4 Year Old Birthday Party Question

Okay ladies, for those of you who have ventured into the world of 4 year old parties, just a quick question I have been thinking of as DD's birthday is coming up.

I know that a parent will come along with their child but do whole families often come along or all the siblings of the invited guest....just pondering food needs and space needs, not sure if all the guests had a sibling come along if we could fit. I understand breastfed bubs / young bubs would probably come along with their mums.

What have you ladies experienced with this?

Thank you!
Laurin x

I find at this age mum usually comes as do other kids

yep mum and sometimes dads and all the kids :)

... i place on the front of the birthday invitation envelope the names of parents & the children (meaning my DD's little friend's siblings and both parents too).

Luckily we don't socalise with any of her friends outside of her Kinder so it's just her little friends she knows from other day activites which is just enough kids, about up to 12 kids in total (that's including siblings) then maybe about 15 adults (usually includes my DD's one set of grandparents).

I have to say having both parents invited does bump up the cost of food & drinks, but then that's our choice to invite them and i have to say the Dad's do enjoy the social side of it (and the food, lol) !!

I personally invited the whole family of all DD1's friends so siblings and both parents were welcome. But we had the party from 10 - 12pm so i did morning tea food so it wasn't too stressful really. Some healthy chicken rolls, sandwiches, dips & veggies, cupcakes, jelly & birthday cake. Water for the kids, tea & coffee for the adults.

Other 4 yr old parties we've been to this year mainly just the invited child has gone so one of us has taken her and the other stayed at home with the other siblings. We've been guided by the invitation.

Space wise, we hired the local church hall at the end of the street - amazingly cheap and they also let us play with their bouncy castle and the church playgroup toys!

gosh, so I am starting to get a little stressed about this....I kinda thought the Dad would stay at home if he wasn't working and look after the other siblings if there were any. I have hired a Fairy to do games and face painting for an hour and a half - if we go over a certain number of kids the price goes up - but would feel mean saying no that the siblings couldn't have their face painted, etc, join in, do the parents usually let you know how many will be attending or just rock up on the day? This is turning out bigger than I thought....

At this age if the invitation is to the 4yr old only I would expect Mum or Dad and the party guest only.
If they needed to bring other kids due to not being able to have them looked after, then I would have thought they should ring you and check that it was ok.
We have just been to a couple of 4yr old parties, and it was just DS2 with me or his Dad while the other stayed at home with the kids.

I agree with Heather - there's been times where i have had to take all the kids to a birthday party - but i check with the host first, and make sure they're aware that they won't be participating in the party.

eta - if you're doing party bags, I often have a few spares (just plain brown paper bags) with just a couple of lollies in them. That way if there are a couple of extras - there won't be any tears (not that it's your problem though)

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gosh, so I am starting to get a little stressed about this....I kinda thought the Dad would stay at home if he wasn't working and look after the other siblings if there were any. I have hired a Fairy to do games and face painting for an hour and a half - if we go over a certain number of kids the price goes up - but would feel mean saying no that the siblings couldn't have their face painted, etc, join in, do the parents usually let you know how many will be attending or just rock up on the day? This is turning out bigger than I thought....

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... Nah don't let it stress you this to be a day for you look forward to also to watch your little one super happy at their own b'day party with their little friends, you don't want the extra hassle of stress leading up to it !!

Why not put the invitations in a colourful envelope & pop the one child's name on the front in again in different colourful texta to make it look fun in capital letters to stand out and then maybe put in brackets in lower case writing something like this for example * CHARLIE (and a parent) are invited to BOOBOO's 4th birthday party *... so then it's hopefully clear that you are inviting one child and one parent without looking offensive !!

Just as JaZaMum suggested i too always have at least two or three 'extra' lolly/loot bags just incase for any unexpected guests (which to be honest i so far haven't had happen) :thumbsup:

The go seems to be these days, rather than party bags, to have a Piniata and give the kids an empty party bag and they fill it up with what comes out of the piniata, you can put a combination of lollies and little party bag toys in them. That way, you can have just plain paper bags, decorated with stickers on hand for any unexpected guests.

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The go seems to be these days, rather than party bags, to have a Piniata and give the kids an empty party bag and they fill it up with what comes out of the piniata, you can put a combination of lollies and little party bag toys in them. That way, you can have just plain paper bags, decorated with stickers on hand for any unexpected guests.

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... oh Heather that's just what i did for the first time for my DD's 4th b'day party this year, i picked up a pinata marked down at Kmart a couple of years before but found the kids were too young for it back then but this year at 4 it was perfect, they were all fine with being blind folded too ... yep did just what you suggested Heather in handing the kids a party bag to fill, in fact they were so excited they were all stuffing in their party bags the shredded cellophane i popped in the pinata for it to look more exciting when it busted open :thumbsup:

I made sure all the lollies in the pinata were in wrappers so when they hit the ground (even though it was a clean carpet in the garage where the party was held). The shop Sam's Warehouse have a bag of lolly hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza's & icecreams for only $1 for a bag of 'em, the kids especially loved the gold foil choc coins from the Reject Shop :D

re the pinata - i've started putting all the lollies in little ziplock bags - making sure that everyone gets the same amount. I personally hate watching my girls do a 'scrab grab' - 'cause they're usually the ones who hang back and let everyone else get in first. I know it's not the same, but i'm a sucker for a sad face :( :)