Affordable fifth birthday party ideas after starting school in September

[GibbyWB]

My son turns 5 in September.
He would have only been in school for two weeks. I would love to invite everyone. 30plus and potentially invite some external friends.
What party ideas should I look at? 14pp at soft play isn't suitable.

How do people afford this? My daughter's birthday is the week after 😬
Party bags? Is that a yes or a no

Thank you

I’ve never been able to manage a whole class one for less than a few hundred. I think some soft plays will do special deals during the week though, so might be worth asking around.

My local leisure centre offers a soft play party for for 45 kids for £300 i think. But then you have to supply the food and cake and party bags on top.

I hired a hall and a bouncy castle for my son’s 4th. Nowhere near 30 kids but it still worked out at 300ish

Tbh i would also be cautious about throwing a party that soon as 2 weeks is often not enough notice for many people. And try not to have it on saturday morning as lots of kids have hobbies then.

Our whole class ones have been £400 each time, which was hiring a hall and entertainment/bouncy castles.

Party bags a definite yes. Some people have done sweet cones but they’re a bit too many sweets for reception age kids.

We had one in Reception that was in a local park that has a covered bandstand area. I think there may have been an entertainer but it was mainly just kids running around. It worked well though and was pretty cheap I think.

You can work on a quiz type game with simple questions where the kids would need to guess something, to name a fact, to make a word or a sentence, etc, and give them small prizes like chocolate coins, hair accessories, stickers, glowing pens etc. It can be done in a form of a slideshow with funny pictures and maybe even music (here is how you can make one if you need a tutorial) so that you wouldn't have to yell for everyone to hear you. Also it helps capturing the attention way better!

Don’t bother with whole class. He won’t know them all and two weeks notice is not enough. Just have a small party with the friends he has now and family.

Sorry i don’t agree this will be appropriate. Some of these kids will have only just turned 4.

Hall hire is about £50 for 2.5 hours (90 minutes for the party, setting up and clearing up) then you’ll need food (basic from supermarket is just fine) drinks for kids and adults who will stay these days, tea and coffee is fine though, no need to have alcohol. You then need an hours worth of entertainment which can include games, crafts, an entertainment show etc. Do you have family or friends that can help? If so £150 can pull off a party and yes you need plastic bags with tat plus haribo in them, plus a cake but those big supermarket tray bakes are fine or just make your own using baking spread not butter, use m&ms over icing to spell name.

Generally, when I’ve been at a party for children this young it’s not worked especially well when adults have (however well meaning) tried to organise games and activities for the children. It’s better when it’s a bit more free flow.

I think soft play at £14 pp so what, £420, isn’t a bad deal to be honest (I am assuming food and party bags are included.) I did a hall hire for DDs first birthday and the costs of food, entertainment and party bags soon racked up. It was also a lot of work and I vowed not to do it again!

But (unlike most of MN it would seem) I think children’s birthday parties are great. When the invitations are reciprocated you get your child entertained and fed for a couple of hours on a weekend, you get to meet other mums in your child’s class and the children usually really do enjoy them immensely. They aren’t cheap though and anyone who expresses horror at the costs probably hasn’t got a child aged under about eight.

Would you be better to have a smaller party this year and a whole class one next year - you can invite people with a bit more notice and can judge who is likely to come? The first days of reception are a bit chaotic - our school has a very staggered start so the whole class weren't in together for a full day until over a week in, which might make sending invites tricky.

When I did a larger party for my daughter (not whole class but 20 children) we hired a hall had music, pass the parcel and other games. The big hits were the balloons - they just ran around bouncing and playing with them) and a craft area with strips of paper to make and decorate crowns. It was still not cheap! Since then we have had smaller parties with 6-8 and gone bowling or to clip & climb.