4th birthday recently and since we have come home he has crazed me for a birthday party.

I wasn't planning on doing a party this year as he was treated to so much whilst we were away. Pretty much everyday off our 2 week holiday was a birthday for him with presents, all you can eat ice creams, cakes, day trips and late nights etc.

I thought about inviting a handful of friends over for a simple birthday tea but the list of children has now grown to 10+. The idea of that many kids in my house is making me quite anxious. Let alone if every parent decided to drop and dash and leave me to look after them all or the other extreme of 10+ kids plus the respective adults all staying 😵

Also I am a little loathed to make my house ship shape for company only to have it trashed within 2 minutes.

This leads me on to an idea I've been toying with and I'm totally ok to accept that this might not be the done thing.

Could I invite the children with there parents to an afternoon in our local park? I'll provide the picnic food, drinks and ice lollies etc. I'd just kindly ask them to bring either a picnic blanket / chairs and to stay and supervise their children.

It would also tie in nicely with it being the last few sessions of nursery before everyone goes off to their respective schools so would be a nice gathering to celebrate that too.

So would I be unreasonable to rock up to a park and hold a party?

And would you attend such a gathering?

I would obviously let anyone else use the park whilst we are there and tidy up afterwards too.

I just did this Last Sunday for my eldest ds birthday

It's a great idea but I think depending on the the weather. We went to a horrible party where we had 2 hours in the freezing cold and really blowy because a mum didn't have a back up plan. And I'm not a snowflake mum!

I did this for my daughter lots of times. First time was 16 years ago exactly. It's her 19th birthday today!
Make sure all guests know where exactly in the park you'll be...I have distinct memories of one poor family tramping all over Victoria Park in Hackney looking for us. If you can draw little maps with diagrams.all the better.
Liberal use of bunting to demarcate party boundaries. Obviously only in a big enough park tho .
I love parties in the park. So much freedom to do whatever you want. One year it was a bit rainy but we had pagoda type shelters and rolls of IKEA paper. We drew round each child and they could then decorate their paper versions of themselves.
Treasure hunts can work as well. Although iirc, a lot of the guests seemed to prefer 🏃 around .
If people can bring a dish of food contribution that's great but as the overheads are so minimal, there is more money available for food and prizes.
I hope you have a lot of fun whatever you end up doing.

Oh and don't forget the bin bags!

We have attended multiple birthday parties like that.

Tyne That was my first thought too!

Glad it wasn't just me Gibbon

Have a great party OP

See if you can borrow a gazebo for rain or shade. It's also nice to hang balloons and banners from to make a more party atmosphere. We've even taken a bbq in the past but it wasn't a busy part of the park. We did it several times when ds wanted a football party.