Birthday party for 5 year old girl, at home, mid December, advice needed

[IvanaDK]

We're planning on having our daughter's 5th birthday party at home. I know it may be a bit insane but I really don't want to spend £100 - £200 on a party - it's hard enough financially that her birthday is in December.

I'm from Denmark, so there are lots of unspoken cultural issues that I just won't be aware of. So I need your advice ;)

According to one one mum in her class, lots of people will simply be away that time - the party will be either December 12 or 13, so in a way I can hope that not all 28 children will turn up. Also, there has been at least 10 birthday parties since September (she's in Reception), and lots of parents have said no thank you to a lot of these parties, which I can totally understand, it's just a bit much to go to a birthday party on top of having just started full time school. Btw, there is no way I'm inviting only a selected few - that's just not fair at this age.

So am I quite likely to only have a few kids turn up?

Obviously we have small house ;) so I need ideas for party games that don't require too much space. Keep in mind, I won't know all English party games, I didn't grow up with them ;) A link to a party games site would be great!

Party bags - as a foreigner, that is just a bizarre thing ;) I mean, it's like presents for a child that hasn't got a birthday! Anyway, they will get their party bag, but still...

I have read the section here on Mumsnet on party food - great inspiration!

Any advice advice, hints or tips about birthday parties would be appreciated - anything, this is all news to me ;)

We did this for DD1s 6th b'day. a pinnatta was great because they spent ages taking turns to bash it, when the sweets and toys fell out they each got an empty party bag and spet another ten minutes scouring the floor for the goodies. Also had a pin the tail on the donkey poster with sticky tails. Best thing was a net filled with balloons attached to ceiling which we let drop near the end. Spent another age gleefully popping the balloons (not what I expected with a load of girly girls).

Sounds great, drivingmecrazy, how did you out the pinata to the ceiling? I rent, so I am not keen on putting up enormous hooks ;)

The donkey is definitely on my list now - is it the game where you are blindfolded to pin the tail?

I'm a bit paranoid about balloons - there will be at least two younger children at the party, and I've heard some awful stories about bits of balloons that popped getting trapped in the throat of small children.

Sorry, how did you attach the pinata to the ceiling ;)

If you need a link to a good party website you could try www.lelloandmonkey.co.uk They have a suggested party plan as well as lots of games and activity ideas. Why not host a princess treasure hunt party, that way the guests fill their own party bags with the treasure they find.

We were fortunate that we have hooks in play room ceiling for a swing, but pretty sure it came with sticky tabs although not sure how strong they would have been

Thanks, Wendyhendy1, will check it out!

thanks for clarifying, drivinmecrazy ;)

I would keep the party short (may be even just 1.5 hours) and structured. You could have pass the parcel with a Christmas charade in each layer, simple Christmas crafts (Baker Ross have some nice ones) and some dancing games with festive music.

I absolutely agree with the short and structured, that's the only way to survive I think ;)

I've been jotting down a few ideas and practicals - there's 30 kids to invite...

So far we have:
Treasure hunt in garden (its' decked) ending with pinata
Musical statues
Pass the parcel
Put the crown on the princess (so cute, from ebay)
Eating
Making your own t-shirt with fabric pens, instead of party bag

I have kind of decided to do it the difficult way and just dive in, I guess, wish me luck, I will come back with a full plan and a report after the party!

Wish me luck!

Why don't you think of some party games that kids enjoy in Denmark and try that? I think that children get a little tired of playing the same games at all parties - that doesn't mean that you shouldn't have a few of the old English favourites but something new is likely to make for a lot of fun. I grew up in Germany and have introduced some German games - e.g. "pot-bashing" (Topfschlagen in German): you take a sturdy cookpot. Taking each child in turn, you blindfold them and give them a wooden spatula to hold. Then - after they have been blind-folded you put the up-turned pot with some sweets or similar somewhere in the room. The child has to crawl around blind-folded bashing the floor until it finds the pot. The other children can help by shouting "warm", "warmer" "hot" "colder" etc to guide the hunter. No one here had heard of this before but we had shrieks of laughter and had to play two rounds (keep a back-up multi-pack of sweets handy...). The other advantage of this game is that everyone wins. Good luck and do share some Danish specialties with us!

(Party bags - yes, I know, this is a British thing but, trust me, they are essential!)

Summersoon, great idea, I really like the sound of your German game!

I can't off hand think of any Danish party games that doesn't also exist in England, but I might introduce this German one ;)

Gosh I wouldn't want to have 30 kids in my house.

Do you have room for them all - cause if you are inviting the whole class you may get them all! I don't think people particularly go away in December.

There's nothing wrong with just inviting a few you know. I've never invited the whole class - it's fine not to esp if it is at home.

Ideas for games etc here are good tho. Also agree if you are having 30 kids then 1.5 hrs is good plan.

Should add that I have nowt against big parties - have frequently staged party for 25-30 children - but at a hall. Is there one you can hire? Could cost as little at £20 for a couple of hours?

"there is no way I'm inviting only a selected few - that's just not fair at this age"

Why? My DD had 6 friends at her 5th birthday party and it was great fun,they all played well together. If we'd had more in our smallish house it would have turned into a crowd management exercise.

Not sure if you have thought of this.... but will you have space for 30 kids and also the grown up that will accompany them as well? You could be looking at 60 people in your house in one go! And what if it rains, the garden will be out of bounds...?!

My 5 year old is having just a few friends to her birthday on the 13th Dec, the hardest part was trying to get out of her who her favourite friends were at school and also how to sneak invites the the chosen few in the school playground (in case we offend other kids and parents!)

Hi, have just re-read your post. I completely agree with the others- no way would I invite 28 children, not unless I had either a big house and an entertainer (expensive!) or went to a soft-play centre with plenty of adults to help - and even then I wouldn't do it. There is no way that your child can focus on all of these kids. I once went to a party for a 4-year old where the parents had invited 19 other children and their parents and had hired a play centre. At one point, the birthday child was sitting in the middle of it all, wailing!
I really don't think that anyone expects you to invite the whole class and, if anyone is offended, well, tough. I would strongly recommend that you focus on your DD's 6-10 friends and having a nice time. Glad you liked the pot-bashing idea, I remember playing it as a kid in the 60's I am not sure that it work with 28 kids though unless you had 3 other adults to help and you split the group - it just takes too long.
Another thing that kids like (and this would work for a large group) is some pop music at the end to which they can all dance - but don't do it until the end, otherwise it'll get completely out of control. Good luck!

Oh, I'm getting all scared now, glad I haven't sent any invites out yet!

sticktoyourgins, I would just feel rally sorry to the kids that weren't invited, but I guess it's so normal over here that it's not seen like that. It would be unheard of when I grew up.

Might just give the local community hall a ring...

Right, I did it, the local hall is booked -turns out it only cost £15 per hour!

I am really very happy I did that, thank you all for convincing me ;)

Will be doing exactly the same as I had planned for home though.

Good luck - do let us know how it goes!