Birthday party of a 3 yr old - ideas/suggestions?

[IWillOnlyEatBeans]

I am thinking about throwing a birthday party for my DS who will be 3 in Feb.

We moved house in the Summer and don't know many other people with children, so the guest list would be fairly limited - other children from his playschool - 10 in total if everyone accepted (which I doubt they will!)

We'd be having the party at home, but I don't have a clue where to start! Would 1.5 hrs be enough? The children would range from 2.5 to 4.5...would party games work? Or are they too young? I'd anticipated:

Dancing
Bubbles
Pass the parcel
Musical statues
Pin the tail on the donkey

Make sure everyone gets a prize for something...etc...

Followed by some sandwiches etc.

Would the parents stay at this age? I'm assuming yes? Would this need to be specified on the invites?

Is this madness?? or a good way for us to make some new friends??

Thanks!

[IWillOnlyEatBeans]

*FOR a three year old. Sorry!

[MsFlippingHeck]

Sounds good Op.

I did 3-5pm for Dd's 3rd party. (it then covered teatime so the parents could take children straight home for bed)

Pass the parcel, hokey cokey went down well.

Balloons to play with. Big piece of paper on floor and numerous felt tips for everyone to draw was also popular.

Enjoy it, don't bust a gut!

[mysweetie]

I think it will be great, some baloons poppig ang hanging candies will also be great.

[CheerfulYank]

That sounds fun OP! :)

I always over plan for parties and there's never any need, kids are usually happy just running around shouting and eating cake.

[lolalotta]

Just went to a party where they had two parcels going round at the same time in opposite directions for pass the parcel so the game is that much quicker whilst each child still gets a chance to unwrap a layer and the kids don't get fed up and start wondering off!!! They was a sweet in each layer too!

[Tinkerisdead]

You prob need two hours as food tends to drag on with little kids. At that age pin the tail game may be a bit much. Pass the parcel, musical bumps/statues are good. Dancing is good too. On the party thread we always suggest a craft/quiet activity for a bit of down time or for the shy kids to gravitate to. If you put some colouring out at the start it allows for everyone to get there and quietly settle in.

At that age parents will def stay so i'd have helpers on hand to make tea/coffee if you'll be busy with games etc.

[NeedlesCuties]

Face painting :)

Get yourself some cheap face paints - Tesco do them for around £5. Do it yourself or get a friend/relation to set up a table.

[CatL]

Just had my DD's 3rd birthday. About 12 kids aged 1-5, but mostly just under 3. 2 hours. We hired out local village hall so more room to run around, but other than that pretty similar to what you said. parents stayed, but most our friends anyway. We did put '* and family' on the invitations to try and make it clear this was what we meant, and to show siblings welcome (alhough you might want to think about how to handle that depending on space you have).

We did pass the parcel as the only really organised game, whihc worked well (we also did the 2 parcel thing, although took some vigilence to make sure everyone got a layer - had a few extra layers to be on safe side!). Did do some musical statues too, but hadn;t really thought it through and DD started stressing about something and distracting me in the middle, so we didn;t put kids out for moving, only had a few rounds then gave a piece of chocolate money to everyone at the end for doing well - in hindsight would have structured it better. We also had lots of toys out to play with, balloons, children's songs on whole time (we did get everyone doing hockey cockey at one point) and food. I also set up a table with crayons and some colouring pictures printed from cbeebies website. Didn't do that as organised activity, but just left it there and a lot drifted to it with their parents when wanted a quiet moment - particularly the girls towards the end. had taken pin the tail on donkey too, but didn;t end up using it - you don't need too much at that age, and every time I got them into an organised game, felt like I was pulling them away from toys and running around! I guess in a smaller space organised games will be easier to focus on and perhaps more needed, but still keep it simple.

I'm Sure it will be a lovely way to meet new people.

[beela]

Depending on the space in your home and the weather you could think about using the garden.

Our house felt quite small with nine 2-4 yos plus parents, so opening the patio doors for fresh air and extra space was good - but the guests needed their wellies and I turned a blind eye to the mud that came back in with them!