Ideas for party at home for 4yo with low numbers

[Thistle86]

It’s my sons birthday next Saturday and I’m throwing a toy story themed party for him.

As it’s at home I am slightly limited on numbers and invited around 10 children (both nursery and children of family, friends etc) and hoping for 6 to attend in total.

The rsvp date was yesterday and I have received 3 yes’s, and 4 no’s with no word from the last 3 (all nursery and I have no contact details as invites put in bags by teachers). We are new in the area and DS only started in September and I only pick up/drop off one day a week so possibly a factor.

Just looking for some ideas as to what I could do for the 4 of them (including ds) as most party games you need more than 4.

Has anyone had a party with 4 kids total? If so what did you do? Only idea I have is a pin the tail on the donkey (bullseye). Many other ideas you seem to need more kids for. Pass the parcel will be a short game for 4 as well as would be musical bumps/statues.

In terms of food I was going to do a buffet (toy story themed) and there will be parents there with each child - not sure if this is the best idea now or whether to do lunch boxes instead.

Any ideas would be very much appreciated 🙂

May not suit you at all, but for her 4th birthday party DD1 had 5 guests. I put a big roll of wallpaper lining on the kitchen table and let her all pain it for 20 minutes and write their names in. It's still hanging up.

Definitely the games you've mentioned. You can spin pass the parcel out for ages. And have a little dance ("disco") too.

I'd go for a buffet rather than lunchboxes as you won't know what they all eat.

It sounds plenty. They'll probably all wander off to play with his toys anyway. Only other idea is blow some balloons up for them to bat around the room, and maybe bubbles for them to chase too depending on size of your house!

Sorry, should have previewed. "Let them all paint it".

How about a game of theres a snake in my boots. Each takes turns to throw a rubber snake in a Welly boot! A craft activity could work well like making a junk space ship. If you have a Mr potatoes head kit you could use real potatoes and share the accessories. You could recreate the scene where they hide under cones and move forward in a toy story version of what's the time Mr wolf. Perhaps play you've got a friend in me music for pass the parcel. Memory tray - you show a tray full of toy story things ( toy soilder, monkey chow etc) you then put a towel over it and the children have to remember what was there. You can have lots of fun with a few children and at 4 it will still feel like a party.

Can they do a little bit of craft? They could be given an outline and design their own Mr Potato Head from a selection of precut pieces or make a Buzz mask. You might need to do some prep but not too much if there will only be a few children. There are some other ideas here: spaceshipsandlaserbeams.com/blog/party-central/21-toy-story-birthday-party-ideas

@cheshiresplat thanks for that - Will get some themed balloons, my dh is a dj and ds has already asked him to do a little disco with lights etc so will defo look at doing music games again :-) like the painting idea too

@jellybeanteaparty loads of great ideas there thank you very much

@madeinbelfast that’s a good link and I like the mask or mr potato head idea

Thank you both

Btw remember that only 4 May have rsvpd but you can easily end up with 8 it each brings a sibling!! My dd just started school this term and it's been a revelation how an extra 20/30% attend each party due to siblings! Just giving you notice! Hope it goes well!

Thanks @toddlermum I’m hoping that 1 or 2 of those that haven’t rsvp’d may turn up and planning to put together enough party bags for 6 (just in case they do)

A craft activity - I bought birdhouses and wood paint one year, still have ours!

One thing I did for my DD was to fill a massive box with shredded paper and hide things inside like spoons, coins etc. Then each guest gets a 'shopping list of what they need to find - 3 spoons etc. You could make it vaguely toy story themed by hiding potatoes or something! This only works with a small party otherwise it's carnage!
Good luck!

I only invited 4 people to DD's 4th birthday party. Two of the guests knew each other but the other two only knew DD. We started off with some art & craft, then they did an obstacle course in the sitting room (we have laminate floors & just put some masking tape down for balancing along a zig zag line, jumping at a particular point & then had a tunnel to crawl through), then they all chased balloons around for a bit & then we did a few games of musical bumps and musical chairs but no one was "out" so it lasted a while.

Thanks for all the suggestions, this has been so helpful

Craft is good with that number. Mine loved a wool maze too - two teams and two balls of wool tangled all over the house (well downstairs) leading to a craft activity. Easiest if set up before they arrive as the first activity. The nice thing about small numbers is that you can spend slightly more on a craft activity for them to take home. You can also be more creative with the food. You could get them to put their own topping on half a muffin for mini pizzas. Buy some plain cakes - usually 12 for a pound and give them icing and decorations to make their own cakes.