need party ideas for a 5 year old

[andnowthewait]

DD will be 5 end of sept. She will have just started school and not know anyone.

I have a small house and cant reall yhave loads of kids traipsing though it.

any ideas on what to do?

or do i just go with the usual soft play thing and just get her to invite anyone?

For dd, we hired a hall at the sports centre and then hired a bouncy castle and slide. We also had a face painter. She invited her whole class as it didnt matter how many came as the hall was paid for already. We didnt provide food as such but did bring crisps, sweets and drinks (not supposed to take food into the hall so we were being naughty!). The school provided us with a class list so we knew the names of the children for the invitations.

Yes that early in the term easier to invite everyone to softplay place

Try the local secondary school. They often run parties at reasonable prices in thier sports hall. Either invite whole class in Sept or postpone till end of Oct and be more selective.

hello
I have just celebrated my little girl's birthday and we had a sort of build a bear teddy bear party at home we bought our bear kits from a website called createabearparty.co.uk. It was very reasonably priced the teddies were lovely and soft and a great hit with the children. Making up the bears and playing on the games which came with the kits.... kept them busy for hours! Her party was the talk of the school for weeks! :)

Make a treasure hunt in a local park. For the treasure, use something sparkly but not edible or valuable ( so creatures and people don't swipe it), tinsel is good, and attach a laminated paper clue to where the next treasure is. When they reach the end of the trail they get to the party tea which you have been setting up while another adult follows/guides the kids round the treasure hunt. I would set up a gazebo etc. Over the party tea or have it in e.g. A bandstand, as late September is dodgy weather wise.

When dd was 5, hired the village hall and a punch and judy show. It was great. Would deffinitely invite them all. Nice way for them to get to start to know each other.

doesn't she have any other friends?
just have small party at home with usual friends and ask her if there's anyone at school she would like to invite.
It's not up to you to throw a huge bash for whole clas so they can get to know each other. I really have no idea why people think they need to invite whole class to a party

We do themed parties at home with 4-5 friends. Last time was Peter Pan (I have two boys) and we had fancy dress, Peter Pan games, and a craft table where they could do hats and pirate drawings etc. then they eat (pizza for everyone) and we all sit down with popcorn and watch the movie. It's small but really special as the children help make decorations/hats.

'the party was the talk of the school for weeks'

That's probably why people ask if birthday parties are competitive...