I am planning my daughters first birthday party, but the age ranges of the kids will be from nearly 1 to 5 and a few older girls as well around aged 10-12.
I was planning to decorate inside and have the food displayed inside. But I am worried about the number of kids aged 3-5 who might be bored inside. We have a swing set in the back yard so I was thinking of just telling parents to feel free to go out back to play?? Is this a lame idea? Should I just set everything up inside? It's honestly easier for me to do the food, decorations, presents inside obviously and this is why I didn't plan for the party to be at the park.
Our house is a split level so this makes it even harder. They either have to awkwardly go downstairs, through a mudroom, then garage, and then to the backyard OR go out the front door and walk around back.
Also, obviously for the baby it's easier to be inside so I can just let her crawl around and not worry about her doing dangerous things like climbing stairs and eating rocks!
I can't be in two places at once and I would feel like a host should be outside if there are gusts outside. And also would feel the need to decorate or set up games outside too, but I could let that go.
So what would you do?
I can figure out some crafts and simple do it yourself games for the big kids to do inside. Will they be bored? I also have a 3 year old and 12 year old daughters. The only surprise element that all the kids will love is I arranged for an ice cream truck to drive up so the kids can get an ice cream! That's like 2 seconds of entertainment though :)
Am I over thinking this??
Thanks!
Thanks for your perspective everyone! I am not worried about the older girls who will be here, they can fend for themselves. I like the idea of paying my daughter to help be hostess to the little preschoolers who will be here. Maybe I will let her invite a friend of her own to help with that and pay her too.
My mother in law (actually ex mil, grandmother to my oldest) will be in town, the only family who will be attending since all our family is on the east coast, I will ask her to help direct people too. She is *great* at that kind of stuff.
I wasn't serious about my baby eating rocks, but she does put everything in her mouth! And I just wanted to relax a little and not worry about that whole aspect during the party. Meaning I'd rather keep her inside so she can play freely.
It's "awkward" to go outside only meaning directionally. My biggest pet peeve with this house is that you can't just open the back door and be in the back yard! It's just inconvenient to get to the backyard but the 5 year olds who will be here can figure it out fine and I am sure their mom will be fine about sending them on their own.
Thanks again for the perspective! I was definitely over thinking this! I will have a few simple crafts inside for the little kids and some balls/bubbles/outside toys set out outside for anyone who ventures outside. I'll tell parents when they get there they are free to play outside if they wish, show them where the food is, and tell them cake is at 2:30!
Personally, if weather permitted, I would have the party outside but with the food inside so you don't have to carry it out just to carry it in again. Parents of that age child will stay so they can make their child's plate and carry it outside for them to eat. Bring everyone in when it's time for cake, then send them back outside with it.
That sounds like every birthday party our families do (both sides of the family). The kids tend to come and go, and the adults tend to sit and chat. There are usually one or two adults or older kids willing to go outside and supervise the younger kids.
You're right that you can't be in two places at once, but you really don't need to be. Your guests will be just fine, and the kids will be happier if they can run around a bit. I don't think you need organized activities, but it would be good to have some toys outside in addition to the swingset.
Personally, I wouldn't worry about your birthday girl eating rocks. My husband was always worried about that, because I let our boys play in the yard as much as possible. They both put rocks in their mouth at least once and then promptly spit them out. Never had a problem with either of them trying to swallow them or choke on them (always my husband's fear). Kids are going to put things in their mouths. That's how they learn about their world. It's ok, and a little extra dirt never hurt anyone. In fact, it helps build up their immunities.
I'd let the birthday girl play outside with the other kids.
Yes, in and out is fine. We are having my 6 year olds party Saturday at my MIL (we have a small condo, hence we have the party at her house). Ours will be outside, there is a pool and it is supposed to be 80 and no rain. I was going to get some water ballons, dress up for costumes and dresses for the kids. And they will be swimming.
Sure! We do that all the time. There is a point where kids get squirrelly and that's when it's good to send them outside. If you don't have one, an inexpensive activity is a sand table or sand box. Our sand box is some play sand from Home Depot and an old plastic wading pool (we cover it with plywood scrap when it's not in use). You might also recruit a parent or two of the kids to go outside and watch the younger kids. The kids that didn't get dropped off here had parents who were also our friends so they volunteered to serve cake, watch the kids outside, etc. You might also consider outdoor toys like big bubbles, balls, and chalk. If I do anything outside, I do a few balloons. You might ask your 12 yr old what she might like to do and go from there. Do you have a sprinkler?
Don't overthink it. I almost always kept the food/decor inside, because I love decorating my dining room for parties and didn't want to have to worry about bugs. We also did presents inside, sometimes a craft. Everything else was outside. Kids really just want to run around and play, you don't need to be super structured. As long as you don't have a pool they should be able to run around loosely supervised. Have some fun outside stuff, balls, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, whatever, and they will have a good time. A piñata is fun too, line them up from smallest to biggest so everyone gets a turn. Most of all relax and enjoy!
i think your expectations for yourself as a hostess are unrealistic. nothing wrong with an indoor/outdoor party, but i can't for the life of me figure out why it's 'awkward' to go through your lower level or walk around from the front door to reach your back yard. nor why you feel it's your job to both run the party AND supervise the older kids on the swingset. their parents are coming, right?
i would not decorate the outside, nor fuss about games and crafts for the older kids. kids don't need to be micromanaged. nothing wrong with free play. and you've got a 1 year old whose birthday YOU should be enjoying.
chill out, mama!
:) khairete
S.
Let everyone go outside, parents supervise their own kids (you don't). Just say "help yourselves to the swing set" and be done with it. If a child asks if he can play there, say, "Yes if your mom or dad says it's okay and will watch you." Nothing lame about it. You don't have to schedule and supervise and organize everything.
Don't decorate outside other than perhaps a balloon on the mailbox to identify the house for anyone who hasn't been there before. If you can borrow a croquet set or a couple of frisbees or possibly a cheap yard game, go ahead. But don't do a lot of set-up and just everyone play as they wish - you'd be surprised at how resilient people are. In fact, they will appreciate that you gave them choices and didn't expect everyone to sit in the house the whole time. I disagree that you have to be outside the whole time. Periodically, you can scoop up your baby and do a "lap" outside just to say hi, and if you want to put a cooler of drinks out there ahead of time, you can. Believe it or not, if you have 12 year olds, someone needs to supervise things like beer though! So keep that inside and/or ask a trusted friend to be a second set of eyes for anything that's needed.
The ice cream truck is more than 2 seconds of fun - they will love hearing the chimes, looking over the menu and talking about something that so few kids get to do anymore.
You can go to the craft store ahead of time and get some foam shapes, googly eyes, glue sticks, etc. But just put them on the table and let an adult help supervise. This is also a good job for your 12 year old, to organize the crafts and supervise the little ones using glue. Give her $10 if you have to but make it her job.
Get past the viewpoint that you have to be everywhere and do everything. I am the type of hostess who greets people, shows them where stuff is, and let's them know to help themselves. If they go home hungry or thirsty, it's not my fault! I do a lot of make-ahead recipes with no more than 4-5 ingredients each, and that's it. I pre-label my platters and serving pieces with a sticky note so that I know what's going where, and then I just serve it all up 15 minutes before guests arrive - no digging for plates and silverware. I put out a can labeled trash and another labeled recycling, and hope that guests get the hint to help out.
But scale back your ideas of what a "hostess" is supposed to do! You have 3 kids and a household, and the point of this party is to celebrate the 1 year old's birthday, not for you to be Martha Stewart. If you have guests with higher expectations, you need to re-think your friends and who you invite to family-friendly, kid-friendly events. But my guess is that everyone will enjoy a laid back, not overly scheduled, casual party with food and fun!
Yes, it is perfect for these age ranges.
We have children's parties like this all of the time!
I've been to parties such as you describe. I think it would work. My only concern would be if there will be enough adults/older kids to help the little ones get outside.
You and have it both inside (for your 1yr old) and outside (for the older
kids to go & play.
Tell the parents to go hang outside w/their kids. Have decorations, drinks, food, a table for food, plenty of seating (buy or borrow lots of patio
chairs).
Decorate a little bit outside & inside, too!
You can have cake, presents & main food inside but definitely put drinks,
water, snacks (esp Goldfish & things for the little ones to nosh on).
You could do big tubs of ice w/bottled water.
Put some balls outside for the kids to play with, the craft table, Pin the
tail on the donkey, a pinata for later for the older kids, have some toddler
mini golf plastic sets for the kids to use, bean bag toss, throw rings around pegs, orange cones & a soccer ball etc.
So do inside/outside but make things easy & fun!
Decorate inside & out.
Don't over think it! I like the idea of paying my kids to be hostess for the party depending on how old they are. It gives them something to do and also helps they not be as shy. I would also get so games for outside like horseshoes, bocce ball, pin the tail on the donkey stuff like that depending on your budget you can also hire a person to bring blow up jumpy things and/or have a person make ballon animals! This I think is a good idea for how Your house is. Last thing is that I would set everything up I'm the front yard if possible. It maybe hard and a little dangerous to have the kids so far away, but it's up to you mine was just am idea. I will attach the website that will get you the jumpy things and ballon animals!
Jumpy things and others- http://www.jumptastic.com/category/moonwalks_&_bounce...
