4 yr old girls birthday party

[Raindancer411]

Hi all

My littlest turns 4 in May so I was trying to get a head start of a little party for her. She only wants 4 other girls from nursery so throw your ideas at me for what to do, what to do about a party bag/gift idea, and what would you expect of a 'tea party' type idea for food. I was thinking of pre plating rather than a buffet (ie sandwich with no crust cut into fingers, small decorated cake (they can maybe do this themselves?) crisps and sausage rolls?

I had a boy before we we did a party in the garden with little games but girls are a total different ball game...

Will the party be at home?

@SandyWaves Yes it is at home ideally but I am open to ideas

What does your daughter like?

Does she have a particular film or show she's mad about, a colour or animal etc you could then use that as your decorating, cake, party bag theme.

At 4, DD was in love with all things unicorn and rainbow, so would have been thrilled with lots of sparkly stuff.

In terms of activities boy or girl they're pretty much all the same at that age and a bouncy castle, shit tonne of balloons and area where they can dance to the Trolls and Disney soundtracks will make pretty much any 4yr old happy.

Food, I always keep it simple and stick to a vegetarian menu. They aren't that interested in the food, just want to eat enough to re energise for more bouncing, running and screaming.

Cheese or Jam sandwiches
Crisps
Cherry tomatoes and mini cucumber
Melon slices and berries
Selection of fun biscuits - chocolate fingers, jammy dodgers, party rings
Selection of mini cakes - mini rolls, mr Kipling, fairy cakes
Breadsticks/cheese straws

2 hr party is my max limit, after that they start getting worn out and mardy. 1st hour for above mentioned bouncing/running/screaming, then 30 mins for food and blowing out the candles on the cake, last 30 mins they do more running/bouncing/screaming while you clear up the food, cut the cake for party bags and everyone starts filtering away. Send them all home with a couple of balloons each as well to help reduce that tidy up.

For party bags I liked the £1 colour in tote bags from The Works, then I'd use that to hold a slice of cake, pack of haribo and some kind of little trinket like a pot of slime/putty, pencil and eraser, temporary tattoos, sticks...something along those lines.

At home, I’d have a party tea (home made) and a Princess. My DD had this at 6 with an Elsa and they absolutely adored it, she played party games and sang with them and then said bye and we sat them down for party tea and that was that. 90mins-2hours max, done and dusted. Parents stay at that age, and drink tea/eat biscuits/help pour squash and clean up the tea.

Forgot to say instead of party bags, go and get a book set from The Works and split it, individually wrap with books with another little treat (E.g stickers) and a little pack of Haribo. Job done.

What does she like? Could you have it at home and do a couple of activities and a party tea? Could decorate cakes or something crafty like that?

Thanks all, given me some things to think over.

She does like unicorns and rainbows but I dont know if that's my influence 😂 She does like colouring and play doh, so many I could incorporate that.

I shall make sure to keep it short and sweet.

Latest birthday party we had afternoon tea type food (sandwiches on tiered stands, miniature decorated cakes etc), bouncy castle in the garden, piñata, pass the parcel, musical statues, crown making/decorating station.

We will probably do a similar setup this year, for activities I am thinking perfume making (water and dried flowers, in an individual spray bottle to take home), painting a piece of pottery, floor is lava game. There’s also a petting farm who will bring a Shetland pony to parties, which is something I’m trying to persuade my husband is a brilliant idea….

For food we always do a buffet because it can be hard to know how many we are expecting, and I like to provide some food for adults; if you have fixed numbers though and want to do individual food then little cardboard lunch boxes often go down well.

This is perfect.