Am I the only Mummy who refuses to pay over £100 for a childs birthday party?

[Northerner]

My ds will be 4 in April. It is the done thing to have a party at one of our local soft play centres or hire a hall and arrange food and entertainment. Ds goes to preschool and has loads of friends. It would cost me aout £175.

I think it's ridiculous to spend this on a 4 year old and think I will invite 8/10 of his friends round for a traditional birthday tea and party games and it will only cost me £30 or so.

However, he'll be the only child having this sort of party, do you think it will be exciting enough for them?

you'll be lucky if it only costs £30 or so once you've done party bags too

I did DS1's 5th birthday party at home last year for £25. That included all the food, party games, and yes the dreaded party bag- but they just contained cake, a hat, balloon and one of those party hooter things. Had 10 children there.

Hmmm - you ladies are a thrifty lot! There was an article in the newspaper earlier this week saying that the average expenditure for a London b'day party is £260 due to hall hire, food and bouncy castle hire (most in demand party entertainment).

The trend in our school is to invite all those in the class. Staggering cost of just under £300

enid there is NO WAY you can buy and ipod and still keep it under £100, stop fibbing

have it at home. cake, mini rolls, apple juice in cartons with a straw, jam, ham, cheese and marmite sandwiches, and games shouldn't get more tricky than sleeping lions.

pin the tail on the donkey doesn't really work until 5 and pass the parcel is VERY SLOW for the under 6s so not too much sellotape and a present in every layer to maintain interest is key.

another good game is "wrap the mummies" - requires a mummy (you) and a loo roll - yes, you wrap up the mummy to look like a mummy. Have two mummies and make it a race. Guaranteed crowd pleaser for 4 year olds.

Pass the parcel can hold their attention better with 2 parcels going round. Or i've seen it done with a hat...you pass the hat/hats round & the one wearing it when the music stops is out.

chipth - same here. DD is at the age where her entire class is included in all parties. I know that will change in a few years, but for the moment, all will be invited.

I'm in the process of planning dd's party at the moment. There are some great ideas for cost-saving on this thread, but many simply won't work for us from a practical point of view. First, there's the numbers issue mentioned above, so a party at home isn't possible. Second, her birthday is in February, (party set for early March due to half term), so can't have it outside in a park or public space. Central London halls are rented by the hour, and I have figured 4 hours will be needed (set up, party, clean up). So, the costs have already risen due to those requirements. My economising solution has been to do a shared party with another girl in dd's class so that costs can be split.

sounds lovely.

I don't do parties til they're old enough to ask for them. Am hoping this will be a while off yet.

I don't remember the mcdonalds parties as a kid but remember lots of jelly+icecream sort.

Have fun!

never hired a hall or softplay centre (just go along on a normal day and let them play) Have hired a bouncy castle for dd1's bday whose birthday is in summer (45 pounds) and then we just have a BBQ and lots of fun. For DS and DD2 I just have a small party in my house, cost about 50 pounds, and then they go to the softplay with their cousins.

Message withdrawn

haven't had time to read the thread but...

I hosted at home as I refused to fork out lots of money especially as I wasn't sure how many would attend dd's b'day being close to xmas.

Kids had a blast and everybody was happy!

p.s. though lots of parents thought I was bonkers

Had one at home last year. Had about... 12 kids, plus parents, plus our family the house was full and the garden was too plus tiny bit chilly (April) and we have a teeny terrace house. Prob cost over £100 with food drink partybags bouncy castle etc but its just so stressful at home.

This year I'm paying £8.75 per kid to have a do at local soft play. Includes paarty bags food invites everything. Around 10 - 12 kids. And no mess at home.

Did dd1s 4th and 5th birthday parties at home -they were fun . I don't do the invite the whole class thing though-ask them to choose 8 people they really want (with younger sisters that makes 11 which is plenty IMO).

This year we are inviting the whole nursery class to my 4 year olds party, 20 children. I am hiring our local village hall £20, bouncy castle £30 and will do the food myself, will also do a pass the parcel £5, and play some games, musical bumps, dressing up games etc, dont think it should come to more than £100, in fact may not even bother with the bouncy castle.

I had invited the whole nursery to dd's party as school had only just started and friendships hadn't cristalises... we had a very full flat LOL

I'll be having small tea parties for years to come! Tilly is 2 next Tues so we are having a Pancake and Pizza party for 6. I'll do her some buns to take into nursery the next day too. Don't do party bags either - reckon guests should bring a pressie and leave with a piece of cake!!Think I will do a pass the parcel with treats though and engineer the stops!
Also I would not buy a ready made cake as a sponge with mad icing is much more fun in my humble, olde worlde opinion!

lol at bruno and edmond

you'd fit right in down here

yes sorry

had randome name change

martianbishop called me it and it made me larf

the thought of 8 to ten kids at home is the stuff of nightmares.
roll on soft play area parties. excellent idea.

MT how small is small? And what age? Just debating whether to do this for DS age 7 .

How long for? What was your plan of action? Do you think I'd be mad doing this for mostly boys?