Party at home for 5 year old DS?

[ihearttc]

It will be DS's 5th birthday at the end of february and we were thinking of doing a party at home for him. He had it a soft play place last year (it was next to his nursery so literally every child at nursery had their party there!) but although he enjoyed it it was very expensive and didn't feel much like a party cause he didn't even see half the children because they obviously ran off in different directions!

He is in reception and they had a christmas party at school and they all came out so excited cause they'd played musical statues,pass the parcel etc which is what gave me the idea of a party at home. DS is very keen on the idea but am a bit worried in case he is laughed at for having a naff party...yes I know its stupid but 5 year olds can be very cruel sometimes!

We have a largish lounge and largish kitchen so could probably have about 12/14 children but obviously thats going to mean not inviting the whole class so some are going to be left out as well.

Is this a good idea or should I just go with the norm and have a soft play party??

I always did parties at home with 12ish children and we did the pass the parcel etc thing. We loved them but it did take quite a lot of work and it was a LONG time ago.Times change. You are already pointing out problems and you want it to be a happy time for your DS. I think i would probably go for the soft play option for one more year and then move on to special friends for a pizza.

Ah, yes do a proper party! I'm so sad that we cant fit many bodies into our house; we did for ds1's 3rd, but it was crammed. ds2 wants his at home this year (he will be 4), but then it'll mean only inviting a few people. Its that or Macdonalds, as thats the cheapest out-of-house option (dont suggest hiring a hall, for many reasons).
Real parties are so much more personal, memorable, and fun to organise.

we did it for dds 4th last year with 17 kids , most of which had accompanying adults. We were hoping to have it in the garden (July) but it rained so we just squashed in, had party tea in our dining room with our big dining table, kids picnicbench and childs table filched from the garden. When it stopped raining all the kids went out and bashed a pinata for a bit. They all sat down on the floor and played pass the parcel, and a good time was had by all. I thought it was a lot better than ds's (more expensive) bouncy castle party and the kids thought it was great too.

The only thing to remeber is that your 5 year olds may not be happy at parent's leaving, so you will need to plan some seating and refreshments for visiting adults.

Yes, do it!

My DS had one at home for his 5th birthday and it was fab. We only had 8 children as got small house but they had a great time.

We have been to so many soft play type parties which are all exactly the same and not memorable at all, plus expensive in my opinion.

We did:

-Craft activity
-Musical statues
-Making pizzas
-Pass the parcel (while pizzas cooked)
-Ate pizzas and cakes,jelly etc
-Few other games - (including Don't Eat Tommy Smartie, got the idea on here and they loved it)
-Birthday cake, singing Happy Birthday etc
-Balloons for 5 mins while waiting for parents to pick up

It was a hectic 2 hours but really enjoyable (and went very quickly) and parents have said since how much their children enjoyed it.

Will definitely be doing it again for his next birthday.

Forgot to say - none of the parents stayed during the party but some family members were around to help out. I wrote on invitation to let us know with RSVP if parents would be staying so we would have an idea of numbers.

Thanks everyone-it seems like a good idea then and hopefully all the children will love it and DS will have something lovely to remember. I had "proper" parties when I was little and always had a great time but obviously that was a long time ago!!

I had thought about the parents wanting to stay as well and I should think out of the 12 only 4 or 5 parents will want to stay...2 of the children are twins & 2 others are our next door neighbours who spend loads of time round ours anyway and another is DS' best friend and knows me really well anyway but the rsvp idea for parents is fab. I had planned to get my SIL (who has no children & won't know what she is getting into lol!) round to help me and DH.

We've got a playroom (well a dining room with toys in!) so there should be extra space in there for parents and we've got a good size garden so the children can go out there as well if weather ok. By the way our house isn't as big as its sounds...its just well laid out lol!

Had thought of doing 2 pass the parcels (1 with boy prize and 1 with girl prize),musical statues,pin tail on the donkey and the chocolate game with gloves/scarf but that might be too old for them. Am intrigued as to what the Tommy Smartie game is cause it sounds fab??
Was also going to do a dancing competition with sweetie prizes for best movers etc cause thought that might be fun and was going to do few sandwiches/crisps/cakes/jelly & ice-cream etc for them to eat.

Im sure it will be a lot of work but am quite excited about it cause at least hopefully they'll remember it...and I'll get to have a large glass of wine afterwards!

I am going against trend and having an at home party for my DD on Saturday, also in reception.

We have 7 guests and I am making it a fairy party, got wings and wands from the pound shop!

We are having traditional games with a "fairy" twist and some craft activities.

I have planned the whole thing like a military campaign, so will hopefully go well.

Why not do a pirate theme and have a treasure hunt? The best things about at home parties are that you get much nicer food. I also had some beautiful personalised invitations which I got from ebay, only cost a £5 but makes everyone feel special.

My dd was in reception last year and had a traditional "at home" tea party for 7 friends. We put on the invitation that parents were welcome to stay or not, totally up to them (none did)

This year she (coming up 6) wants to do the same again. So 7 little girls (last year was a mix of boys and girls) plus dd.

Thing sthat went well were decorating own cupcake with name on arrival (I had 2 bowls of icing and those little letters that you can buy in the supermarket) Pass the parcel.

This year she is having a choice of hamburger or hotdog with various other party food. She may opt to do a small present per child rather than a party bag.

Also Top Tip - 2 hours is the absolute maximum length for this type of party. Better still 1.5 hours. Some will arrive a bit early and some be picked up a bit late so even 1.5 hours will be more like 2 hours. We are doing 3.15pm until 5pm

DS had his 5th at home in October. With 12 guests 2 parents stayed. We had a Halloween theme and played most of the games outside. For food I put a plastic sheet on the kitchen floor for them to sit on, served hotdogs and crisps followed by fairy cakes. Kids loved it, some of the girls got a bit cold and didn't want to play outside after tea but DS big 6 year old sister loved entertaining them

It seems to be the norm in our school, to have a home party.

We have done it for all ages. Had it for all of them at 5 - plenty silly games, snacks, a craft thing and my top tip - plate decorating!

Instead of buying themed plates, as guests arrive, get them to draw on a plain paper plate (put their name on it) with ordinary felt pens or pencils. It keeps everyone amused for a bit and then when everyone is there you can open pressies and start the games.

Then use the plates for food later!

my ds1 has only ever had home parties, with a max of 7 guests.

I don't think anyone has ever said they were naff.