Kids birthday party

[goodgodingovan]

Starting to think about organising my sons 4th birthday party. We usually just have his cousins in our house but he's been asking for a party for a while now as he's been to a few.

What do you think would be better / more enjoyable for the parents and kids from the below?

Soft play party with meal provided by the centre. To get a private party it would have to be 5pm-7pm

Or

Hall with kids entertainer/disco and a buffet provided by a caterer. Timing tbc but midday/afternoon.

Age range probably from 1yo-8yo but most children would be the same age as my DS.

At that age 5-7 is a bit late but I'd still take my 4 year old and they'd enjoy it. On balance I'd go for the hall earlier in the day for a 4th birthday party.

We’ve done all sorts - choc making, bowling, ceramics, soft play etc. I always book a place where everything is so amen care of so we don’t have to do anything really!
I do think 5-7 is a bit late personally, kids will be all hyped up at bedtime.
I’d definitely go for the afternoon party :)

I'd go with the hall party and save the 5-7pm party for a few years time :) Sounds lovely OP!

(Be sure to put a date on the invitation for RSVPs so you have a solid excuse for chasing when the inevitable 60% of parents 'didn't have time' to send you a quick text to accept/decline)

My kids would have struggled to be out as late as 7 at 4 years old and would certainly have been pretty grumpy. I'd go for the other option.

I’ve been to a couple of those 5-7pm soft play parties - DC enjoyed them and we wouldn’t have said no but the combination of the late hour and the general excitement, sugary food etc isn’t an ideal combination, I was privately cursing the parents as we struggled with bedtime!

5-7 is too late for a 4 yo imo.

Hall is a better option at that age.

My kids eat 4-5pm and then it’s bed bath routine and asleep by 7. For this age group morning time is better

Seems unanimous

The hall party will be a lot more work (and probably cost more) but I do agree may be more enjoyable.
DS goes to bed around 7 but copes well with a later night at a special event. I appreciate other children may not be able to cope with it though.
I can get soft play during the day but it's shared with other people so wouldn't feel like a party to me and makes it harder for parents to socialise.

Ok looking into an entertainer now!

Is 2 hours enough for disco / games and food?

@Damntheman thanks for the tip. How far in advance do you think is reasonable to send invitations and ask for rsvp?
Party will be end July / beginning August.

The hall.

Please don’t do a party for 4yo at 5-7pm! I’d definitely turn down that invite but even those who go will be overtired / tears etc etc. It won’t be as much fun as it could be. Maybe consider a non-private softplay earlier in the day, I’ve been to a few fun ones of those. Hall parties are much better though.

We've booked a hall 2-4pm for my nearly 4-year-old's party. I've hired a bouncy castle and soft play (£125), and also booked a Mickey Mouse mascot for 45 minutes (£70), who is accompanied by someone to do party games with the kids. Not cheap all in, but plenty to keep them entertained so worth it for me!

2 hours max!

Sadly timing on invites is something I have yet to crack! Other posters might have good input though :D

Last time I did three weeks in advance and set the RSVP date at about ten days before the party which gave me some time to chase up before needing to buy food. I think we still ended up with 2 non-repliers but they at least didn't show up at all.

If your child's friends have older siblings, many will be away by late July/August, but those without school-aged kids usually go on holiday before school term ends, so this year it might be difficult to optimise. (We have a summer holiday birthday, and we usually check dates with closest friends to avoid their holidays. In practice, we've usually ended up having it in early September.)

@lanthanum we're in Scotland so most people with school aged kids go away when the English kids are still at school (end June/ early July) as it's much cheaper.

Aha - you should be okay then!

Two hours is plenty! 1.5 hours and most three/four year olds will have had enough. I agree that 5-7 is too later so you may not get as many turning up, it would mean children wouldn’t be getting to bed until 8. Don’t worry-about parents not being able to socialise that’s most people’s worst nightmare unless they know each other already.

OP, presuming your 4 year old is at school, send invites in early July, and hold the party last weekend of term if you can, or families all go off on holiday and forget the invite (bitter exprience of early August parties).

Get a bouncy castle for the hall and you're quids in. Never seen a 4 year old who didn't like them.

Bouncy castle is easy. Trays of kids sandwiches from morrisons are great. Plenty of juice/water out as they will all be roasting. 2 hours is forever at a kids party, deffo don't do any longer.
Make sure theres a brew and a box of biscuits for the adults. They will be happy their little darlings are exhausted from jumping around.

Doesn't the daytime soft play party come with a separate party room for the food and a party host? It'll still feel like a party if it does. All soft play parties we've been to are while the place is open to others and you don't even notice

@KeepThosePlatesSpinning he's at nursery, he doesn't start school until August 2021. We're in Scotland so summer holidays start in June :)

@Gamesetmatch most of the parents will know each other. Only a few nursery friends who's parents might not know each other but may have met at parties before.

Aged 3-4 my DC still needed a parent to follow them round in soft play, so an extra reason to curse soft play parties as I never got to socialise! (Believe me I tried leaving them to it and they’d get stuck or scared and I’d have to go looking for them). Much prefer a hall party where the kids mostly just get on with it and if they want you, they can run over rather than me have to squeeze myself into the playframe!

I remember my DS being at school - probably Y1 - and going to a 5-7pm soft play party. Never again - pretty much ever child was in tears at some point. They were exhausted from school, then hyper from the party and every bump became an issue. As Mums we cursed the parent organising it. By the time we got home I don’t remember who was more upset, DS or me.

We did a soft play for DSs 4th birthday - but did an early slot (10-12 I think). The centre was so quiet that it was like having a private party even though we didn’t. Soft play centres near us all have dedicated staff who manage the party and reserve tables for the party guests so parents can socialise. Kids don’t care if other children are there and it is cheaper!