what did you do for your dcs 3rd birthday?

[charlmills]

My dd will be 3 next month and not sure what to do for her. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated....!

For my DS1 we just had a small party at home with a few family and close friends as he is autistic and didn't like crowded or unfamiliar places.

For DS2 we just had a few sandwiches and cake with my close family round at my Mum's house as I was/am going through a tough patch and unfortunately couldn't afford anything more extravagant, DS2 also hadn't started nursery at the time so it wasn't like he really had any friends he could invite anyway.

We went on the duck bus. I had wanted to go for ages and they had to 3 to go on it. We had pizza after. I had a great time the guide was also a stand up comic. My son was a bit disappointed it was not shaped like an actual duck!

Had to be 3, I meant!

We had about 12 of DS's little friends over to play with their parents and, although we did a birthday cake and a table full of food, we did not bother organising any formal pass-the-parcel type games as they were all so young. We made sure there were plenty of toys and activities on offer, but did not try to direct the children into anything in particular. The weather was fine for September, so we borrowed a small bouncy castle and the children had the run of the house and garden.

The dads sat in the garden, supervising the bouncy castle and drinking real ale. The mums clustered in groups around the house, gossiping and drinking wine. The kids ran riot played quite happily for about 3 hours. It was quite chilled out really, despite the busyness and general lack of space.

We had a party in the park with a few of her friends. We played games and had party food and a cake.

We're having a party at home. I'll have a 6 week old DS2 by then, so hoping I can manage it all. Will be about 8-10 kids running around the garden, party food and homemade cake. Nothing too fancy, he's 3 and won't care! Very similar to his 2nd birthday, except this time our garden is actually usable and has been completely redone. Should be much better.

My DS is going to be 3 shortly, and I am attempting an actual party (I got loads of helpful advice here)

I have hired a small community hall near our home (£40). It's going to be 2 hours, with initially "free play", then some tea, then some games, then some cake, then home.

I may live to regret this. But I'm glad I'm doing it.

We had a party at our local soft play. It's a lovely little one aimed at younger children and you get exclusive use and party food and bags provided. Cost the same as I would have spent on food at home and minimal effort required!

DD2 had 3 friends and their Mummies over for a picnic lunch and play in the back garden. Lunch was followed by birthday cake.

We then collected DD1 (aged 7.5) from school with her friend and little sister who is a few days younger than DD2. The four of them had a great time playing in the garden/flat followed by tea and another cake.

Simple, cheap and lots of fun. DD2 was thrilled to be having two happy birthday 'parties'.

We had a pool party - lots of fun, especially as DS has older siblings, and so do many of his friends.