Opinions please on my sons 4th birthday party please

[Preschoolmum78]

I just wanted some opinions and advice on my plans so far please, as there may have been things I haven’t considered!

My son is turning 4 early august. From previous mumsnet posts I’ve nosed at it seems before the summer break/September is the best time to throw birthdays for august babies.

My limit is 30 children, this includes Ds and 2 of his younger cousins. The plan is to ask the preschool to hand out invites to the children going to the same school as Ds (hopefully) in September, plus those who have invited him to parties. Plus one more child from playgroup.

The ideal venue/room is already booked (walking distance/next to preschool), however the most popular venue locally has confirmed availability for a Saturday mid July. 2.15-5.45, 3-5pm party with 45 minutes either way. The hall is quite large.

He wants a hot wheels theme (is obsessed). So the plan is to take his garage plus tracks and a few other play sets. I will be looking out for second hand hot wheels as I don’t particularly want to take his personal cars in case they get lost. The play sets should be fine.

Plus we have a large amount of brio so another brio track with wooden hot wheels cars (no people/trees etc).

Then a city/road playmat and miscellaneous larger cars. If I can find a cheaply foam playmat then that with some larger monster trucks on too.

If funds can stretch also a inflatable didi car race track with approx 6-8 cars, Ds isn’t a fan of bouncy castles and this seems more fitting with the theme (same cost). There will be the space.

My plan was to set up the kids table with hot wheels colouring paper printouts from Etsy and some markers/ crayons and put away when dinner time.

Would it be a good idea to set up different trays along the table - one with play dough and cutters? And another with Lego? At 4 the parents should be staying and would need some supervision around the table.

My concerns are when dinner is ready it may need to be cleared off and some kids may still be playing. Also it looks like the venue has regular size tables/chairs and not kiddy size so I am slightly hesitant for extra crafts if at 4 they have to lean over the table.

Also have a race car bean bag throw from last year. Would consider getting an inflatable tire for a second one and taping zones around each area, possibly a traffic cone ring toss too. These would need less supervision from parents. If I do get these it will be soon so my son can benefit at home!

Plan would be 30 minutes free play, 15 minutes party games if needed but I would rather not. Pass the teddy and collect a sweet rather than pass the parcel. Small prize for the winner. Musical statues/freeze dancing without prizes.

Then back to free play whilst I grab the food from the kitchen.
30 minutes for food.
15-20minutes for piñata?
Sing happy birthday (will make cake myself)
Pass out party bags to kick everyone out.

In these trays https://www.amazon.co.uk/Medium-Plastic-Catering-Sandwich-Platter/dp/B07R7BHK5T/ref=asc_df_B07R7BHK5T/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=346623715081&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2421860475142424807&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006621&hvtargid=pla-744365761848&psc=1
As I can prep day before/morning of and it will stack in the fridge, can transport and it will stay in the fridge until right before serving at 4pm (and they’re reusable).
I’m thinking:
ham sandwiches
cheese sandwiches
cold pizza
sausage rolls
ham and cheese puff pastry pinwheels
mostly cucumber, bit of carrot and pepper too
and either watermelon on lolly sticks or cubed watermelon/strawberries portioned in baking cups.
then hot wheels cupcakes (will make myself). Parents can pick if they want.
little labels for allergens (if needed)

A separate drinks table with fruit shoots plus kids water bottles (to minimise mess). Larger water bottles and some coke/Diet Coke cans for parents. Encourage everyone to help themselves to a drink on arrival. Maybe a large drinks jar of homemade lemonade if I can find the time.

After 30 minutes of food a piñata (I have the cardboard saved already to make a wheel 😂).
however from what I’ve ready this may get a bit rowdy?? Maybe a prize punch instead? I’ve bought hot wheels reward cars packs cheap on Amazon (75p a car!) and planned to put those in the piñata.
I don’t want kids getting there cars mixed up though, but maybe it might be a good idea to hand out at the start?? Then I won’t have to buy any more specifically.

Party bag wise those little boxes, I have silicone car moulds and can make paint your own kits (don’t want painting as an activity though). I have smaller moulds for crayons which I melt down and set (made for Ds they look pretty great). Realistic car stickers. Bit of cake. Total cost less than £25, plus reward hot wheels £22.50 😬 but to order these off Etsy would cost £5pp+ easy.
No problem about leftover boxes they can be used for siblings or another day. I want to minimise the amount of sweets consumed (hence not in piñata).

Decoration wise I will make a balloon arch myself the night before, some banners from previous years and some themed table cloths, plates etc.

I appreciate this is super early but as things have been getting booked up early (I checked another couple venues too!) and have some bits and pieces to make I just wanted to get things sorted and have a plan and a timeline! I love party planning can you tell.😂The party bag bits take no time at all. Can be all done in a bit of the evening for a week and be ready well in advance. I don’t expect all 30 to turn up but if they do I’m prepared. Is there anything I haven’t considered/is a bad idea?

I can enlist older niece and nephews to help monitor and set up beforehand.

If you made it this far congratulations lol.

Um..... that's a lot.

My kid turns 4 soon. We're having a 1.5 hour party at a local venue with a bouncy castle, sandwiches, cake and squash.

Your post made my teeth ache. I'd start to worry a lot less and plan something very very simple.

It’s mostly the activities I’m concerned about as no entertainer. If I get the didi car track activities will be reduced. Just want to make sure there’s enough to keep them occupied (as calm and independently as possible).

I agree that's all too much.

In my experience kids don't want overly-structured activities at parties. They just want to run, dance and play.

That's a lot ot try and set up if you only get the hall 45 minites in advance!

Free play is great for 3-4 year olds. I wouldn't structure anything except having a set time for food. Do birthday cake/candles immediately at the end of the eating time (I'd say 20 minutes is plenty for eating). Then a bit more free play to give it time to get cake sliced and into party bags if that's part of the plan.

I get that you're bound by room availability but 3-5 pm is probably my least favourite time to go to a kids party. Kids are impossible to wind down for bedtime afterwards!

I think more party games and less sitting at tables doing stuff . Parents will stay but they don’t want to be supervising their child with Lego etc they want to be chatting whilst the child runs around . If your son wants a hot wheels party then that needs to be more about theming ( cake etc ) , prizes and games .

Just put some cars and bubbles out.

Thanks guys I appreciate it. I’ve read quite a few posts insisting on entertainer for this age group.
I’ll try and stretch to the didi track in lieu of a bouncy castle if possible, take just the hot wheels play sets and hand out their reward car at the door, forgo the brio. Do the colouring table and forgo the play dough/Lego. I’ll skip the piñata but have an emergency party game ready if too unruly. Plus some balloons to throw on the floor.

can get everything jotted down in the planner and forgot about it for a good month or so.

Thank you that’s all quite helpful, I’ll definitely note down about the cake timing!

Unfortunately every venue within a 10 minute drive is already booked up for lunchtime slots weekends in July. And I thought I was being early! Hopefully the minimal sweets will help.

@justasmalltownmum Wasnt sure about the bubbles idea indoors in case of slip hazard but remembered his playgroup leader does this when the kids are getting a bit hyper, like a reset! so thank you will consider bringing the bubble machine too.

Make a ‘car wash’- put an inch of water in big tub, add cheap bubbly bath/ washing up liquid, whisk vigorously to get bubbles, add some cars/ cloths etc. put the tub on a couple big towels, any spills will be absorbed.

I’d have a construction activity- Lego/ etc and a ramp.

instead of diddy cars , can you get couple simple remote control cars? Make a little course? Timed laps, if you want to get competitive!!

This sounds very complex and I didn’t read it all. But my girls have no interest in cars so they wouldn’t like any of this.
my suggestion is to set up some cars and a little area and have a bouncy castle and balloons and a few other toys for them to play with.

Bear in mind people are away so try and get a rough idea of how many are likely to attend

Bear in mind that the Hot Wheels obsession might have been replaced with something else by then. My son was also obsessed aged 3.5. Aged 4 he’s more interested in knights, couldn’t have predicted it at all.

The thing to remember about parties on this scale is that you will be exhausted at the end of it and you will need to clear up. You are totally over doing this. The theme could be incorporated into the cake and plates etc so not necessarily the activities. Personally I’d set up racing games in the hall and stopping games involving traffic light colours . Fancy dress with a car theme? Good luck OP.

This sounds exhausting! Both fir you and the children.

As somebody who has to clean up a venue after childrens parties please be aware of how much cleaning will be required!

Even simple bouncy castle and pizza parties mean a good 15/20 minute floor clean up so lots of toys and an elaborate set up will take quite a lot of clean up and you may well be shattered by the end of it!

It usually takes 20 minutes to pack up uneaten food, wrap up uneaten birthday cake, pop balloons and take gifts out to the car let alone anything else.

Less specifically Hot Wheels and more unstructured small kid fun I'd say. At least half of the kids there will be less keen on the cars than your child plus it's a different adrenalinised dynamic at a party. Most will love a bouncy castle. Very few will draw or colour.

My son would have loved this at age 4 ( he hated the entertainers at some parties). But I’d get a small indoor bouncy castle and just do a couple of your car activities - it sounds more like a play group set up than a party otherwise. When my kids asked for a theme (“I want a Batman party”) it actually meant they wanted a Batman cake and plates, you don’t need to make the whole party about the theme. And agree with pp there’s a chance your ds could suddenly go off hotwheels in the next 4 months.

Thanks guys, the car obsession has been since a baby so I don’t see him changing his mind! I think I’m going to go with a bouncy castle and more basic party ideas, maybe a box of duplo in a corner too. Not keen on the car wash idea as when we’ve done that at home and it hasn’t ended well!

Sounds perfect 👍

Hey @Preschoolmum78 how did it go? I’ve been getting some great inspiration from this thread, thanks!

I ended up going for an entertainer! Glad I did - as I don’t drive my plan was to get a large taxi to the venue. Family members agreed to help then decided to go carpet shopping on the other side of the county at the time they were supposed to turn up at mine, then didn’t answer their phones and I found out from another relative at a time too late to book a large taxi! Ended up with 15 minutes to set up and some people had already arrived before us! No decorations got put up except one balloon stand which got wrecked. And half a balloon arch on the floor which I had to hide as the kids were fighting over it. The other half flew away in the car park whilst unloading.

Had stuff for a colouring table but it got left behind in the hurry - I would say the party would have benefitted from it.

Maybe a playmat with some cars but could have been a distraction. Slightly chaotic but everyone happy enough taking part in the entertainment and balloons loose on the floor.

Cake also got squished sideways in the journey(I didn’t put it in) like the tower of Pisa and decorations on top were destroyed and was quite dry.

I did get compliments on how well themed/colour coordinated it was (despite the lack of decorations out) and the party bags.

My advice would be to not overstretch yourself and get decent help so things are organised and well executed more than anything!

if doing a play based party I would say 4 activity zones on mats/tables that they can flow between would work well with a pass the parcel and balloons on the floor.

But activities without direction needed so car mat, hot wheels section, brio section, lego or play dough, and colouring table or mess free crafts like stickers. Probably not bean bag tosses etc. would likely need to monitor any squabbles and ensure the toys stay in each zone so they aren’t all over the place maybe with tape. We had 19 in total though not sure how it would work with many more.

if you get a didi track I would say that would replace a bouncy castle and you’d be fine with just balloons as extra.

the entertainer was a ‘race car driver’ and did car themed games and prizes. I’m so glad I hired help after doing everything else and the timing issue!