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Parties/celebrations

Whether you're planning a birthday or a hen do, you'll find plenty of ideas for your celebration on our Party forum.

Original poster

How do you manage children's parties?

32 replies

DumbledoresGirl · 17/03/2006 09:40

Specifically, how do you seat children for the meal? I have a dining room table that at a pinch seats 8 children. Also a kitchen table but not really the space for both tables to go together.

DD wants to invite 10 ish people to party (actually, it was 10, then 11 , now realised she has missed 2 people off so maybe 13 - Actually maybe none as I am so mad at her for constantly changing her mind I told her this morning the party was off Blush) But assuming I calm down and she invites these people, and they all accept, or even most of them accept, how do I seat them all? Bear in mind that I also have 4 children of my own who will be part of the party.

You can't all use church halls for your parties and you can't all have baronial halls and tables to seat 30, so what do you do?

Please don't tell me to let them have a buffet or sit on the floor. I need to have them in some sort of order. They will be 5/6 BTW.

OP posts:
KBear · 17/03/2006 09:56

I have done the rug and carpet picnic option but I know what you mean about needing order! I brought the garden table and chairs into the dining room to extend seating area for DS's bash last year but of course that depends on the size of your dining room. There was just room to squeeze round the edge.

iota · 17/03/2006 10:00

I would defffo hire a hall if I was having to entertain 16 kids ( incl your own) - more room fo rthem to play as well as having tables and chairs available.

Wouldn't have more than half a dozen or so at home ( have done 7 + parents in the summer with bouncy castle in garen)

Original poster
DumbledoresGirl · 17/03/2006 11:19

I know, I realise I have asked an impossible question. So do you think that I should just tell dd to limit her invitations to 6 or 8? That way, my older 2 could eat standing up - they are older and could do that as a one of probably, without a disaster, and then I would seat the younger 2 and the guests?

DD is so bugging me at the moment because her guest list keeps changing. I don't realy know who her friends are (apart from her best friend) so I am not sure who she should really invite and who she is just inviting becasue she has remembered them IYSWIM. I very rarely do parties or play dates so I don't want to get it wrong. I want to invite the children who she is really friends with.

We have a large house and a large garden so there isn't a problem with space for playing in, but the rooms are all quite small so that is why the table arrangements matter so much.

What does anyone think? Limit it to 6? Will that number be enough to make a proper party with?

OP posts:
KBear · 17/03/2006 11:21

Invite 8 (in case anyone drops out)!

Original poster
DumbledoresGirl · 17/03/2006 11:21

Why can't any of my children know who their friends are? Angry

OP posts:
spacecadet · 17/03/2006 11:23

DG-my sons birthdays are in march and april so i have always hired places for them.
dd1 is july so always used to have a party at home, i limited her numbers to no more than ten, and just got folding garden chairs in from outside and squeezed them in, one year, they are outside, another time when i lived in a tiny house years ago, they all sat on the floor in a circle and it was quite orderly, when is the party?

cupcakes · 17/03/2006 11:24

I use benches rather than chairs and squeeze them round the table. However, although this worked for 3year old dd and her little friends it doesn't apply to 5year old ds.
At his parties I have:
Put 2 tables together in garden (hot birthday in June)
Had a picnic inside a tent (wet birthday in June)
Had two sittings (dreadful, don't do it)
Cleared out the back of the house where the desk and coats are and borrowed small tables and chairs and filled that space (very time consuming).
I have no idea what to do this year. I really don't want to have to limit the numbers because of table space. We are building an extension and if that's done and we can afford a larger table then problem solved. Quite an extreme solution though...

Original poster
DumbledoresGirl · 17/03/2006 11:27

The party is supposed to be in 2 weeks time. I could not begin to contemplate the cost of hiring anywhere. I am downloading freebies off the internet just to keep the cost of party bags down (in fact, I shall probably be asking for cheap ideas there too). In other words, there is no way I could afford to hire anywhere.

OP posts:
iota · 17/03/2006 11:40

how about using party boxes for food, cartons of juice and a picnic rug. That should keep it reasonably under control?

LIZS · 17/03/2006 11:41

agree with cupcakes . We've been known to import our garden bench to the dining table. Otherwise use party boxes and seat them on the floor.

Earlybird · 17/03/2006 11:42

If it was me, I'd let her invite whoever she wants - they won't all come anyway. For feeding them, it works well to have food made up already and in "boxes". They can then just sit on the floor (on blankets in case of spills), and open up their "picnic" boxes. Much easier than trying to seat/serve.

Or, you could remove all chairs from the table and have them stand around the table and eat. You could fit more that way. They won't be there long enough for no chairs it to be a factor.....IMO, of course! Maybe I'm too casual about it all? Grin

How old are the children?

puddle · 17/03/2006 11:53

We had a party at home for dd last year (12 3 year olds ) and borrowed tables and chairs from her nursery. Had to collect them on the friday evening and then get them back first thing Monday morning.

puddle · 17/03/2006 11:56

For my ds's party recently I literally pulled out the class photo and went through all the children with him to decide who he wanted there. This was after two weeks of him changing his mind daily about who was invited and who wasn't.

Blu · 17/03/2006 11:58

I do achieve order having them sat on the floor! Big plastic tablecloth I the middle, places set with paper plastes etc, and cushions round the edge for them to sit on.
You could then put food in the centre - OR give each child a home-compiled picnic boxes -you can get crdborad 'happy meal' type boxes, put sandwiches, crisps, carton of juice etc in each one, and put one in each place?

puddle · 17/03/2006 12:02

Cartons of drink essential IMO if you are seating them on the floor. The picnic parties I have been to always end up with children knocking drinks all over the tablecloth/ rug/ each other.

Tables good also for craft activities - we made princess hats at dd's party and would have struggled to get them all doing it together on the floor.

puddle · 17/03/2006 12:02

Cartons of drink essential IMO if you are seating them on the floor. The picnic parties I have been to always end up with children knocking drinks all over the tablecloth/ rug/ each other.

Tables good also for craft activities - we made princess hats at dd's party and would have struggled to get them all doing it together on the floor.

puddle · 17/03/2006 12:02

Cartons of drink essential IMO if you are seating them on the floor. The picnic parties I have been to always end up with children knocking drinks all over the tablecloth/ rug/ each other.

Tables good also for craft activities - we made princess hats at dd's party and would have struggled to get them all doing it together on the floor.

Ellbell · 17/03/2006 12:05

Just playing devil's advocate here, but why do you need to achieve order? And how likely is that anyway with 13 over-excited 5/6 year olds? Why not just go with the flow... and clean up later (after a stiff G&T!). Mind you... I'm mad. Had 22 3-5 year olds at home for dd2's 4th birthday party the other day. Put food on table and let them help themselves (lots of adult help to try to ensure that some of the food stayed on the plates). Then big rug spread out on the lounge floor. Everyone ate sitting on that and when they'd finished I just scooped up the mess inside the cloth. Did do the cake sitting at the table. Dd2 sat at the table and everyone else just crowded around. It was fine... fun, even... honest!! Just enjoy it!

PrincessPeaHead · 17/03/2006 12:05

I have 16 children coming for a party tomorrow! (dd is 8). Our kitchen table can seat 12 .(children, that is with two at each end so a little squished)

I have this problem 3x a year and now with number 4 it is just going to get worse! So I've bitten the bullet and just bought a 5ft long catering folding trestle table and 8 very flat-folding chairs. Cost £100 but I can see I'm going to use it alot over the next decade or so, has to be cheaper than hiring stuff all the time. That will increase my seating to a max of 20 and I don't anticipate ever having to seat more than that.

Of course being a country dweller it is easy to store them in an outhouse - don't know what I would do if I lived in a city where storage is a problem. Use church halls I guess.

Original poster
DumbledoresGirl · 17/03/2006 12:22

WOw loads of interesting ideas here. Not sure if I am going to go with any of them for this party, but I am impressed with all the thoughts here. Eg PPH idea of a trestle table. We have plenty of outside storage space too but I can't fork out £100 right nw for anything, let alone an occasinal use table. Bt it is an idea for when money is not such an issue.

Also Blu's idea of having an orderly "table" on the floor.

In response to Ellbell, I have to have order and can't just go with the flow because I went with the flow for the first children's party I ever did when ds1 was 5. The little buggers absolutely ruined the party and upset ds1 and I am still not able to laugh it off nearly 5 years later. Plus I am a teacher so used to having children in control.

OP posts:
PrincessPeaHead · 17/03/2006 21:39

I bet if you looked in loot or ebay or something you'd find second hand trestles cheaper. I just was v short of time so ordered one from Nisbets and it came the next day. The table was £40 btw, the 8 chairs another £60 (from Focus - you can also get good ones in Ikea).

MaloryMargotTowers · 17/03/2006 21:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

cupcakes · 17/03/2006 21:45

DG - what did the buggers do??

Original poster
DumbledoresGirl · 18/03/2006 13:56

CC oh nothing dreadful like setting the house on fire (though I have had children come to play who did burn a hole in the carpet, playing with matches!) but they refused to join in games, trashed a load of toys, ran around the house uninvited and laughed at the birthday boy when he got upset and ran off crying.

I don't know about anyone else here, but I won't tolerate that sort of behaviour.

OP posts:
GDG · 18/03/2006 13:59

DG - what about a wallpaper pasting table instead of a trestle table - would be cheaper!