Cost of parties for four year old.

It is up to the parents and the kids how the bdays are celebrated.

You can choose not to contribute

Think you are way behind the times with your party ideas Exdancer my grandchildren didn't have parties like that and they are in their twenties and thirties now.
Having said that I think parties have become competitive now with parents all trying to do something different. It would be a good idea to go back to the simpler things we did for our children.

Each to their own.
My GS (5) had an outdoor picnic and treasure/Pokémon hunt in a nearby country park in Walthamstow.. SIL had printed off loads of Pokémon pictures and went round before the party pinning them onto trees etc. Pizzas all round (pieces of) and birthday cake and little carton of juice to drink. They also had a Piñata with sweets in it, . It was his whole school class plus some siblings and his cousin, 30-40 children plus parents. There might have been some prosecco for mums and dads who were free to bring additional eats or drinks if they wanted to. Oh and a birthday cake.
I can’t believe the whole thing even came anywhere near £100. They had a wonderful time.
It was all pleasantly “home made” and unfussy. The children could run around and tire themselves out. Clearing up was a doddle and frankly who has houses big enough to host 30-40 children anyway.
But in reply to OP’s original question, maybe they don’t!

My kids had relatively old fashioned birthday parties and used to have Hallowe'en ones too.
But my grandkids have higher expectations .
It wasn't my grandchild ,but a friends who wanted a Build A Bear party and she just couldn't afford it .
There were tears and tantrums .
In the end , her half brother paid some £300 plus for the right party about 15 years ago .

My grandson, now 15, definitely had Pass The Parcel and Pin the Tail on the Donkey at his early birthday parties,

The party of MN being discussed is £3K! for the 4 year old.

Yes it was - I hesitated to criticise the post directly which is why I came on here to get a better idea of what goes on, I knew my gransnet friends would be honest.
Seems I was existing in my own little cloud cuckoo land.
I'm so glad I'm not a young mum in these times.
(No, I'm not a rich Gtgran and don't happen to have a spare £100 to contribute, so no money from me).
I have bought her a gift - it cost £20 - now I wonder, do I dare give it to her?
1st world problems?

RosiesMaw2

Sounds great, but what was the plan if it chucked it down with rain?

Obviously didn’t, but so much is weather dependent.

NotAGran55

The party of MN being discussed is £3K! for the 4 year old.

I think that post from Mumsnet was from a Godmother where it was heavily hinted she might like to contribute as she earned a decent salary.
She was told by the majority not to put her hand in her pocket and the cost was ridiculous and that the friend was a CF. This really is not a typical cost for a party.
My Grandson is not typical, he finds it boring opening Christmas and birthday presents, and he likes doing swimming and paintball ect, and not the whole class either. The mumsnet post is excessive and not typical, just a silly person trying it on.

We have had all kinds of parties over the years, magicians, bouncy castles, entertainers, treasures hunts, and yes, lots of bonfire/Halloween parties.
But I don’t think we ever spent a fortune, all summer birthdays, and we were always lucky with the weather.
I also remember rounders parties on the local playing field, lots of fun, but not expensive.
My grandchildren have mainly had experience birthdays, a group of close friends taken somewhere special, and when they were younger, the horrible soft play parties.

My first thought Calendargirl, 30 odd excited children with nowhere to go 🙄
Our grandchildren had small parties at home with a few children, this inviting the whole class seems to be relatively recent too.
Now they’re older it’s 2/3 friends bowling or similar and something like hot dogs.

Children's birthday parties are ridiculous. They invite the whole class, pay for entertainers and fast food! As for drinking wine - don't get me started!!
You are quite right in not donating £100 , buy a gift you can comfortably afford and don't feel bad about it.
Last year my daughter said she wanted a traditional party for her 5 year old. They don't have much space so I suggested the party could be at our house. She brought everything, games prepared , balloons and food. I asked about parents because I know they all stay at parties that days! She wrote on the invitation ' parents welcome to stay if you are not comfortable leaving them' We had one little boy with special needs and his father wanted to stay , he sat in the kitchen drinking tea. He was the only parent who stayed . Although I do understand why parents are reluctant to let their children out of their sight these days
The party was a HUGE success, the children all participated and it was great fun . My DD did ask about any food allergies, but that was not an issue for any of the children. It was a lovely afternoon in every sense of the word. When parents arrived they had time to chat to each other in the garden. Happy children, happy parents!

Although I do understand why parents are reluctant to let their children out of their sight these days

But why? What about when they’re at school? Surely socialising at birthday parties and similar is all part of letting them ‘grow up’?

No wonder so many children have difficulties as they get older.

The parents have to learn to let go.

If you aren’t happy about who is running the party or what is involved, then they had better not let them attend the party.

This was posted on one of our local groups. WTF would a 1 year old know about what was going on or what day it was.

"Anyone know anyone with horse and carriage for little girls 1st birthday only needed for maybe half hour to take the little girl and mum to the venue not even a half hour travel !!"

Unbelievable.

Hi there I think the point is about the extraordinary cost of a party for a 4 year old.
Then not able to finance it themselves, asking someone eise to contribute £100!
The mind boggles.

Moonwatcher

Mum has obviously always fancied riding in a horse and carriage.

silverlining48

Hi there I think the point is about the extraordinary cost of a party for a 4 year old.
Then not able to finance it themselves, asking someone eise to contribute £100!
The mind boggles.

These parties seem to be getting more extravagant. My girls had simple parties at home and a good time was had by all.
If people need others to fund their parties then perhaps they shouldn't be having them.

I agree with you calendargirl, rather than saying 'understand' I should perhaps have said ' accept ' Today's children are not developing in the way we or our AC did. So sad! I think the wording my DD used on the party invitations was spot on. Only one parent stayed and I fully understood why that was necessary.

It’s the parents fault, trying to out party each other. The small children are none the wiser, they just want to run around, scream a lot and eat Cake, 🍰

Even hiring a hall for a simple party can be quite expensive though - and I can understand parents not wanting the mess or hassle in their own homes, to be honest. The children's charity I used to work for hired out their premises for parties - think it was around £120, but that did include the soft play and sensory room too. Our local community centre costs around the same.

silverlining48

It’s the parents fault, trying to out party each other. The small children are none the wiser, they just want to run around, scream a lot and eat Cake, 🍰

Don't we all...

Ooh yes MissA - that sounds like my sort of party.

My 13yr old granddaughter had a pamper party cost £400 for 10 friends and my grandson had a party in a indoor softball place cost 350 for 15 kids with food no dirty houses now with kids party’s mine definitely didn’t have jelly parties last thing you need is jelly fights lol no party games now they get played on Halloween or Easter we’ve gone American

My 10 year old DGD had a swimming party recently and the whole class was invited. It was the hire of the local pool and lifeguards about £75 I think. Parents could view from balcony area if they wanted and each child went home with a homemade cupcake. She loved it and her friends did too.
My grandson will be 16 in two weeks and my DD1 and sil have invited all the family to a bbq at their house to celebrate. He didn’t want to do anything with friends.
As a family we usually celebrate everyone’s birthdays with family get togethers since covid.
I personally think it is ridiculous to spend vast amounts of money on a party!
My children always had a few close friends around and we did a tea with sandwiches and jelly and icecream and homemade birthday cake. We played all the old games, musical bumps and chairs etc. it was always hectic but enjoyable. Times change tho don’t they😂