Should I do a whole school birthday party for DD

[Thespiderinthebath]

Hey everyone,

I have a 5 year old DD whose at a private specialist school. She has severe verbal dyspraxia and a speech and language disorder.

Her birthday is nearing and I would like to do a birthday party for her. The issue is, there's only about 15 children in her whole school, including the nursery aged children, and also I would like to invite some of her friends who were at her old school.

Though I don't know what to do for them...as some of the children in the specialist school have other needs eg. Sensory, have problems with loud noises, space etc; also I do have to accommodate towards the younger children too.

Can anyone suggest birthday party ideas that can entertain both special and neurotypical children please.

Sorry I can't help, but bumping for evening.

Does your local pool hire the pool for private parties?

DS had an outdoor party at a local wildlife reserve for his fifth birthday (whole class). They were given nets to catch bugs, turned logs over etc. There were a range of activities, indoor and outdoor that we could pick and choose from when booking the party. It worked very well because the noise level was kept low as we were outside, children could walk away with their parents for some quiet time when needed and there was a building they could go in to keep warm or separate if they needed to. There was also a large adventure playground with a big fence around it to let off steam. It was cold but they all wrapped up warm and the reserve provided warm squash and tea/coffee for the parents.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Thewandering.. thats a good idea! I need to look into that.

It was a little local nature reserve but they were so flexible and accommodating! Plus they get a lot of school trips so they were really prepared for additional needs.

It cost £140 for three activities, party bags and a small party meal.

Would a picnic in a park work, that way parents can stay as well?

Thanks for the suggestion, but DS finds picnics very boring. Though he loves swimming.

Do a little poll before booking a swimming party, swimming is really fun for some children, whilst being in water is the ultimate nightmare for others.