Ever since my kindergarden class ran amok through my parents' house at my 5th birthday party, I was part of the majority of people at my school whose parties were at a location. Some I remember attending were ice skating, miniature golf, Chuck E. Cheese or other restaurant, or gymnastics. In my son's class, the popular locations are Little Gym and similar locations at which the entire center is a party place.
While I know these are enjoyable and (if one can afford them) it is a real treat for the kids, I have to say that I really prefer the low-key parties that most of our close friends here give for their kids. The parties generally include a craft, homemade games, free play, and cake and milk. Many of the parties are in the basement to decrease the mess to clean up. The party we went to yesterday included half an hour of playing in the family's backyard.
What I also love, and I don't know if this is widespread, is that generally the whole family is invited to these parties. This makes it less work for the hosting mom, and more community-oriented. It also sets up a situation where the kids are used to the idea that their parents are still part of their life, not just the chauffers.
One other thing that is different than when I was growing up - the kids generally do NOT open the gifts during the party. This eliminates comparing gifts and opportunity for nasty remarks. (Of course, the parents need to remind the birthday child to say thank you to each guest when they leave, instead of during gift opening time, and to send a specific thank you note afterwards.)
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5 comments:
If the weather is nice, a low-key party in a park is great too.
That sounds like a great idea!
For our eldest, he gets a party at camp (since he is a summer birthday) and a seudas shlisis for a few friends and their moms.
For the younger, her b-day is right near Purim, so I think I may make a seuda for her b-day and invite a few families with kids her age. As she gets older, she'll get a party in school (treat and little party bags).
We are lucky in our school that most of the parents do not make parties and instead just do a school celebration. The MO school has big elaborate parties that I could not handle.
That's a great idea! Unfortunately our baby was born on the wrong costume-related holiday so we can't use that as the theme. =-)
I like the classroom parties - for some reason my parents never thought to do this for me at the beginning of the school year, even though my birthday is end of August. But this year I wasn't going to be able to come in from work, so we didn't even bother for DS.
Unfortunately, rules get broken for classroom parties too. Search Raggedy Mom for an example.
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