My son goes to a half-day preschool three days a week, and he's been invited to a couple parties where it was obvious the whole class was invited. I think it is nice to include everyone, but these parties were at party venues. I want to host my son's birthday party at our house, so I'm wondering if it would be weird to invite the whole class. I'm friendly with some moms, but there are some that I barely know. I'm assuming those people might not come, but is it awkward to even invite them?
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Nope. I hate whole class parties and prefer no more than a handful of friends. A whole class party was too overwhelming for most preschoolers
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My son was invited to and attended a whole class party at a house. They rented a bouncy house and for the most part the 7 or so parents from schools kids kind of hung out together while the family and family friends were in a different area (it happened naturally not forced). Nothing was weird about it or anything. My son's class is 23 people and I just invited them all yesterday to his party at a bounce play place and I think we'll be lucky if 7 come... so I would probably just invite them all and see what happens.
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All the parties we've gone to (venue or house) have been whole class parties and we've always invited the whole class and always had the party at our house. I've never seen the whole class show up to any party, regardless of venue or "popularity" of the birthday child. I guess I don't see why it's more awkward to invite someone to a party at your house rather than at a venue? IMO there's nothing weird about inviting the entire class - it's inclusive.
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We are inviting the whole pre-K class and our party will be backyard BBQ. I don't expect everyone to come (23 other kids....) but I also feel like this may be the only year where DS1 wants to invite everyone.
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We have attended both and it seems like the venue parties are PACKED with kids while house parties have less than half.
DD went to a house party last weekend and out of 15 kids 7 were there - the weekend before it was at a horse farm and the mom invited 24 kids - 22 showed up!
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@yoursilverlining: I think it feels awkward to me, because it's my house which feels more personal than a venue. Does that make sense? I'm sure it would be fine though, and if I invite the whole class, I know I'll get some no RSVPs
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@aprild: I understand your thought process. We were invited to house party and they didn't invite the whole class. Honestly, I felt sort of awkward at this house party vs at a venue. All of the family stayed in the kitchen and the other parents and I kind of hovered in another room while the kids played outside or in the basement. I'm quite friendly with the other parents but it was still super awkward. Maybe b/c there just wasn't any structure like there normally would be for a venue when you know there is a hard stop. Maybe if it was a party outside it would have been different? Also, they said on the invite that they would be providing lunch and all they had was a few bagels and a bowl of grapes. But that's just just an aside and really has nothing to do with your question.
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@Mamaof2: A horse farm (cool experience) trumps party home if you're trying to save some weekend days for family in a month.
I would invite the entire class to my home, but that's partly because my LO's bday is coincides with decent weather. A house party is really an outdoor backyard party.
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We live in a 2bdrm apartment and have hosted all three of our 3yo's birthday parties at home. We have never invited anyone from daycare at all.
I think you should either invite the entire class, or less than half the class.
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I would not invite the whole class to my house.
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Not awkward! I doubt everyone would come anyway!
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My dd just went to one that was on a Sunday afternoon drop in style. we've also been to a more "regular" whole class backyard party. Both were good! I will do it when we move to a bigger place and know at least some of the families in her new school.
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Nope, never. Unless the whole class was under 10 kids...but even then probably wouldn't want to.
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Last year we had a party at home and invited LO's preschool class. There were only 8 other kids in his class, and 5 of them came to the party. While 5 doesn't seem like such a big number, there were a few siblings that tagged along. Once you add in the extra adults, a simple home party was a little overwhelming.
This year I let LO invite half of his Kindergarten class, and we had a good turnout. 12 were invited, 8 attended (+ 2 siblings), and it was a pretty successful party. We also had additional kids outside of his class, and the total kid count was around 20. The biggest difference between LO's 5th and 6th birthday party was the level of entertainment. Last year it was easy for the kids to just run around and play without too many organized activities. This year I was going crazy to keep the kids occupied with games and activities. Next year I need to rent an inflatable bounce house. I have a small one, and that did not cut it with 21 kids.
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I wouldn't invite the whole class.
Two years now we've had a house party for DS and have invited 8 kids, so about half of his daycare class. This year 4 came and it was perfect. I don't think everyone needs to be invited to everything.
I might consider inviting more if his birthday was during a time of the year we could hold it outside.
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We went to a house party when LO was in preschool at two. It was awesome. The boy just turned three. The family was just very extroverted and it was a really nice time.
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My view is this: if I am using the school to distribute the invitations (like asking the teacher to put invites in the cubby or physically handing them to parents at pick up or drop off), then everyone should be invited.
If I am not using the school, I don't have to invite everyone.
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We have been to house parties for school friends including kids we don't know as well. They are fine and not awkward! I do think it depends on the size of the class, your house, and other guests you may want to invite. We haven't invited the entire class to our parties because LO's birthday is not during the school year and we have other friends we prefer to invite.
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No but their preschool class has 28 kids! Plus at that age parents tend to stay so potentially that could be up to 56 adults so hell no! But I wouldn't host any party and invite 75 people.
I read somewhere that the number of friends to invite should be equal to their age. My twins turned four this year and I let them each invite four friends.
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19 comments