HELP!!! Twins turning five and guest list of 40!!!

[LaLoose]

Oh my Lord. Please help. I realised today we are exactly two months away from their birthday in mid-March. (The time of year cancels out the easy option of outside celebrations and picnics.)

They are in different classes at school. Each class has 16 children. The form at school is that EVERYONE in the class is invited to a birthday party. We would be the first to break this, if we did. There is another set of twins and their mother is inviting all of both classes. That's 32 children. Plus out-of-school friends, the total comes to, say, about 40 five-year-olds.

The question is, where? Without bankrupting myself, how can I put on a birthday party for 40 children? I am in central London, which doesn't exactly help with the budget.

Any ideas? Anyone experienced anything similar? PANIC!!!

Tumbleweed... right, I'm going to ask to have this moved to Multiple Births... I do really need some help!

I always hire a village hall(we are rural), we always invite the whole class, it across the road from school so start fifteen minus after school,

we play lots of silly party games, (have several parcels going round at a time)

we have mini loop donuts hanging on string which they have to eat with their hands behind their backs,

followed by ducking for apples in a trug of water(washes the sugar off)

lots of silly games set up in advance,

sit them all down table full of party food, eat

musical chairs, musical statues , balloon games

mexican piñata over loaded(instead of party bags)

send them home by 5.45, out of hall by 6.30.

our hall cost about £20 for the afternoon, and we make the food, sandwiches, pizza, sausage rolls, buns, cakes, biscuits, fruit, crisps, fizzy water , fruit juice.

a sweets for the piñata (I make one, but you can buy them)

Find the nearest community hall near the school, and go from there.

I did the first party when my first child started at school, as a way of them getting to know their new class, and they request a version of it each year, we had a DJ party there last time for the older ones, mixing desks, and a break dance floor, a friend who is an expert break dance came along and gave lessons, they loved it.

doing your own thing in a hall is always far cheaper than hiring a venue.

hire a hall and bouncy castle/bouncy slide and let them run about and play?

If you want to stick with the whole class rule then I would have two parties. No different to two parties for siblings with separate birthdays :)

I look at joint birthdays as a perk of having twins, but if it doesn't work then they surely deserve the same treatment any other siblings would get, i.e. a party each?

Two parties would give manageable numbers, happy children and keep with the whole class thing :-)

Alternatively, change the whole class rule. It not set in stone and other mums may well thank you for breaking it

We have just had a birthday party for 35 children, for my DS' 6th birthday.

We couldn't have had that many children at our home, so I hired a local church hall (I am just inside Kent), quite a big bouncy castle, a face painter, created a craft table (pens, coloured pencils, stickers to go with the party theme, lots of die cut cards from Yellow Moon etc - no glue, paint or scissors) and a soft area for babies.

The party was 2 hours. We let the children just play freely and have their faces painted for the first 1 hour 15 minutes, then we did the blowing out the cake candles, then the paryt tea and then pass the parcel (one large circle, three parcels going round at the same time). Then it was hometime.

I justified the cost (bouncy castle £110, face painter for 2 hours £95, hall hire £100 or maybe a bit less, cake £45, party bags £80, food around £80) because this was the first proper party DS had, and we'd got away with doing much smaller parties at home before.

I am hoping to get away with a trip to the cinema for 10 children, or something along those lines next year! But seriously, you shouldn't feel that you have to ask every child in both your DC's classes. Maybe they could invite a certain number each? I know this is difficult, and you don't want to offend, but I would certainly understand.

Thanks all three of you, I am so very grateful to you all for taking the time. There's some excellent ideas here as well that I may just steal...
Thanks ladies! Wish me luck... x