how many children do i need for a kids party in a sports hall?

[stressednsurrey]

My ds is turning 4 and party is on Sunday. We have booked the local sports hall with bouncy castle etc. We sent out the invites to nursery and a few family friends but have hardly any replies and a good number of those are no's.
So we currently have 10 coming - 2 of those are mine and others include toddler siblings of guests - 3 are from the same family. (I have said siblings welcome - though tbh I prefer younger not older siblings).

It is a sports hall with staff helping so I don't feel I can bulk out the party with adults with no kids.

Not sure what to do now. We are unfortunate in that we are clashing with a few local xmas events which is where people going instead.
I could hand out invites to my older child's friends at the school gates (especially those with younger siblings) but worried I will look a bit desperate also might change the dynamic of the party if too many older kids. I guess another option is to confide in a nursery worker and see if they'll give me a few more names of nursery children to invite tomorrow.

Any advice gratefully received!

hi not sure if I put this in the right place so am going to try in parenting instead.

I had the same dilemma when my dd turned 4. Had booked a sports hall with a bouncy castle. 10 children confirmed, including my dd and there was a toddler and a baby in that. I had paid for the hall so decided to take a deep breath and go ahead with it. It actually turned out to be fine. They did look a bit swamped in the hall but they weren't aware of it and on the plus side they all got a turn on the castle and the other soft play bits that were out. My dd had a fab time.

I do know how you feel though. I was so worried about it but it really did turn out to be ok. Just wanted to let you know that it can work with less children and turned out to be less stress for me with the food / party games.

Thanks Topsy I think I will just have to go for it and not worry too much. ds unlikely to notice anyway and I don't want to ruin it by panic inviting random older kids. I'm glad your daughter had a fab time at her birthday - that's the main thing isn't it.