Party novice! Can I get your thoughts please, on...

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time of party: approx 20 3-4 year olds, I plan to hold it 10.30-12.30 on a Saturday. My mum thinks morning party is odd but can't explain why! Is it?

Picnic boxes: are these a good idea, if I get preferred sandwich filings with RSVP? It seems like less work and less waste?

I know they're little things but I've never done this before! Thank you.

Picninc boxes are a good idea, less waste and therefore less money.

Personally I prefer teatime parties as from a parents point of view you don't feel like the whole day has gone iykwim. This also depends on whether you expect parents to stay.

A lot of older siblings will have activities on Saturday mornings, so might have to decline. There's no perfect time, though,some of the kids still nap in the afternoons.
They will love their own little picnic boxes, but sounds like a lot of hassle to organise in advance, and probably more waste materials too, no?

Thanks both. Think I'll go with boxes, as they'll be recyclable and can mostly be done day before so easy to transport to the hall. Maybe 2-4 is better? But then it's not really lunch or dinner is it?

I think morning party's ok. If parents are staying, though, you might well end up having unexpected siblings too (seems to happen a lot) so maybe have some extra food in case.

We did a morning party & it worked really well. Games, food, cake, home for nap/quiet time.

Boxes are great - we did that for DS birthday. I just did 3 sandwich fingers cheese, ham and jam, some grapes, a mini-muffin and a juice. Went down very well.

Time wise I think it will be fine for that age.

I would say 2-4 is worse, if they do sleep then often at that age is in the afternoon, I think whenever the party child is at their best.

I can see that mornings might be more tricky if siblings or the child has an activity, but I don't think that should put you off, maybe just check with a few special friends that that time and day would suit.

Food boxes are fab. We did that and it worked brilliantly.

In our food boxes we put...

• Sandwich (gave the choice of ham, cheese, marmite or jam)
• small packet of crisps (if you buy tesco value crisps - they are only half the size of a normal packet)
• Some carrot batons and cucumber strips (you can buy carrots precut and I just chopped the cucumber and tied them together with a little strip of tin foil)
• A small cheese portion
• A mini cake and a small biscuit.
• A carton of juice

I only used a small sandwich as that is the food most children don't like. Some friends I know did the same, but didn't make sandwiches and instead cut up a french stick and just buttered it and stuck that in.

As for the times, you're never going to suit everyone, but I always found going earlier better when they're younger as some 3 year olds still sleep in the afternoons. As for suiting siblings, some will have younger and others will have older siblings, so you can win that one.