Help!, we've done the soft play/disco/farm parties..now what!?

[ROSEgarden]

dd's birthday, although not till april but i dont know what to do for her now, we killed softplay parteis we did/went to them that much, same with her disco party last year and every childs after that, farm would be too cold in april...so what???
bowling is £10 a head and theres no way im daft enough for that!...the place she has asked for(softplay!) is between £7.99 and £12.99 a head(latter price for room to yourself!)...FFS!
Shes after a nintendo ds and we want to buy her a trampoline, we can do £10 a head AND get these presents...help!

oh and theres no way id do something at home, it will p*ss down and all 40 children will turn in wrecking machines and i have enough of that through week!

HELP!

If she likes trampolines, some of the leisure centres near here will do a party with trampoline tuition (think the party can be sporty, dancing, traditional party games, then the trampoline and teacher is an extra on top). Don't know what it costs - they provide the activity and the space, you take the food.

Maybe worth seeing what you can get near you?

IS the 40 a whole class and some cousins and friends children? Is that the scale of things I have to look forward to?

yeah saw that at local leisure centre but they have to be 6 minimum(age) and dd is only/will only be 5, most of friends 4 or 5..she would love that!, she ahs springs in her feet!

yeah..class is 25, plus friends and family..last party her 4th i invited 40, you have to think ahead and guess who will bring siblings too

Am that you have "done" soft play, farm and disco parties and this is only her 5th birthday. ds has had one soft play party and one in a hall with games etc and he's 6, prior to that we just did "gatherings" of friends and their children. Sorry doesn't help you for ideas. Probably too young for swimming as well.

im am not 'ready' for swimming..rather my body isnt up for sharing with everyother parent at school!....first party soft play(baby side and bigger side, second party soft play/bouncy castle, third party wacky warehouse, 4th party fancy dress disco(farm was friends and although fab, too cold in april)..so have ran out of ideas and cashflow for new things i think

wow 40 is a huge number for a party! I'm very mean and at DDs last party (4th) said no siblings could come as I didn't want the numbers to be much over 20. Would it be easier if you had fewer children? Do you have to invite the whole class, by April do you think she'll know everyone well enough to chose her closer friends? My DD's birthday is in May and it will be her first while at school so I'm interested to know what the done thing is about who is invited.

Have you thought about hiring a village hall and having an entertainer, or just doing some party games yourself plus bouncy castle if needed?

IMHO you are spoiling her.

Why on earth would you invite 40 kids?? And why would you buy a 5 year old a trampoline and a DS. You are looking at £400 min for a party and £300 for presents.

YOU are the parent, you should say NO.

FWIW My kids are 6 and 8 (7 and 9 in March) in previousl years we have done a village hall, party games type event. £30 for the hall and a good DH for the games. 2 years ago we went to Disneyland Paris around their b'days, so we said 4 kids each, party at home after school. Few games, princess clothes and pizza for tea.

Last year I pormied one last bash, we did teh hall and hired a disco man, we had 40 kids between the 2 of them and spent £200 ish. They were told in advance that was their LAST big party. If they wanted one this year they could choose number of guest v cost per head!! SO we may do a cinema pizza night with 3 frinds each, or a pottery painting party with 3 each. If they want 4 or more they can do swimming or something cheaper.

EXPLAIN to yor DD that you are not made of money and you cannot afford it.

TBH IMHO you are not doing it for her you are doing it for you, she won't remember her 3rd b'day party. YOU ARE THE PARENT

not really many halls locally??...i DID say she could have soft play but only have a few frriends or like a disco aprty again and have everyone..she actually said only a few friends, so you;re right...i could get away with maybe 25?...tbh they just need a room to run around scream and eat cake for 2 hours, but i like to do something new?....

Arts and crafts party? -take a look at Baker Ross for some excellent ideas -you can make it as affordable or expensive as you like.

Theres also relatively unmessy stuff there too so no need to worry about lots of glue and paint chaos.

oh god no, she hasnt asked for this...she has looked enviously at all her friends on ds's over xmas and i asked if she would like one for her birthday although i had already told dp i wanted to get her a trampoline..she ahsnt 'asked' for softplay party, i gave her a choice of softplay or disco, she has never 'asked' for ANY of these things and would be quite happy with a hall and bag full of balloons..its me i think

no, i AM doing it for her, i want her to be surprised and thhink its cool and be excited..i dont want a pat on the back, i want dd to love her birthdays(and she does have fond memories of the last two(4th and 3rd)..if we had nice local hall id hire that and hire entertainer, but we done...disco room isnt expensive(about £40) and own catering so not pricy.

Agree crunchie, ds doesn't remember anything (party wise) before his 5th birthday.

dd started reception in Sept, and has been to 2 'whole class' bday parties where they hired a hall and an entertainer. No idea what we will do for hers yet. So far we've only done family/close friends parties, and the year we tried wacky warehouse dd has chickenpox and we had to cry off.
One of our friends is taking her ds (8) to the local snowdome,but he's not allowed to invite many kids!
am beginning to think we are a bit cheapskate when it comes to parties..

aren't there even some church halls you could hire, the ones where they have toddler groups are good. Then you could just hire a bouncy castle and all you'd need to do is a few games and a simple tea.

, you see i dont follow pack, i like having parties, we have them ourselves, i put a christmas one on last year for start of my business for local kids..but it IS the norm to have parties were i am, or at least the norm for me anyway..we go to lots of parties evry few month and have done in recption(now ) and nursery!?

Why not let her select a few of her close friends or cousins and let her have a princess sleepover or something. I would have a nervous breakdown at the thought of 40 - does she not just get lost in the rammy? And the cost No way would I spend that on a 5 year old - I'd rather take DD to Disneyland or Alton Towers, or wherever for the weekend.

the only todler groups here are in designated centres, they dont hire out the room its all private or council run.

She is off school on birthday, so we will take her to fun park on actual day, but this is to play/celebrate with her friends.

Can't believe there are no rooms to hire in your locality? I know of several around here. Also for my DS's last birthday we had the function room at the local italian restaurant at £5/head for the real italian pizzas, chips, proper chicken nuggets and italian ice-cream. So then I just had to organise the games and cake myself.

was thinking along the lines of princess's for the disco party or even a HSM themed one, but she had dress up last year and every aprty from school this year/last year was same..?

no, nothing, all surestart owned or private..only church hall locally is run down and urgh..nothing gets held there not even old dears coffee mornings anymore..