5th birthday party in half term

[mamaaa2bee]

Hi

I'm thinking of throwing my DD a party for her 5th birthday. She's attended a few of her nursery friends and is now asking for one too.

She has just started Reception so hasn't made much friends yet. I was thinking to invite just the girls and a few more from her nursery. It would be in a hall, entertainer can do maximum of 20 children. I am hoping the teacher will slip invites into the girls bags.

Her birthday is on the last weekend of the Oct half term. Am I being silly to hold it that weekend. Will most people be away, I would prefer to have the party on her actual birthday as it falls on the Saturday before going back to school. But i'm worried that very few people will turn up. I don't mind if it's just 10-12 children that turn up. I just want my DD to have a nice party as it's the first I'm throwing and have no experience.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Reception is usually full class parties. My boys have been to plenty of princess parties and had a ball.

October half term - only other thing I’d be mindful of is the Halloween weekend. We’re already busy with a Halloween party at the end of half term! I know not everyone will have plans, but some will - especially as the weekend after will be after it / the Bonfire night weekend.

Also OP without sounding dramatic haha, if you’re aiming for that weekend you wanna get your invites out now. Give people 2 weeks to RSVP, then you know your numbers and can finalise party plans etc. My rule of thumb is usually 6 weeks ahead to give the invites out to have enough time to sort! Have you got a venue sorted?

It is a minefield when you start out with parties. You have my sympathies.

Personally we never bothered with an entertainer and one who limits the number of kids doesn't sound great tbh. I only mention this with you saying you can't afford a whole class party - I'd save money there.

It's standard practice to avoid holiday parties where we are - all the August babies tend to go in July or September and my winter baby's bffs are never here for hers when it lands in the hols so always celebrate later. This could work out well though - if you are able to invite the whole class it's highly unlikely they'll all make it and numbers should naturally dwindle.

Reception full class parties are a great way to get to know the parents and the kids but you shouldn't feel any pressure to host anything beyond your means. Good luck.

I have provisionally booked the venue I just need to pay to confirm booking, however I am now contemplating booking a different venue with an inflatable course where I can invite the whole class. She doesn't want the whole class there and I don't want any child or parent to feel left out so 🤷‍♀️

Definitely a minefield especially as its the start of a new school, there's been no parties and DD is the first so don't know what the norm is or what's expected. Still don't know if I should just invite the handful she wants to invite, maybe ask her teacher who she tends to play with or the whole class thing.. perhaps I need to flip a coin and just be done with a decision lol

My son has a half term party. I never do it that week, but wait until the week or even two afterwards. First few years always an all-class party, and I often did joint parties to share the costs.

I’ve always set up a separate WhatsApp chat to keep it all separate from the class chat. If the whole class are being invited then initial invitation can go via class WhatsApp, and then add acceptances to the new chat.

You don't need to invite the whole class if that isn't what your DD wants. I don't know why you still can't comprehend that the criticism was about excluding the little boys she plays with and wanted to invite, while inviting random other little girls just because you prefer her to be a "princess". They're 4 and 5, but you are putting in artificial friendship rules based on their genitals!!! What is that teaching your DD?

FWIW, my son is the same age and there have been two parties so far this term. One invited just specific friends (some from each of the 2 parallel classes) and one invited the whole class. Either is fine. From my experience last year, the advantage of inviting the whole class is that they are used to each other so it’s a familiar environment and they play well together. The disadvantage is that the numbers are a bit overwhelming for any party activities (can’t really play pass the parcel with 30 kids) and also kid ends up with WAAAAAY too many presents, which was also actually very overwhelming for my kid.

Yeh, at my child's school there isn't a boy/girl split happening yet. All parties are whole-class. There would be an eyebrow or two raised if parents started saying only girls (or boys) allowed at this stage. If you're concerned about your daughter not having made friends, why not just invite the whole class, especially as it's in a village hall?

Just a thought but at that age it's also quite common to have joint parties where kids are friends. Half the cost and hassle factor for a whole class party. You do get some random themes which is a bit fun "the princess and the dinosaur" was memorable but there's always one small boy in a dress and a little girl in a t-Rex costume.

Reception age kids often have a birthday chart at school for the month rather than the date (gdpr) up on the wall so sight of that might tip you off to which parents to approach but it's tricky when you don't know many parents yet.

I don't think just inviting the girls is necessarily a bad thing at this point in the year. One of DD's class had a birthday in September and mum invited all the girls. It was at their house, so there would not have been space to have the whole class. If she'd just invited those her child had mentioned so far, that might have been fairly arbitrary, or been almost entirely the ones from the main pre-school (which might be tough for those who had come in from elsewhere who might be slower to make friends). At least "all the girls" is quite clear-cut.