Sort posts
My daughter turns 5 in January. She's in Reception, class of 30. I'd love to do a small party with her 6-7 actual friends at home. My sister says you HAVE to invite the whole class at this age or it's cruel.
Whole class means hiring a hall, an entertainer, party bags, at least £350 by my maths. We don't really have that. What's the done thing?
There's no rule. The unwritten etiquette I've seen is: whole class OR under half the class, ideally girls-only or a few friends. The thing that causes upset is inviting 27 out of 30.
Small party at home every time. The whole class parties are chaos and half the kids barely know each other. Five girls, a cake and pass the parcel is a perfectly lovely 5th birthday.
Just don't hand out invites in the classroom. Message the parents directly. That's the bit that hurts kids, seeing others get envelopes.
We did whole class for Reception precisely because it helped us get to know the other parents, and it paid off in years of playdates. But we split it with another January birthday kid and shared costs, it came to about £120 each.
@Sam_Okafor joint party is a really good idea, there's one other January girl. Hmm.
Also remember that half the class won't come anyway. We invited 30 and got 14.
Decision made: sharing with the other January girl, community hall near the park, no entertainer, I'll run the games myself. Wish me luck.
Speaking as the aunt who always gets roped into running the games: buy a parachute. Kids lose their minds over it. Best tenner you'll spend.
Log in to replyGuests can’t post on the forum — signing up takes a minute.
