Party for 4 year old - how?!

[TexMex]

So far I've got away with just having cousins round for a tea party, but now she has been to some friends 4th birthday parties DD thinks it must be her turn for one so I'm giving in!

So I've booked village hall, food sorted. What else do I need to do? How early do I send out invitations? Are party bags a must? Was going to make sure I have tea/coffee and biscuits for parents too. Any tips or better still a list I can follow would be great!

Entertainment or games of some kind? Preferably done by someone else so that you can relax.

About a month's notice is fine. More is great.

As for party bags, something is needed or the children will stage a revolution. You should be able to find a book pack from the Book People that you can split and give one each, plus a slide of cake. Or a cheap-but-usable toy like a large bubble wand is my personal preference to a party bag full of tat (although children do enjoy looking through the tat).

Excellent, thanks for those tips. I shall avoid a revolution and provide party bags then (off to google bubble wands!) great ideas there thanks.

As for games, musical bumps/statues, pass the parcel etc ok do you reckon?

Parcel the parcel, always good, also for that age group nursery rhymes in a circle with actions, musical statues, bumps, sleeping lions, balloon games, bit of a disco etc.
As suggested someone to run it for you is a god send, but it is possible to do yourself with lots of prep! Good luck

Ooh sleeping lions is a great idea, thanks. Will have a think who I can rope in to help organise it. My list is coming on nicely!

The easiest way to cater is to make up a separate party pack - rather than trays of food that never get eaten. (Sandwich, crisps, cut up fruit, haribo sweets, cheese wedge/string).

Going away gift - slice of cake and a book/plastic football/hula hoop.

Don't make it more than 2 hours. If you are offered help take it!

Musical chairs, pinata, bubbles, balloons

Pass the parcel, pin the tail on the donkey (with Blu tac), musical statues, helium balloons are good fun, small party bags, food and cake . Spread it out over two hours and you're done. Happy children.

I find it helps to have a theme so can tie everything together. Doesn't have to be a flash character theme but I have done carnival (so choses carnival colours for bunting, napkins etc, and did carnival style games and carnival style prizes (found little stretchy fish which I put in sandwich bags with water) and did popcorn and candy floss as well as hotdogs.)
Or just a colour theme ie white and pink etc

Also, being 4 yo's, you may have to cater for the parents - some crisps and some soft drinks should do. Good idea to rope them in and help wrt games and food.

Google good party games

Yes a theme is good. We did a tiger party and had general animal things including great leopard / tiger / zebra ballons. Just a few pounds from eBay. And made some animal bags etc.

Poundland and amazon are your friends.

This is the format of most of the parties I have been too - mine has just started school and I've yet to have one.

entertainment - magician & dance along or go carts.
Food
birthday cake sing along.
party bag & home

no longer than 2hrs and quite local to the school. party games have been directed by the entertainer, not the parents.

Most people are sending a save the date email about 2 months before and an invite about a month / 3 weeks before. And a reminder one week before by email.

What are you doing about sibling attendance, if you can't cater for siblings of those invited - make sure you state this on the invite.

Oh my head aches thinking that I will have to do this soon x Have fun!

Great tips again thank you. She would love a piñata! I think I'll go with the format you suggested May - and party food bags/boxes instead of trays of food a great idea. I was just thinking Poundland would be my friend!! Will look on Amazon too. Will get thinking about a theme. Maybe animals as I have a feeling Peppa will feature in a cake somewhere!

I'd better get invitations sorted then. Feeling a bit more organised and manageable now. Will also think about siblings, my youngest will be there too so should be able to cater for them but it's just knowing how many people will bring older and younger child to know whether to provide food. Maybe if I say on invite younger siblings welcome but please let me know in advance so I can provide food?

We've done sweets only party bags - multipacks of Haribo and Chocolate bars from Aldi work well - the cheap party bag filler toys you can buy add only to the expense and break within 5 minutes.

If you plan to do any party games using music beware - we had to play unmusical chairs because my daughter's boombox was not loud enough for 20 kids in a village hall. Kids weren't bothered though, they spent most of the party just kicking around balloons.

If you can afford it an entertainer is a godsend. Really takes the pressure off you having to entertain, so you can 'just' host - cater, clean, console, etc.

Agree with the entertainer, if you can afford it.

Another thing I've seen at a party which is good as an arrival activity, as they come in each child given a paper bag to name/draw on and they go on a table near to the games, then as a game is played a small sweet or sticker etc given to winner/first out etc to put in their bag, they can then take these home with them as party bag and just give cake and any extras as they leave.

The entertainer thing seems to have gone WILD. I got a couple of quotes yesterday - £500 for Sharky & George to send one person to run some games for 2 hrs. £280 for someone to bring a snake and some animals for ONE hour.
It's a bloody good business, clearly.

DDs last party we did
Decorate your own paper party bag
Make a bracelet/badge
Colouring
Face painting
Races/sports day type stuff
Cupcake decorating

Did need lots of adults to supervise but was a joint party so plenty of people to rope in. Everyone loved it as boisterous kids could do lots of running races and the quieter ones could do other stuff without feeling like they had to join in with everything.

Parties when they are young and you end up inviting whole class etc are shocking amounts of money, even when you do it all your self you are looking at £200. Ds1 just had his 7th birthday, a few friends round the house for a starwars party, I did all the games myself and did pizzas and chips for food. Cost about £50 all in and I splashed out on party bags. They all loved it and the couple of parents that stayed said it was brilliant.

Just sorting out my DS1's 4th party for next week. my first 'proper' kids party too.

Theme: Tractors - green and yellow balloons, plates, cups etc. tractor cake.
Time: 2 hours
Games: Pin the wheel on the tractor (tail/donkey)
Apple collection race ( brown plastic sheet on floor for mud, paper stepping stones, a pile of green and red ball pool balls on the other side. split the group into 2 teams and race to get all your 'apples' back across the mud.
Musical corners (each corner being a picture of a tractor, one john deere, one massey, one NH and one Kubota (or green, red, blue and orange for the non-tractor mad!).
Food: one plate pre done per child - sandwich, veg sticks, fruit pieces and a small portion of skips/quaver
Party bags: slice of cake, tractor sticker sheet, mini bubbles and a balloon ( the bag totals £1 per child!)
Adults: Help yourself tea and coffee station with biscuits.

Costs: Hall £30, party bags £20, decorations/plates/cups £25, food £15. I make the cake but I think it will be about £40 (but it will be a huge tractor shaped one. Total cost: £130 for 20 kids and their adults, £90 without the extravagant cake, but I do so love making them!

I didn't invite the whole class, he picked 8 friends plus some out of school friends. Sent invites in 2 weeks before the Christmas break up due to early jan birthday. I don't personally feel parties need to be filled with crisps/cake/junk hence no sweets in party bag and only cake as a 'sweet treat' but that is my personal preference.

Hope that helps! and good luck!

Wow queen I love your tractor theme you've got there, really creative and sounds good fun. I'm still pondering a theme, but have found farmyard animal lunch boxes and face masks so maybe will go (very loosely) with that? Seems a bit non descript though! I did think pirate party but think she'll appreciate that more when she's a bit older.

jojane your star wars party sounds great, and very economical. I'm planning on just a few friends from nursery, a few from swimming and then cousins/family friends. May be 15 in total but I'm worried about people not turning up so there being too few, but don't want to invite too many and overwhelm her. That's my main prob at the mo, MN has fixed everything else!!

Don't worry about numbers being too low. For DS's fourth birthday we had three other little boys (plus his sister), birthday cake and nibbles, kinder egg hunt in the garden and slightly rampaging play inside. He chose who he wanted to invite and what toys we would set out for them all to play with. The other parents just left their children at our house and came back two hours later to pick them up. Cost to me about £20 I suppose. It was lovely.

tex I may regret it, I spent last night paining the musical corners pictures and today I am up to by eyeballs in cake mix!! should be fun though!

have to admit if DS had a summer birthday I would be favouring something more like chocolatebourbon - outdoor play is always so much less hassle! (note to self, theoretical DC4 needs to be summer born!)

I tried 2 hours but 1.5 hours better at that age. We've had a bouncy castle but some folk have face painting, treasure hunt or just party games. Tattoos ok also. Party games we've done is pass the parcel, musical bumps and pin the tiara on the princess. Musical islands is a variation on musical chairs.