to be worried that my dd isn't going to enjoy her party?!

[Mogandmeg]

My dd turns 3 next month and we have booked a small hall for her to have some friends to a party. Unfortunately due to low budget we can't really stretch to bouncy castle or entertainer so far only have planned music and dancing, food, cake and pass the parcel. Am getting worried that this won't be enough? AIBU to be fretting? My dh is sure they will just be happy zooming around to music etc but I would be so very grateful for any ideas you might have? Some parties seem to full of stuff am worried this might not be 'enough'. We have about 12 dc coming along, Thank you

[jalopy]

Your husband is correct.

You are fretting too much.

Your child will have a ball.

[rainbowinthesky]

Buy a big packet of balloons and they will be happy.

[Jamieandhismagictorch]

Erm - not to be a party pooper. Just be aware some DCs are frightened of balloons. DS1s 3 rd birthday party was ruined by DCs bursting balloons. He is now phobic

My advice - keep it short - 1 and a half hours max. They will love it

[Jamieandhismagictorch]

Will put thinking cap on for more ideas

[Jamieandhismagictorch]

Bubble machine - but watch for slippery floors

[wonderingwondering]

There are loads of party idea threads on here - lots of suggestions. I did a party like that for my DD's 4th, and she loved it. I was tired afterwards though!!

At 3, unless you have older children there to lead the way, you don't want games that are too structured - so musical chairs might be beyond them, musical bumps might be OK. Put some cars or colouring out and let them charge around, it will be great!

My friend got an idea on here - get 2 teenage children or willing adults and lots of bargain loo roll, then let the little children 'mummify' them (i.e. wrap them up). At her daughter's party, they then ripped all the paper off and spent the rest of the party chucking it round the hall (think very wild Andrex puppies!). It was a complete mess but all swept up in minutes.

If you are in the UK, I can see from the time of your post you've been worrying about this in the night, haven't you?

[BouncingTurtle]

Your is right. Don't set your standards too high, otherwise what are you going to do when she is older?

[Feelingsensitive]

My DD had a low budget party at home for her 4th. I was worried about the same thing so did the following games. If its 1.5 hours you will probably only need to fill an hour with 30 mins for eating. How about these games/things to do:

Pass the parcel.
Pinata.
Dancing competition.
Egg and spoon race.
Whats the time Mr Wolf (if the group is old enough)
Musical statues/ chairs (again if you think there are enough older ones)
Pin the tail on the donkey

You could lay some tables out with craft things.

You could also borrow a slide and any play equipment from friends.

She will love it.Have fun.

[gingernutlover]

at my dd's 4th we had a table where they could decoarte a party hat (made by me out of card) or ice a fairy cake and tastefully smother place sweets on it. They loved this and it took a good 30 mins. I also took a long a big blanket and put toys on it.

your dd will have a great time, try not to worry too much about it all.

[cory]

My children have always had low budget parties at home. Ime this "counts" just as much with the other children as a big entertainer led party at a venue. In fact, dcs tell me that many of their mates prefer being invited to this kind of homelier party.

What we did at this age was:

have a table set up for decorating biscuits (plain biscuits, a bowl of firm icing and some of small coloured icing tubes) with an adult on duty- this to keep guests entertained while the others keep arriving

Then Pass the Parcel (small prices for all and cheating to make sure everyone gets one), Musical Bumps (easier than Musical Chairs as they just lie down on floor) and finally Sleeping Lions to calm them down before the food.

Then food.

Then we always had a fishing game where they get their party bags by fishing ((stick with bag tied on it) into a sea that is formed by a piece of cloth stretched over a doorway.

[belgo]

It will be great! At that age they don't need any more then the usual party games - in fact anything bigger could be over whelming for such small children.

[Doodleydoo]

Last party for dd, I made some fairy cakes and then let all the children decorate them with bits and pieces which they could then eat. They loved that and they were younger than your dd.

you might find simple is better.

[lazylula]

Set up a table of drawing, or some craft activity, decorate biscuits or cakes with icing and sweets ect, take some toys with you, maybe some soft bowls intead of balloons. Pass the parcel is good, could do a pin the tail on the donkey type activity as this is very parent lead, so doesn't really require the children to understand all the rules to play. I have all my parties at home and up until ds1's 4th birthday they have been very free flow parties with a game of pass the parcel here and there! I also got somme temporary tattoos for ds1's 4th birthday party which took up some time to do and the children loved them!

[lobsters]

Have you got a toy library near you? we went to a 3yr olds party, where the parents hired some big toys from the toy library for few pounds and they were a huge hit, there was one called rolloercoaster that was particularly popular from memory. But mainly the children just seemed to be running around a lot

[MrsMellowdrummer]

We will be having a very similar sounding party for our three year old this year. Not necessarily I have to say because we're on an economy drive, but because I really think 3 year olds prefer these kinds of parties.

I'm going to take a long some toys and things for the children to play with, and stick on some nice music. We may do t-shirt decorating, because I have some fabric pens left over from my 8 year old's party this year, and plain white t shirts are cheap to pick up.

Apart from that, the only structured thing we'll do is pass the parcel, and we might have a bash at musical bumps, but I'm not expecting them to be particularly good at that yet. More of a general bounce around.

I might suggest a fancy dress theme, so they can all show each other their favourite dress up clothes...

I'm sure your daughter will have a really lovely birthday. Not all 3 year olds by any means get a party at all, so she's a lucky girl that you are going to the effort for her...

[MrsMellowdrummer]

Just had a thought... is there any kind of toddler group that runs in the same hall?

We had a party for my son one year and borrowed some of the toys from the local toddler group - all in a cupboard already in the hall, which made it super easy. We just gave a very small donation to the toddlers as a thank you...

[Bettymum]

I was about to suggest you look to see if you have a local toy library but lobsters beat me to it. My friend did this for her 2yo a couple of weeks ago, it cost her a fiver to hire a garden full of toys - cars, trikes, tunnels, a small ball pool and so on. It was brilliant and I'm sure it could work in a hall too.

[LoveBeingAHungParliament]

A big space, music and lots of food and they'll love it

The cbeebies website has loads of pictures you can print out for colouring and some cheapo crayons.

[monkeyfacegrace]

Morning Mog, I know this is random, but where in the country are you? I have a bouncy castle you can borrow if you live close enough!
Its only a small one, but perfect for 3 yr olds?

[monkeyfacegrace]

That wasnt a suggestion that the party wont be great anyway fwiw!

[ArsMamatoria]

Don't think I've even been to a 3 year old's party where they have had more than you've got. Everyone seems to have a great time.

You're clearly a very sweet mum and your daughter is lucky.

[Rosebud05]

i would ditto the craft table idea for passing time in a quiet, collaborative way. If they make hats, windmills, shakers etc you don't need to bother with party bags IMHO.

[5Foot5]

You don't need anything too structured at that age.

When DD was 3 we did soft play for an hour then had a room booked for an hour for the tea. TBH they had as much fun running up and down in the tea room as they did in the soft play area.

[alicet]

I was going to come on here to say same as everyone else - that your party sounds great but if you wanted some extra stuff suggest the cake decorating / craft / toys.

Been beaten to it! Good luck - sure your dd will love her party

[SE13Mummy]

It sounds brilliant! Baker Ross do reasonably priced plain hats/masks/crowns etc. that I've bought and used for parties - children can decorate them with pens, old sweet wrappers, feathers, bits of old wrapping paper etc., wear them during he party and then take them home in a party bag. They also do little cardboard frames and badge-making sets, both of which we've used as 'arriving' activities (and later put in party bags). Cake decorating, gingerbread man decorating and sandwich making (using different shaped cutters) have all gone down well for us at DD's 4th party.