3rd Birthday .. need help!

[Lizzybee]

So it's LO's birthday in 3 weeks. I was hoping to just have some of his friends round to play in the garden, a bit of a buffet and let them do their own thing.
BUT the weather has been horrendous, the garden is so muddy because of the vast amount of rain we've had and now temps are so cold and it's so windy that we are thinking this is not an option. (Last 2 years have been lovely weather and quite warm.
Anyway, I don't really want to spend loads of money on a play area party because he doesn't have enough friends to make that worth it. We could have it in the house but it would get a little crowded with parents and kids.
Anyone have any good ideas that they could share with me?
TIA 😘

 

[StillPraying]

We did ours at a bowling alley and it didn't cost much. Plus it was a small group which made it easier not sure if you have something like that where you are.

 

[pa2k84]

All around, there are halls around here which can be hired for free (with refundable deposit) or some as low as £5 per hour, I was surprised!

 

[Teri7489]

What about soft play? Even if it's only 5 or 6 kids (maybe more) they can run wild and have a good time plus lots of soft play areas have birthday event packages. they make little areas seperate so you can do the cake and put out snacks away from other kids just being there for the day. Bonus, no clean up afterwards! x

 

[Lizzybee]

What about soft play? Even if it's only 5 or 6 kids (maybe more) they can run wild and have a good time plus lots of soft play areas have birthday event packages. they make little areas seperate so you can do the cake and put out snacks away from other kids just being there for the day. Bonus, no clean up afterwards! x

The ones I enquired near me all want around £150-200 for that!!! I'd rather use that money to take him on a couple of trips to the seaside!!!
Thanks for the response though x hope it didn't sound off with you, not my intention!

 

[Teri7489]

Wow, that's a lot! Didn't think it would be that much. Way too much a 3rd birthday! Not at all, I'm in shock at that price too! x

 

[Wannabe Mommy]

How about a local farm park, the ones round here all have some kind of covered picnic area. You can take sandwiches, crisps, juice boxes.

Everyone can wear wellies and coats, you could even do thermos' of hot chocolate or soup if it's particularly chilly.

 

[biglebowski]

Does your local cinema do the cheap weekend kids films? Could you take your lo and a few friends to that? You could ask a few parents to help out. Make up a little snack bag with popcorn and a juice carton and a piece of fruit?

 

[Lizzybee]

Not sure if there are any local farms but worth a look! Thanks for that. Cinema...I like the idea just not sure he'd sit for that long, we don't tend to do that at home but you never know. Cheers peeps.. anymore ideas from others are always welcome, I have many other birthdays that I will need to think of ideas for!

 

[broodymrs]

We hired a hall and made our own food. Had a few party games, I painted faces and we hired a bouncy castle (which you could skip to save money)

 

[SarahBear]

I would think having a few kids and their parents in the house would work fine. We had Violet's 4th party in our house. If you keep the guest list to just 3 or 4 kids, it should be fine.

 

[george83]

We took my son for his fifth birthday, I appreciate that's much older, to a soft play but didn't do the whole birthday package we just took them. It wasn't to expensive but obviously we had the cost of drinks and snacks etc to consider

 

[.Mrs.B.]

Can you make extra room in your house? We've done it before by moving chairs and storage units out and taking table legs off and moving tables out. Sounds like hard work but in reality took us about half an hour and meant we had lots of space for about 12 kids (plus parents) in our house. We usually have garden parties but like to be prepared for bad weather.

 

[Scout]

Do you have a lot of kids coming? I've always had dd birthdays at the house. They only last maybe 2 hours so the house being full of people never bothers me. I also do a mid afternoon party (after lunch) so only serve cake and ice cream and maybe a cheese ball and some m&ms. At this age, they have so much fun playing with anything you have at home, it'd pain me to have to pay for a party. The only other suggestion would be a park if the weather permits.

 

[Lizzybee]

Can you make extra room in your house? We've done it before by moving chairs and storage units out and taking table legs off and moving tables out. Sounds like hard work but in reality took us about half an hour and meant we had lots of space for about 12 kids (plus parents) in our house. We usually have garden parties but like to be prepared for bad weather.

Thanks Mrs.B, you've just reminded me that we used to do that for my step daughter!!! Although we live in a different house now it could still work!