Son's 5th birthday party

[lauribec]

A little while ago I agreed to throw a party for my son, I've arranged to hire a local hall (forgot it was also bonfire night so sort of panicking his little friends may have other plans!) and we've got a bouncy castle fun run and little sit on roller coaster coming. I'm new to the whole party thing and so I've started to panic haha! Do we invite the whole class? I think there are only 16 children (including my son) but they're quite a lively bunch and I worry someone will be hurt! His big sister will also be there and only 2-4 other children. I guess at this age the parents watch their kids?

Any party food ideas welcome! :D

Is it worth doing pass the parcel etc? Or keep it simple and just have them running around

I'm planning to do sweet cones instead of party bags, mostly due to the cost but in honesty most party bag contents ends up in the bin 🙈 so also looking for good, age appropriate sweet ideas please!

Sorry for rambling, I'm probably really overthinking things! I can see myself being an anxious mess on the day haha!

At 5 if you want parents to stay say so on the invite as some won't

I’d invite the whole class. It’s a lovely way for the class to get to know each other outside of school.

I’ve never seen it specified on invites for parents to stay as I thought it was a given at that age!

You need less party food than you think. Do ask about food allergies in advance though!

That size I would invite the whole class, some may not come, some will ask to bring siblings. I had a large hall of over 30kids and it was fine.
Sweet cones are great, are you making them rather than ordering pre made? There is no inappropriate sweets, except maybe avoid toffee.
Are you doing food? Drinks? Music, do you have a speaker? Have balloons scattered, it's amazing how much that can entertain especially the boys.
I had a pass the parcel on standby and a prize for musical statues but tbh i didn't need them and put the presents back in my cupboard for another birthday/ Christmas etc.

At 5 most parents will stay, I had a couple that asked if they could leave to go do their shopping and I said fine their child could ask my child to find me if any issues.

I would have thought parents would stay. What we have done before re food is get those little cardboard boxes (like a happy meal box), ask prior to the event re allergies and a sandwich choice then out in sandwich, packet of crisps, bit of fruit, little chocolate bar that kind of thing then you aren't guessing re buffet. Have some cupcakes to offer round for the parents and a couple of spare boxes for when siblings turn up unannounced 🙈

Invite the whole class, some won't attend.

At 5 we had a mix of parents staying and parents leaving, it's a transition age so parents don't automatically stay. If you have a preference let parents know. Be aware though that if you want parents to stay you'll need to make allowances for siblings because some parents won't have anyone to care for siblings.

Party food, keep it really simple and ask for info about allergies with the RSVP. I tend to stick to a vege menu just so I don't have to run around going 'no don't eat that it's got ham in.'

• sandwiches some with cheese, some with jam.
• cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks and cucumber rounds
• selection of berries and/or melon chunks
• selection of party biscuits - party rings, jam n creams, Jamie dodgers, Oreo's
• bags of crisps - mega cheap supermarket brand multipacks
• big jug of squash

If you want parents to stay then it is nice to provide some biscuits or cakes and a more grown up drink like tea/coffee/schloer (not alcohol) but it's not needed and most parents wouldn't expect it.

2 hrs is the sweet spot, shorter and you're rushing, longer and they start to get overtired.

1 Hr playing on bouncy castle, running about like crazy things
30 mins to eat, and blow out candles
30 mins for kids to play and you to clear the table and cut up the cake for party bags.

Party bags - slice of cake, balloon, bag of haribo and as much as us adults hate it the kids love plastic tat or a bouncy ball. For the love of all that is holy though don't put a party blower/noise maker in there though, no one needs to deal with an over excited child blowing a bloody kazoo for 3 hrs straight.

Thank you for your replies! Sorry I'm so late in responding 🙈 I invited the whole class in the end and have had replies from about half of them. It's funny actually, throwing a party makes me realise why I don't really usually do it haha! My OH is much stricter than I am and he's saying to only get enough food/make enough sweet cones for those who've replied but I figure it's not the children's fault if their parents haven't got back to me so I'll do enough for them all. Most stuff will keep to be used again anyway if not opened and we've animals who'll appreciate any left over veggies ;) making the cones myself but having to guess what I need has probably meant I've not really saved any money haha. I've also just found out I'm pregnant! So trying my best not to stress too much 😅 sorry, I'm good at rambling on!

@lauribec congratulations on the pregnancy!

Just wondering how the party went?

@mondler thank you so much! Doesn't feel real at all yet as very early days. Much to my surprise the party was a huge success :D they had such a lovely time and all played so nicely it was really lovely to see. Minimal tears, unfortunately one of the siblings started hitting the other children which caused some upset with my daughter. My son told me how much of a fantastic time he's had and best of all we had plenty of good snacks left over! ;)

@lauribec thanks for the update
I'm glad it was a success