Is it crazy to think about this kind of party for dd aged 4...in March 08?

[saythatagain]

I've gone ahead and booked a hall - 2 till 5. What we'd really like to do is a traditional birthday party - the kind that we had as children. This will be our first time for this kind of thing. Perhaps it's all been done before by some of you and isn't a big deal but we are totally clueless! Is it ok to do statues, musical chairs, pinning the tail on the donkey; that kind of thing? Maybe we're just kidding ourselves All opinions welcome - good and bad! Thanks

Thanks for the responses. I'm glad they're optimisitc too. I will make sure I have loads of help. I woke up at 4 am the other morning thinking about what type of invites/wording etc - more in excited anticipation too! I really do like idea more and more. I agree about the timescale though and like the idea of a Pinata. My ideas on food are along the lines of hotdogs/garlic bread; I'm well aware the food is secondary. Does anyone have better suggestions re this?

Yes it's fine. In fact it's much more personal than the endless soft play. Also cheaper.

We have done lots of these kinds of parties, including one for DS2 who was 4 this year. It was fab.

A few tips:
Have lots of games as you can run out so may need to produce one from a sleeve (as it were).
Colouring table is good for those who prefer not to play (there will be some).
3 hrs is a long while, I would go for 2 for the party, with half hour to set up and half hour to clear up!
How many coming? We have had as many as 30 and as few as 15 but 30 is a lot really. ake sure you have help - I love to do the games so need s/one (usually hapless mum and DH) to sort the food and make with the camera/camcorder

DS2's pals who ranged in age from 4.5 to 3.5 happily played pass the parcel, treasure hunt for gold coins, flap a fish, stick the eye patch on the pirate, find the treasure on a treasure map. Now try to guess the theme!!

It's because a party like this is such hard work though. Catering, setting up, refereeing the mayhem, clearing up.
I was exhausted but we all had a great time and people still talk fondly of it.

I think people tend to go abit over board these days, what happened to trifle and musical chairs???

It's like keeping up with the Jones's with parties...MAD

We like this sort of party and did one for ds when he was seven. Massive success.

We built it round t-shirt painting as the children were older, but they also loved musical chairs, a Pinata, pin the tail on the donkey and pass the parcel.

We also did Kim's Game but again that's a bit old for four year olds.

We decorated madly (cotton reusable bunting seems expensive at the time, but it looks so lovely and can be used for family parties forever), loads of balloons, I had a similar marathon/useless dh experience myself, although he came into his own on bar duty later.

For four year olds, definitely musical bumps, TWO pass the parcels as fennel says, Sleeping Lions perfect in the run up for tea, if the hall is big enough you can do What's the Time Mr Wolf and Fox and Geese too.

A big dressing up box might be fun, and singing games - they all still love The Farmer's in His Den and the Hokey Cokey at this age

For DD1's 3rd we did pass the parcel, and by the time we'd eaten etc 3 hrs had passed.
They will love it, have been wondering what to do for her 4th in Dec, and have considered hiring somewhere, but might wait til 5.

She will have a blast

Oh gosh I wouldn't hold out against entertainers stealthsquiggle, it was an epiphany when I had one for my dd's 5th birthday. I was so relaxed throughout the whole party and actually had time to watch her enjoying her birthday for once, and even managed to take some photos.

By contrast for my 3yr olds party I needed a bottle of wine afterwards and have only 2 photos of the whole event

We do mostly "traditional" parties with party games. They always seem to work quite well. We do chocolate button hunts, pass the parcel (we often have two parcels and play it twice as it's popular), sleeping lions, musical bumps, but also we have quite a lot of time for just running about. Chasing games and hide and seek games always seem to work well too. I.e. someone dresses up as bear or lion and chases them all around a bit.

Yes it's okay and fine, and about right for this age group. However it is a surprisingly large amount of work (more than you might anticipate) so just make sure that your dp / dh is a capable co-organiser and uses his initiative etc.

When I did my 3yr old's party in April I was at the hall from around 11.30 a.m and there until 18.00 (actual party 2.30 - 17.00) and frankly didn't stop (dh was fucking useless - he 'couldn't put the decorations up without asking me 'where does this go?', arranging food unto platters etc really taxed his one brain cell and asking him to lead some games - well you might as well have asked him to fly to the moon)

Go for it. The children will love and remember it. But recruit as many helpers as you possibly can because in the age of softplay and entertainers you will have to teach them how to play party games.

I am holding out against the dreaded magicians and sticking with "traditional" (albeit themed) parties for DS for as long as I possibly can. You do need to be fearsomely organised about it, though.

Sounds good, but don't plan too many games, plan to have music on with plenty of balloons for them to muck about with.
home you have a lovely party.