Birthday Help needed (not photo related)

h.r.ford

h.r.ford

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Renee
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Ok so I have a son who is going to be turning 3 at the beginning of January. I'm new to both the birthday party thing AND to English customs. As it is right after the holidays we just don't have the money to have the party at one of those centers so we are going to do it the old fashioned way at home. Besides cake and ice cream what do kids do in England at birthday parties???? In America the custom is to play some games like pin the tail on the donkey, musical chairs, open presents have cake and send the kids on there way. So what are they like here???? HELP please!
 
I've a 6 and 3 year old.

Words of advice. Brace yourself :bat:

Jelly. Crisps.
Silly games: Pass the parcel. Musical chairs, etc..

Oh and party bags.
For some god forsaken reason all parties these days (at least down here) the kids get a little bag with a bit of the (obligatory cake) a few sweets and may be a cheap and nasty toy.

If you want an easier?? life you can always theme it. Pirates and Princesses:puke: seems to go down a treat.
 
My little girl is 21 now but that brings back some memories..... mostly of coming home from work just as things were coming to an end :)

Don't know if it is still the case but the little buggers sorry guests used to have party bags with some treats in to go home with. Always struck me as strange as it wasn't their birthday!
 
You've just about got it . I would also recommend "statues" , you play music & when it stops they've got to stand still and be quiet. The silence is soooo nice :D
 
My younger birthday parties were much like you describe the US ones, dont forget pass the parcel though (get a bag of jelly babies or something, wrap them in a sheet of newspaper, put a lolly on top, add another sheet of newspaper, another lolly, another sheet - until you have enough so that everyone gets a lolly, sit them in a circle, play music and turn the music off at random intervals, whoever has the parcel peels off a layer), jelly(jello) and ice cream and remember to have a good time.
 
Yep party bag with cake, small pack of sweets, small cheap toy and make sure they all get a balloon. Kids love balloons :)

Probably some other stuff going in there too but I always leave that to the ex to sort out :)
 
I'll agree with oldigt...brace yourself.

We have a 7yr old and a 2yr old.
With the 7yr old we had her first few parties at home...never again...lol

If you have carpet...it will get food trodden in it, I guarantee it :D
For food we served rubbish food (by rubbish I mean nutritionwise).
Sandwiches, cake, crisps (cheesy puffs :D), sausage rolls, cheese puff pastry rolls (like sausage rolls but with cheese and onion in obviously). Nibbly food. Kids won't want to eat anything else.

Games wise, you can play pin the tail on the donkey.
We got one from Asda (Pin the trunk on the elephant), and rather than use a pin, we just used blu tack.
We got one reduced to 25p, and got a spare for a friend, but he didnt want it...PM me your address and you can have it gratis :)

We play musical statues (where, when the music stops, the children have to stand perfectly still...3 yr olds will be old enough to comprehend this).
Pass the parcel (good for all ages), like DS says, with a lolly inbetween each wrapper. Don't need to use wrapping paper. Newspaper for the layers. And you can have presents in the middle layers too. (Good to cheat and gets lots of little presents, and make sure there are enough for each child, then cheat and make sure each child gets a present ;))
Musical chairs is another.

Twister isn't too bad, can be had for £5 if you shop around (good for the family too).

Some parents go for the party bag approach. We tend not to all the time.
For a party bag, just nip to the supermarket, and buy a packet of party bags for a couple of pounds, and some multipacks of sweets. They do big multipacks of mini Haribo sweet bags for a pound or two, containing lots of little bags. Lollies too.
Napkins with a piece of cake in too, and as has been said, sometimes a cheap toy. We dont bother because we know the toy will always end up broken or in the bin, so whats the point...lol

As for school, not sure about where you are, but it's customary for the child to take a bag of sweets in on his birthday, and the teacher gives out a sweet to each child at the end of the day. (Same with nursery, as at 3yo I suppose yours isnt in school yet :) )

Ooooh paper plates (well, bowls, much more manageable)...jelly and ice cream.
Big jugs of cordial juice, and plastic cups.

I'm also a moderator on a parenting forum with 66 thousand members, so if you need any more advice, I can ask on there if you like, they are great at coming up with ideas for this sort of thing.

Regards

Marcel
 
Ok so you don't put candles on the cake at the party have the child blow them out and then everyone eats the cake??? Do you have the child open the presents at the party or later. I'm thinking with 3 year olds it could be a problem with everyone wanting his toys.
Thanks for link to the games and pass the parcel sounds fab!!
 
Thanks so much Marcel any input would be great. He does go to nursery because I work full time. You'd be amazed at the differences in customs between America and here I"m forever putting foot squarely in mouth!

I'm most worried that none of his little friends from there will want to come (or more likely the parents won't want to bring him to the "Americans" house). We are doing either spiderman or batman theme. Keegan wants batman but there doesn't seem to be much stuff out there for that. You know this is never in the parenting books you read!!!
 
Kids are kids no matter where you live. Show them a fun time; have some cake, open some prezzies and send them home with a loot bag and all is good! They will remember the little boy who had an awesome party, not the "American" my thought anyway. Don't think I would worrry about different "customs" tbh

Jewel
 
We still have the candles on the birthday cake thing - but usually the kids take their cake home in their party bags
 
h.r.ford said:
We are doing either spiderman or batman theme. Keegan wants batman but there doesn't seem to be much stuff out there for that. You know this is never in the parenting books you read!!!
Click to expand...

You could always go for the generic super hero theme, that way everyone can come as their favorite. If you mean in terms of decorating the house up, black crete paper and rubber bats from a toy shop should suffice for that along with a batman soundtrack from the films or something along those lines.
 
I have 2 kids and we do our parties 'american-style' and all the kids and parents rave about it. (I have one to throw this weekend too!) So I say, don't worry about it. Three year olds aren't going to notice or care that the party is different.

The UK parties we have been to:
pass the parcel game every time
the music statue game every time
most parties (all but one) have had a hired party performer (magician/clown)
kids arrive, parent ushers the gift away immediately to be opened afterward
they don't usually eat the cake AT the party, blow out candles, host takes the cake away to cut up and wrap in a napkin (serviette) to put in the loot bag on the way out the door.
Boring. We have now seen the same 3 party performers at least 4 times each.

But like I said, our american-style parties are a big hit.
 
Yeah, I'd say just do your own thing. As long as your son and his little pals have a good time, then that's all that matters :)
 
Yes candles and cake - cake brought in with lights out to the singing of Happy Birfday (keep the wish to yourself or it doesn't come true etc etc).

Cheap crap food and fizzy (or squash if you don't want them all getting too hyper on the sugar rushes).
Maybe some cartoon videos for later on when they're all getting out of hand and you need to do some cleaning up...
Same as the US really, after all, we exported it all out to you 200 years ago, you can't have messed things up that badly already? Well... at least Rumsfeld's gone...
 
I would be so very proud to have my child invited to 'the americans'....do people really say that? Especially as you are such a caring person.. You've just got to get a photo of him blowing out his candles...I used to make two cakes, keep the one with the candles on for us lot and another one for cutting up for the party bags..I loved having parties at home for all of my four children, although I did get totally worn out in the process...all the Mum's wanted to stay and have tea too cos they knew I loved to cook! lol Renee, just do what you want, you sound like you do all the same stuff as us 'Englishans' anyway! I'd love my child to be introduced to your ways anyway, just relax and do what you are happy with :)
 
Yeah my hubby says I am way to uptight about the whole thing. I just don't want him to be the odd one out! I think I'll try to mix American with English and pray to god someone shows up. I'm sure I'll take more pics than anyone can imagine.
 
A decision has been reached. My husband realised that by saving the money and having the party at home he would have to deal with 15 screaming 3 year olds. SO we are going to go to the Hydro which is a pool. I think it is different than the usual Wacky Warehouse but also lets someone else clean up the mess! BUT they don't allow cameras Hmmm not sure what I'll do about that one.
 
Smart Fella. Ask for permisson to take pix - it's so dodgy characters can't...well you know - but if the party of kids are all yours and you have permission from all their parents, you may be able to swing a waiver from the management.
 
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