Reception party - Pyjama or magic/clown?

[Pyjamaormagic]

My DS will turn 5 soon and I need to plan his party.

Which theme do you think is best?

1. Pyjama - 30 class kids to be wearing their pyjamas and have fun, musical pillows, glitter tattoos etc.

1. Magic/clown party - With some tricks, games etc.

I am a bit bored of the superheros/Frozen parties and I am trying to think of something different but I can't think of something that will appeal to both sexes.

AIBU - Pyjama
AINBU - Magic/clown

I am either too innocent or I can't see the problem as I am not originally from the UK! But I won't have a PJ party, thank God I made this thread....

OK here are some ideas of gender neutral parties my kids attended at that age: space, under the sea, Christmas (someone borrowed loads of Christmas trees and made a kind of narnia in their living room), summer fete, secret seven, spies, forest school type stuff, Harry Potter (probs slightly older but I think from 6/7), sports day, science,
. My dn just had a lifeboat party but that's a tad niche. All fun. I think mumsnet likes to be competitively ascetic about parties. You can use a bit imagination without committing social suicide.

Jungle? If you wanted entertainment you could have someone doing facepaint/balloon animals. Tonnes of ideas for games here:
33 Animal Party Games for Jungle Safari Birthday - Fun Party Pop

If he likes Lego, but you don't want to repeat yourself, does he like Lego Ninjago or Lego Batman/ another lego franchise? Makes it a little different.

Also pjs are the last thing you replace with new ones when you are skint because only you and your children see them. When I was a single mum they wore them until they were far far too short. They were invited to a pyjama party by a friend who thought she was being kind. My mum bought them new ones because I had no money for any of that.

Spots and Stripes party. They can come with simple patterns painted on or in something they already own, or full costumes as things like zebras and air balloons.

one was princesses, the other superheros, the other frozen, the other tractors and the other pirates.

Talk me through a tractor themed party, with particular reference to the dressing up?

Get a bouncy castle with bubbles.

I did a Peter Pan themed party for DD1 when she was 5.
Whole class party.
Lots of themed games ( stations, pass the parcel with treasure trove box, musical statues, scrub the decks game etc.)
I made a ton of props, elaborate pirate ship themed birthday cake, tons of cupcakes and sandwiches etc. It took hours of preparation.

I am a teacher so a group of 30 kids held no fear for me. I was well known for my class management and my pupils were usually very well behaved.
The thing I hadn't banked on was they saw me as DDs mum, not their teacher...

Girls dressed as Tinkerbelle ran round in circles screaming wielding their magic wands, and the boys, dressed as pirates or crocodiles all growled at each other and got involved in sword fights ( these were quickly confiscated.) DD got upset as I spent the whole party dealing with other kids and their squabbles.
IT WAS A FUCKING NIGHTMARE!!!

Get a magician...

I hear what you say about the other parties having a theme but by perpetuating the idea that it is a must, you are just adding to the stress for parents whose children's birthdays come later in the school year. Be the one who is brave enough to do something different.

This that @Fridayagainandagain said.

@Pyjamaormagic Can you explain to me why you feel a party needs to dictate what people wear ? Why each child can't just come in what they want to wear ?
Seriously, there would have been times when the expectation to dress in a certain way would push me over the edge and I'd turn down the invitation.

I think PJ's is an odd choice for a birthday party because it's so dull, but I'm not on board with the all the squealing about safeguarding.

Schools round here do a PJ day every year! There's really nothing inappropriate about a child wearing a long sleeve top and trousers in public. Are all your kids sleeping in bikinis?

I bet it's remembered fondly by the kids 😂, sounds like it was a lot of fun (for them, not so much for you!).

My son had a magician at 5, kids and adults loved him. It was truly brilliant!

I don't understand why it has to be a themed party for a 5 year old. I agree with PP no pyjama theme and no clowns or 'magic'.

What about a trip to a petting 'zoo' or farm? Most children love little animals and it's good to encourage empathy with animals.

There has been a stop in my country doing this as safeguarding concerns were raised. Pjs are worn at home where only family see them.

They tend to be very thin material and in some cases don't offer the children modesty.

It also was noted by adult SA survivors that they wouldn't attend or participate as they found it too triggering.

It's a very easy thing to avoid hence th reduction here.

This is silly, there is nothing unsafe about PJs. You know what my child wears at night? Leggings and a long sleeved t-shirt. You know what he wears in the day? Leggings and a t-shirt. At night, granted he's less likely to have pants on underneath but if I sent him out to a daytime party in PJs, I'd make sure he did! And probably a vest too .

PJs are hardly provocative.

What? How many pairs of Pudsey pajamas have sold this month and how many have made their way to school today? I bought my twins new PJs for today

We used to go to Blackpool Tower Circus when we were kids, and our dad always bought expensive seats, which meant the clowns used to come over and fuss over us. Middle aged men with bad teeth and BO with five o’clock shadow whiskers poking through thick white greasepaint make up. Stuff of nightmares!

Magic is fine as a theme. Does he like Harry Potter?

What does your ds like ? My ds enjoyed a party where a woman brought some animals like snakes and a tarantula 😬 Not my cup of tea but the kids were good at calmly waiting their turn.

It isn't to do with provocative, how disgusting. It is to do with the association of the typical apparel with sleep. And unfortunately the link with SA and triggers for adults.

We were advised by a state agency body and followed the advice. Your dismissive attitude is not appreciated. I sincerely doubt you are a safeguarding expert given your attitude

But by all means ignore what nation experts advised,

No idea not in UK. UK is unfortunately not exactly top of the pile in international sfe guarding practice.

I'm not a safeguarding expert, no. But I don't think sleep clothes are a trigger for a safeguarding risk. I just don't. You were advised- ok. I'd be fully prepared to listen to an explanation by experts on increased risk because of PJs. But you're not explaining anything.

I have stated it in two posts.

I think you're focusing on the wrong thing. You need to get planning good activities rather than worrying about the theme. Nearly all parties round here are unthemed but vary in having a bouncy castle/face painter/magician/visiting fairy etc. As per a pp above, I'm a teacher so undaunted by big groups of children but a 2 hour party is worse than teaching for a day! You really need to make sure there's plenty to entertain the children.

I'd also just bear in mind that children that age attend a lot of parties so parents don't want to spend much on clothes or whatever. I'd be frustrated by something like Stars & Stripes because what's the point? Child would have as much fun (or more) in their usual party dress.

Don't understand the need for a theme, we don't have themed parties often and my dd is that age. Both my kids just like wearing their party or normal outfits to a party and focus on the cake, entertainment and party bags.

Parties my kids have had include magician and a guy who does various games based on sports. The latter was most loved by all the kids, we had 40 children and he was brilliant with them. Best £100 I've spent compared to the £300 magician who was good but didn't hold attention.

Don't get an animal company to visit. Animals being transported in boxes then passed around kids in a noisy brightly lit room doesn't create empathy for animals, it's about money for the person who thinks that's a good thing to do to animals.

Nonsense. It's really not common except on Mumsnet. Out in the real world, no parents will refuse a party because it's PJ themed.