Hi everyone. Thanks for all your previous great answers to my questions. So, my son will be 3 on July 2nd. He is in 2K preschool with 7 other 3 year olds. I want to have a birthday party for him and invite his classmates (he'll be going to a 4-wk summer preschool with most of these children too). I was talking to my husband about it. I've done some internet research on party ideas and was planning on having a 2 hour party with snacks like carrots, grapes and such. I was going to have a few games like duck, duck, goose and pin the tail on the donkey. I was debating on a craft table, but I'm not sure about that. I also have a sand box, and a kiddy pool and various other yard toys for the kids. My husband says that our son is too young for this kind of a party, and that we should just have family over to celebrate. Is he too young for a friends-over party or should we invite other kids over (with their parents of course)?
Thanks for all your advice. After sitting down and making a list of family and friends that we'd like to come, it would be too much to invite classmates too. He has 4 cousins that are very close in age, and we have a few close friends with young children, and then with grandparents and aunts and uncles, that is plenty. He always has fun with his cousins. On the days that I help out at his preschool, I don't really see him showing any preference towards specific kids, and inviting all 7 would be too much. Maybe when he's a few years older, we will do separate parties..one for family and close friends and another for a few classmates that he is friends with. Thanks again!
I don't think he's too young. However, if he's going to summer school with these kids, I'd probably just arrange to do something at the school on Friday. Since we're talking about a holiday weekend, some people may not be able to come to a party.
Sounds like a great time! I don't think they are too young and a few friends are a great idea. We plan parties, if the kids ask for it. We never invite friends for their first birthdays, for certain.
Our daughter had her 2nd birthday at Partyopolis (a bounch house place) as she asks to go there weekly and then we invited a bunch of kids just to have fun...that were our sons ages mainly. She had a blast and loves the place.
For our son's 4th birthday, we just hired a lady to bring 12 reptiles to show the kids. We had 12 children including our own and it was SO fun and educational, that the parents didn't leave, even though they had all planned to. I told all of the parents to drop their kids off and go have dinner alone. We served organic strawberries and blueberries, hummus and pita chips, these little oat/flax/raisin/sunflower seed muffins, then ordered pizza (and served wine) and then I made a wheat free/gluten free cake. Everyone had a blast. I had pin the tail on the donkey planned, but we never needed to pull it out and even ran over my 25 minutes.
i don't think he is too young at all! we just had our daughter's 3rd birthday party last month and she too is in a preschool so she had a blast with her friends! unfortunately it rained so all our outdoor activities (swingset, bubbles, sandbox, etc) were not used, but we did a craft table with some foam pieces from the dollar tree and foam stickers, I had a pin the crown on the princess game, and the kids watched Alice in Wonderland (for about 40 minutes). She had sooo much fun! I hope you let your son have his special day!!! Good luck with planning!
I don't think he's too young either. When my son was one, we had a huge party. I feel most of the time these parties are more for ourselves (especially 1st birthday parties), but it really is about wanting to make your child happy and I think a 3 year old can definitely appreciate a party like the one you're planning.
My husband feels the same way, but I love capturing the memories and putting together the goody bags and activities. It will be great to show your son pictures of the party when he's much older.
Have fun!
T.,
I think it's a personal preference. Mine is that when they get old enough to talk about their friends a lot (about age 3) that they get approximately one friend per year of age invited to their party. I invite parents, too, until they are school aged.
I don't do any competitive games until they are about 6. Kids get overexcited with birthday parties anyway. Having competitions for small children is usually too much and ends up with fights, tantrums and tears. Craft tables, sand boxes, and kiddie pools (if you have an adult to watch every child) is great. Let kids just roam and do what they want. Structured parties with stations or schedules are appropriate for school aged children. If you let your child open presents in front of the other kids, it's best to unwrap, thank, and put it out of sight. If you leave presents out or open and set them up, it's another invitation for fights and tantrums. ("I brought that present so it's mine" or "I was given that present and I don't want to share it.")
The other thing to remember is that you are setting a precedence. Whatever you choose to do this year, there will be an expectation to repeat (or trump) it next year. And if you choose to have more children in your family, it will be a repeat or trump multiple times per year.
Good luck,
S.
He's not too young for a fun party, but he might be too young to have that many kids over. We always followed the rule of inviting as many kids as the birthday boy was years old. So when our kids were three, they had three friends over. It was perfect. We did fun activities, and it wasn't overwhelming.
I do not think he is too young, but be prepared for the adults to also stay, so you will need to include them in the snack and cake portion..
Sounds like lots of fun!
Seven 3 year-olds plus parents (and siblings?) makes for a big gathering. I would be overwhelmed, and if it rained they wouldn't fit in my house. I would keep it smaller.
This also turns into a party for grown-ups (with stuff to do for the kids) so I would want to know and like the adults that are coming. That's why at this age many people throw birthday parties with family and/or friends and their kids. There are many years in the future for parties with school friends.
Whatever you decide, I would want my husband to agree with the plans, because you will need his (cheerful) help to pull this off. If you don't agree, this may not turn out as you had planned...
I think if you are comfortable coordinating a party of that size/age group and you have a child you does not get overwhelmed in large groups then go for it! We have a lot of children in our family so even sticking to family only invites birthday parties for my children have always been big. Last year for her 3rd birthday we did a carnival theme. I had different stations and gave the children an empty treat bag. They were given tickets and were able to play the games. We had about 10 children ranging from age 3 to 7 and they all had a blast, even the younger ones. My girls look forward to their birthday parties every year and usually will start thinking of ideas months in advance : )
In my experience it is hard to get children that are not family or immediate neighbors to attend birthday parties untill they are in first grade. We have six kids so our younger ones are used to sleepovers with cousins and playdates and such and wanted to invite their new friends to parties and sleepovers. What I have discovered is that many of their friends were the oldest or only child and their parents did not think their child was old enough for parties. Our youngest daughter turned four in Febuary and she invited all 8 little girls in her class to come. Only one came and she is a neighbor from about 2 blocks away and her older sisters play with our kids all the time. Thankfully I had still invited the whole family so she had all of her cousins there, but she was still upset that her friends did not come. So my advice is this, if you know any of the parents really well then you might try inviting 1-3 friends but keep inviting family too untill he is in school all day.
