3rd Birthday Party ideas?

[Paulacarl]

I'm trying to plan ahead for our little boy's 3rd birthday. Its not till February but I'm looking for good ideas. I'd like to find an activity that works for him and about four or five of his friends. Would also be good if his little brother who'll be about one and a half could join in. We could either have someone to the house to run an activity or could go somewhere (Manchester / Stockport area.)

Thanks for any suggestions.

DS just turned three, and we hired a local community hall for two hours. Filled the room with ball pool, slide, balloons, someone who did face paints, and a little table where they could do cake decorating. Had some music and lights in one corner. There were about 12 kids there, with a 1 year old, two seven year olds, a 10 year old and two 13 year olds. I set up a Wii in one corner, and a giant jenga and connect4 for the older ones. Did a buffet for them all about an hour in, and pass the parcel after eating, but the rest of the time the kids just ran around and had fun. Took a bit of setting up, but the actual party was quite easy. And cheap. Three year olds don't have much of an attention span, so the freedom to run from one thing to another (much like soft play) suited them perfectly. HTH.

DS's 3rd birthday is in February too and I'm thinking about what the weather will be like. When he was born it was snowing, this year it was cool but sunny, next year...?

He has lots of little 'friends' around the same age as him so ideas I've had so far are:

• Tumbletots party with a buffet in our local church hall
• Softplay party one weekday afternoon when it's a bit quieter