I am considering a joint party for my child and one of his friends. I have previously had small gatherings at our house but I have a baby now and the thought of trying to tidy the house sufficiently is not appealing! Both birthday children are preschool age, both like being boisterous and active. They are a year apart but are good friends and both have friends of various ages. There will be some overlap in guests but also people that each child doesn't know - they're both confident sociable children though.
My current plan would be:
Hire local hall (this isn't expensive). Parents to stay.
Provide sandwiches and junk snack food for kids
Soft drinks and/or tea and coffee (depending on logistics of latter in hall) for adults plus biscuits/chocolate selection box.
Presents to be opened after party
Separate birthday cakes.
Activities - take various toys to hall eg playtent for unstructured play. Also pass the parcel and some active stuff eg musical statues.
Party bags: either pound shop stuff or maybe each child to choose a sticker book and a pack of pens or similar (hobbycraft?).
Not looking to spend loads of money on any of it.
Anything else we need to think about? All tips very welcome including any ideas for simple activities that might work for mixed age preschool children. Will be having a good chat to the other mum soon to make sure we both have similar expectations.