What type of party works best for a 5 year old boy? Help please ....

[Crusoe]

My ds's birthday isn't for a few months yet but I want to get organised ad I'm already stressing about his party which will be in school hols.

I am thinking of either arranging a soft play type place but worry those kind of places will be really packed in the hols.

Or I organise a village hall type thing with bouncy castle, face painting etc. What puts me off that is the amount of work and parents not staying. I completely understand why some parents can't stay but I don't want to be left with no help and 20-30 kids to look after.

What kind of parties do you think work best for this age group? Ds has been to a mix of both and ideally I would like to do something a bit different but not to pricey.
Please tell me about the best parties your 5 year olds have been too ...

Thanks
C

A party at home, with three close friends who all get along, cakes, crisps, musical statues, and a party bag to go home with.

Those are the best parties in my experience, and the least stressful.

With 3 girls and a boy, I'd say boys are a bit of a pain at that age as they need space which was hard for me with ds's November birthday! They don't settle and do stuff in the way girls do so I'd suggest maybe a sports party at a local centre or soft play.

If you do the village hall thing ask some friends to stay! Also be aware that there will be a few boys who will run around and jump off the stage pretending to shoot people and making a load of noise. With that many, you'll need shedloads of activities and boys really need to use up energy. They'll make a lot of noise so if you go for this option have wine/chocolate/cake/nurofen at home for afterwards

Trust me - my kids' ages add up to 57 so I have lots of experience of parties good and bad!!

Actually, never added them up before. Am feeling v v old.

I cater children's parties in Essex and London and it is definitely hard work for the parents involved! Most parents I work for hire a venue, book an entertainer for two hours and get me to bring the food to be set up for the half an hour break they usually have in between the two hours.

I think you will find that for the age group you are catering for, most parents will stick around anyway.

The boys don't tend to be too bad at the parties I work on although they may be down to the entertainers....

Good luck!

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