Help me decide which idea to go for - the best one for the parent (me) or for the child (dd)

[Rhubarb]

Forward planning here. She will be 7 next month and wants a party.

Dh has suggested we get a couple of friends from school and take them all to the cinema. No fuss, no mess, no entertaining. However I think dd might feel a little bit ripped.

Or my sister suggested a unique idea of getting some cheap plain white t-shirts from Asda, some fabric pens, glue, sequins and stuff and let them make their own t-shirts which they then have as a souvenir. dd would love this idea, but it does mean having a few brats in the house and having to entertain them for the rest of the 2 hours I'll allow them in for, so what would we do with them the rest of the time?

Thoughts on this one appreciated please!

you could take them out for tea (if the numbers were sufficiently small)?

(dd is also about to be 7!)

my neice is having a bowling party for her 9th. 10 kids, one bowling game, plus grub, for the same price as those warehouse thingies, but more appealing to a slightly older child.

think she'd like that?

I have done both types of celebration. Cinema with ds1 when he was 7 went down very well. No mess, no fuss.

I've done plate painting and pillow-case painting parties for dd (who'll also be 7 shortly), when she was younger. These were fairly easy and the sort of thing she loves. They spend a fair amoung of time painting, then we threw them into the garden with dh for a couple of games while I clear up the paint etc and set out food. The time passes fairly quickly tbh, and they all went home with something nice and no need to worry about party bags. We might suggest T-shirt painting for her this year, and only invite a handful of friends. Could do a dance-mat competition for a game I guess.

My daughter went to a party where they all made their own scented bath crystals and soaps. You get a kit from a supplier somewhere, including all the pretty packaging etc. They had a fabulous time and it didn't cost an arm and a leg!

I should say that we are only inviting a couple of friends as our budget is limited, so we couldn't do an organised event.

But I could get some more crafts and so on to keep them all busy, then give them 5 mins to stuff their faces with food etc. I could have them blowing up balloons too and having balloon themed games.

I think dd would appreciate this a lot more although I am tempted by the stick 'em in front of the big screen approach.

If it's a nice day we could all go out into the front garden which would be a lot better too.

Any more crafts ideas please bring them on!

Play proper party games - it always goes down well as not many parents do it anymore.
Our personal favourite is The Chocolate Game

First one to roll a 6 goes to the table gets dressed in as many hats, scarves, gloves, coats etc; then has to eat from a bar of chocolate with a knife and fork before the next person rolls a 6!

I'd ask dd what party she wants. My dd is going to be 8 in September, dh and I are going to come up with a few ideas and ask her which one she wants to do.

the yellow moon catalogue has some fab sets/ideas for craft activities for large numbers of kids at very good prices - it's a fundraising thing for school too so if your school's signed up for the scheme you'd be doing them a good turn too! I think it's www.yellowmoon.co.uk.

ds had a cinema do with his friends for his 9th - we had 6 in the end and went to Frankie and Benny's afterwards. The goodie bag was their party bag plus a piece of cake. No hassle !

If you did the t-shirt idea you could egt them to make pizza for tea afterwards. Hope for a fine day and do it all outside. Put on some dance music or a dvd while you cook the pizza. Then serve ice cream which they can top with buttons , smarties, sprinkles etc

Good plan! I can buy some pitta breads and get them to design their own pizzas with a range of toppings that I can then cook for them.

What are you betting that one of the little brats won't like pizza though?

I could call it an Arts and Crafts Party for an hour and a half, 2 at a push. They get to take home the stuff they've made so no need for goodie bags either!

I think dd will like this.

I did t-shirts last year, putting the child's name at the top of the back of each t-shirt with their age underneath... the plan was to get them to decorate them but I never got round to it, the t-shirts did look so cute on all of the kids, they were like a football team.