3rd Birthday - advice needed!

[wetnoodle]

Hi, I'm planning DS 3rd birthday. Going to do a cars theme as he's obsessed. Need advice on a few things though:

1. Timing - 3-5:30. Is this too long? Too short?

1. Activities - There are two big rooms in the hall that are linked by an outside corridor so the kids can run around between the rooms. In one room I was going to have a bouncy castle and didi car track - I would imagine the kids will spend the first hour or so in here.

In the other I was planning to have food and drinks and after tea I'm thinking we can do a pinata followed by cake. The kids can then run around again until it's time to go home.

Should I include a craft table or another structured activity or is this ok?

1. Food - Was going to have snacks/nibbles (e.g. carrot sticks, crisps, etc) out the entire time. I was thinking of doing the kids a packed lunch and then setting up a desert buffet.

What sort of thing should I put in the lunch boxes? I'm planning to ask parents to inform me of any dietary issues as part of the RSVP so I'll label each kids box.

Thanks!

That sounds lovely, I wouldn't do another structured activity, 3 is still quite little, maybe pass tge parcel or musical statues?

At my DDs 3rd birthday they were just old enough for games like that :)

Have fun!

Pass the parcel, good idea. Thanks! What about food. I'm thinking sandwiches. I feel like kids get so excited with everything going on they snack and fill up on sweets

Good idea!

Cucumber. Every toddler I know is mad about cucumber.

Food-wise, sandwiches are good, but keep it simple or there might be a fair bit of wastage. Mine likes cheese straws, almost any fruit, baby corn or generally anything that you can hold in your hand and chop on if you want to keep the sweets down.

If this were DS, I wouldn't bother with the structured activity - they'll be having too much fun with the cars/bouncy castle - mind you, every kid loves a kitchen roll tube telescope, and that wouldn't really be too structured to decorate those..

Pass the parcel - with 3 year olds... hmmmm not sure about that myself!

Oh, and from experience, don't have little car shaped cakes - there can be some confusion over whether they are food or toys, and that leads to mess and tears.

Here's my thoughts:

1. I think that's quite a long time - 1 1/2-2 hours is probably long enough as they have quite short attention spans and after a party DS gets very tired and bursts into tears over nothing just because he's exhausted.
2. The activities sound fun. After all the running around a quieter game like pass the parcel might be a good way to calm them down before food, but it will require every child to have a parent sitting next to them to Mae sure it works! If you fancy crafts, it is best to go incredibly simple - possibly pictures of cars to colour in or some stickers?
3. Food - nice to have some nibbles for parents, and I food bags are always a go down well with my kids. I'd put a roll/couple of triangle sandwiches, few crisps, box of raisins or piece of fruit, cheese straws or baby bel, carrot sticks or cucumber. The more different things you put in, the more waste there will be. For pudding, you could put a biscuit or yoghurt in the food box/bag (there are some good bags on partydelights.co.uk) or just serve cake.

IME you won't be able to get the food right for every single kid, but that isn't too important, so just do what is easiest for you/what you know your LO will like most. Also, remember that although you want the kids to have fun, it is only a 3rd birthday and they don't need too much to have fun (and you don't want to set the bar too high!).

Lovely ideas and sounds like a great party. I'm with babybouncer and would make it a little shorter, 2 1/2 hours is a long time when they're that little and the meltdowns tend to start before that stage, particularly towards the end of the day.

I wouldn't have anything else structured but have a little colouring table at the side, if there are any quieter DC going they will appreciate this, some find all the bouncing and running around a bit much.

Thanks! I think 3:30-5 will be better.

Instead of a structured activity I was going to buy a couple of hot wheels race car tracks second hand on eBay and set up a table where the kids (with parental help) can "race" their cars. I'm going to put them at each child's place setting so we can do it after tea. Instead of gift bags I was going to let each kid keep the car and give them a little plastic trophy when they leave.

For food I'm thinking cucumber sticks, little corn, homemade pizza sticks, carrots, ham sandwiches (shaped like cars) and these imgfave.com/view/2006164 because I spend WAY to much time on Pinterest and really want an excuse to try to make them

I was also going to have a selection of veg sticks, crisps and dips for adults and a few biscuits, sweets, etc.

By them, I meant the cars for the track. Sorry, I read it back and realised that wasn't obvious