Child's birthday party questions?

Question

We don't have any family friends with kids, but I would really like him to get to have guests his own age at his birthday party (he's turning six). So far, all of his birthdays have been just family, and the only kids have been my niece and nephew.

Do you take your child to a birthday party of a kindergarten classmate? Or is it pretty much just family friends?

If we invite some of his classmates, are we obligated to invite them all?

How far in advance should we send out the invites (it's on November 10, a Saturday)?

In the way of background information, you should know that where I am (Texas), things are very laid back, I am not spending hundreds of dollars on his birthday party, and regardless of whether you ask for an RSVP, 90% of the people don't do it.

Oh, I should clarify.

I don't need help figuring out what to do for his party, or where it's going to be. A local pet store has a party room (not kidding) and they do parties, where the kids can play with five animals from the store, have pizza and cake for a relatively inexpensive price.

And I'm going to have to invite at least a few girls, because his best friend is a little girl in his class (they have a kind of Harry-Ron-Hermione thing going, with two guys and a girl being completely inseperable at school.)

Answer 1

I say invite everyone. The sooner the better. Have your son invite everyone...so that kids can get hyped up and beg their parents to take them to the party. More then likely half will go. Plus this will boost his friendship with all his classmates.

Answer 2

My son just turned 6 last month and we invited about 12 kids, 9 showed up and the parents had RSVP'd and I never heard from the other 3. Of those we invited some were kids that lived in the neighbourhood, a few that he knew from school last year but weren't in his class this year. I don't think we ended up inviting anyone that is in his class this year. A lot of that is because his b-day was Sept 14 and we sent out invites in the middle of August so we wouldn't have known who was going to be in his class. Regardless I don't think we would have invited everyone in his class. If you hand them out personally or mail them then just invite the kids that he is especially friendly with. My son has been to about 3 parties so far for classmates and has another one next month. Most invites are handed out at least 1 month in advance. If you are having your party at a party room then I'm sure it makes a difference but we were in our backyard and really 9 kids was a handful!

Answer 3

You are not obligated to invite every child in the class but you need to make sure that you do not deliver the invites to school. I will say that I have not invited any of my daughters school friends to her parties as of yet because she is in a class with 22 other children. I don't have that kind of money to burn on a party. The reason I chose not to invite any is because I remember not being invited myself and it can feel really hurtful. At 6 I think the few you invite are bound to go back to school and talk about how awesome the party at the pet store was. That said, I would definitely send the invites out 2 weeks ahead as this gives parents time to plan. Good luck with your sons party and tell him Happy Birthday.

Answer 4

I think that's a great thing to include on a birthday party invitation. We've been invited to children's birthday parties where the invitation said something like "Your attendance at our celebration is all that would like as a present. If you would like to bring a toy, we will be collecting donations for ". I find those invitations so lovely that I usually bring a little something for the generous birthday child, too. My kids have friends who we know cannot afford gifts. We don't expect them (and talk to the kids about it, to remind them, beforehand). I'm sure that there are some people in the world who count the gifts & the guests to make sure they are equal. I don't think that any of them are people that I would want to be friends with, though.

Answer 5

We do a party for my boys every year...7th grade-preschool. Most schools now have a policy that if you pass our invites at school then the whole class has to get one. If it's a boy's bday then it's usually boys that show up.

My main thing would be to have it outside. That is absolutely the cheapest way to go. We are doing a science experiment party for my 6yr old this year and I am going to set up different experiments for the kids to do....pretty cheap since most of them use things we have at the house. A really cool one is the Mentos in a Diet Coke Bottle one....it really explodes!

Send out invites two Fridays(11/2) before the party.....most people plan their week on Sat/Sun so they will have your invite for the next weekend.

Keep it easy and laid back....thow some balls outside and let them play. As for RSVP....that does bug me, but people in Texas just don't do it as often(I'm in TX also). Good luck!

Answer 6

I wish I lived in Texas.Rather I'm stuck here tn Detroit.Anyway Mandy I believe it is fine to invite classmates to a birthday party.I think I would send invatations out at least a couple of weeks early.I would keep if small however.Imean like 4-6 friends.Otherwise with children that age it tends to get out of hand.As I progressed through grade school I always invited my friends from school.Usually it was an all male affair but their were three girls who played baseball well enough to warrant an invitation.The older he becomes the larger it can become.I don't know what activities you were planning but I would keep it simple and casual.I would denote that on the invitations.We're not so laid back here, it's mostly drugs,rape,robbery,and murder.I mean parents in Texas I believe will be more amenable to allowing their children attend a birthday party.As for gifts , my Mother used to always tell them to keep them simple.Well I hope I have been helpful your pal larry m

Answer 7

At that age I would invite the half of the class of the same sex. I agree that people don't RSVP (which is so totally rude to me but I honestly think that some people don't even know what it is) I'm sure if you invite 15 or so boys, plenty will show up. We've been to plenty of parties in this age group and hosted plenty too! Good luck :)

Answer 8

Personally I would invite the entire class. You might get half of the class to come. Expect that. I think it offends some children that 'don't' get an invite to a party. (it has my son anyway) regardless of not they even care to go. It's a "gesture" that I feel sure will make some kids happy to get an invite and ALL kids want to go to parties. You're not obligated to invite them all..but if another student had a party and your son didn't get an invite...how would HE feel is the question.

Answer 9

Ask a few friends from his class.May I suggest that you give out invitations to the parents before or after school and it will not make the univited classmates feel bad. I would also continue to ask the niece and nephew if they are close to his age as they may feel left out.

Answer 10

My neice goes to a small school, and the school actually has a policy that invites cant be handed out at school unless the whole class is invited, and then also recommends that the whole class is invited. You may want to even check with his school or teacher.