lol
still cant believe there is a mcdonalds with a play kingdom. bargain

LadyDay I have to disagree with you there. I think you do shoulder some responsibility inviting minors to your party and then feeding them crap. When I had my little one's first birthday, one of the kids attending was allergic to nuts so my partner and I had to make sure the cake was nut free, and we monitored what she was eating. We also made sure the party bags only had one sweet in them. LOL ...you would want your child to be treated with the same respect.

i am not making the food just doing the goody bag
i would never leave it up to the party organisers as to what my child consumes during or after the party

Melissa I am most likely of your mothers generation.

I have had some interesting parties for my children, particularly my last two (children of the 90's).

I have had pool parties, sports parties, Circus parties, farm parties, character theme parties. I've hired bouncing castles/water slides ect.

What I have never done is the macdonals/whacky warehouse parties. The foods generally crap, and you are limited in terms of the number of people you can invite. I either hire halls(swimming pools) or have them at home.

I have only ever given party bags with the B-day cake in. But I have always sent every child home with a gift, from winning games, participating in games or as said good behaviour ect. And my children have never questioned the lack of goody bags, even though they have returned from many parties with them.

The last party I had was in June this year for my 12yr old son (a difficult one) went for a camping/BBQ party. He invited his friends they had a BBQ and we set up a tent in the garden and they all slept in there (to the annoyance of the neighbours) The only bags required was sleeping bags (that proved to be expensive though, I had to buy an extra 6)

The problem is where does it all end? My daughter who will be 10 in a few months wants a 'Pink Limo' for her birthday party.

I was gobbed smacked when she said it and after I had stopped laughing I told her no way.

She is still pestering and her argument is that anything eles would be " boring" (she likes this word) since she's had all other kinds of parties, apparently her friends are expecting her to come up with something different. Obviously I have set a trend for interesting parties and a rod for my own back.

Excepting that she isn't going to get a limo never mind a pink one for her 10th she then asked if she could have one for her "sweet sixteenth" I told her if she is still 'sweet' at sixteen then maybe and made mental note to stop her watching the Disney channel... But I guess I'm to late on that one.

Children remember the good time they had at a party. Parents remember the quality of the food and goody bag. At the end of the day it's the childrens memories that are more important.

With nearly 30yrs experience of childrens parties it as never occured to me to impress the parents (other than with my cake baking skills and food presentation). Surely a childrens party should be about the children enjoying themselves.

bump.......................................1yr on
btw he had a play kingdom party ... more kids turned up then expected but the venue people were ok

1yr on
decided will have a free form party. maybe rent a small room for a few hours. cold buffett sandwiches crisps etc. if i am lucky some fried chicken and hardough bread.

any suggestions pls.......party games food etc
age catering for 3yr old

Well don't make regular sandwiches because they won't get eaten.

Buy some of those shape cutters for playdough or baking and make small, shaped sandwiches. And use finger baps, pitta bread ect.

Make lots of choclate rice krispies/cornflakes ( I never make enough of these kids love em) Get your son and close friends to help make them.

Try making a theme of your food...space, animals ect. Presentation is all important. Oh and hold food back for that age group or they will just farce with it all. But it is important to let them help themselves.

As for party games I find that the traditional ones are still the best (with slight variations) with that age group; ie pass the parcel, musical chairs.

A variation of pass the parcel is to use ballons when the music stops the child pops the balloon which would have an instruction inside...pat your head and rub your belly. You know kids love poping balloons.

Actually have hundreds of balloons (not enviromentally friendly but hey) There are dozens of games you can play using balloons. Obstacle courses and races, Treasure hunts ect are all good.

Google Party games for kids there are lots of websites that are geared just for party games.

Ask your son and his friends what games they like.

I would hire a large hall and get one of those 'circus shows' in. Few years ago I hired a circus magician act (who was crap) but he brought these amazing 3 wheeled bikes/peddle things with him, the kids loved.

You can hire go-carts/ bikes if you have plenty of space and not as expensive as you might think (unless you live in London)

yep he is 3 in sep. I am so blessed.
I know he will love running around making noise and not beng told to calm down. cant wait. fingers crossed the hall wont go just yet. Also working on entertainer gonna make my calls 2moro

That's all he needs. That and all his little friends, some face paint, and a cake. The fact is he won't even remember the party.

Save all the fuss for when he's five.