Park or Play Place for 4th birthday party?

We're trying to decide what to do for the girl's 4th birthday party. It will be in mid June, so the weather could be lovely, or not.

We've decided to invite the whole pre-school class, which means we can't have it at our tiny house, so we're thinking of either risking it with the weather and having a park party or doing the standard play place party.

I have been to a zillion play place parties so I know what that is like and love how easy and stress-free it would be, but, in theory, I’d rather have an outdoor party at a park. However, I don’t really know how a park party would work. Do the kids just play in the playground and then you feed them, end of story? Or do you need to come up with a bunch of activities to make the party feel special and fun for the kids? Can anyone tell me what you actually do at a park/playground party with 3 and 4 year olds (most of their friends are younger)? And what can you do in a picnic pavilion if it rains? Any thoughts/suggestions are welcome. (And if anyone knows of a good park in downtown Toronto to hold a park party, I’d love to hear that, too.)

Thanks!

 

We had the kids' 3rd birthday at a park & it was great! They all played so much I didn't have to worry about any activities. I did have a table set up for coloring, though, just in case.....got a roll of butcher paper & secured it with thumb tacks & just set crayons out. Kids were too busy playing, but the adults enjoyed it. Only thing we really had was the pinata.

We planned on serving lunch, though, so it was a bit of work hauling in the bbq and all the food stuff. On the plus side, though, once you pick everything up there's no more cleanup! (4th bday was at our house & I was cleaning for 3 days)

I think if you were restricted to a pavilian, though, b/c of weather you'd probably want some activities planned. I would wait til about a week before the party so you can get a better weather report before buying supplies.

 

I wouldn't worry about a bunch of activities if you plan on having it at a playground. We always do pinatas. So, I would probably include that. A BBQ would be good (hotdogs/hamburgers) or you could do an ice cream party at the playground. Get several different flavors of ice cream along with a bunch of different toppings and let them build their own sundaes, bananna splits, etc....

 

I agree with Laura. The playground is enough to entertain, I think. Pizza is always an easy option and most kids love it.

Good Luck!

 

I think it would be fine to just have them play for awhile and then feed them. You could have one or two low-intensity games like follow the leader or... (I can't think of any others!).

As Naomi said, it would be a good idea to have some other activities planned in case you have to stay under the pavilion -- and also, be prepared to either cancel/postpone or move the party to your house (as unappealing as that would be) if the weather is truly awful.

 

Hey there, another June in Toronto birthday person here. We've had all their b-day parties in Monarch Park and are doing it again this year (their 3rd). I also love Withrow Park but it is more crowded than Monarch Park - still, plenty of places to play. Then there is Kew Gardens in the Beach (great playground) and, of course, High Park. Where are you more precisely?

Anyways, the first year I hired a university student to do clown animals, face painting, a few little tricks. It was mostly for the older kids - didn't want them to be bored. My guys spent most of the party soaked to the skin in the water table that somebody gave them. Second birthday I hired somebody to do something like a circle time. She was great but I realized it was probably overkill. This year I bought a bunch of bubble paraphernalia and will have them for the kids to play with. I'm also setting up one of those tube/tent contraptions that I bought at a TPOMBA sale that they don't know I have so that will be fun for them. I'll also probably set up another tent with something. I'd rather keep the kids out of the playground if I can because the parents will follow and nobody gets to hang out with each other. I'm thinking of trying to have one set activity in my back pocket just in case I see people getting bored. I might bring out a big board (cover for my train table) and set up a bunch of play-do or colouring stuff. Ours starts at 3:30 and will go to 5:00ish so no meal - just snacks. I also live 2 houses from the park so it's easy to pick up my plastic lawn furniture and drag it into the park.

I was thinking of a pinata. For those of you with more experience - how do you handle small children with bats? and how hard are the commercial ones to break? Will three year olds be able to do it? Also, do you blindfold (I shudder at the thought). Party is in 2 weeks so I'm looking forward to hearing from you guys on this one.

 

I wouldn't blindfold 3-year-olds for a pinata -- they'll have a hard enough time hitting it with their eyes open. :laughing: I've also heard that they are fairly difficult to break... I'm not sure how to find out for sure without buying an extra one just to test out! But I would worry that no one would actually be able to do it.

 

At the kid's birthday party this year, the pinata was a string Pinata. Every kid held onto one of the strings and then they all pulled together to open it. Much better than the bat type. Then they were told how many items they could each have, so that it was even.

T

 

Did you have to make the string pinata or did you buy it? If you bought it, where?

 

We do a pinata every year....the kind that requires a bat or large stick. We just make sure everyone stands far away from the one with the stick and we definately don't blindfold the younger kiddos. Only the ones that are 5 years and above(and don't mind being blindfolded).

I can't imagine a birthday without one. It's kind of become a tradition for us.

 

I'm near Christie Pits park. I don't want to do it at Christie Pits because it seems too busy and the playground isn't enclosed enough. Harbord Park is what we consider our home park. It's really comfortable for us there and all the daycare friends we'll invite. It is also is nicely contained. However, the down sides are that there's no bathroom (there might be one across the street in Bickford Park, but I've never used it, so I'm not sure), no pavilion for a rain plan, and it's not book-able, so we are taking our chances with whomever else might decide to hold an event there that day. My husband is really pushing to hold the party at a play place so we don't have to stress over any of the things we can't control, but I am still feeling torn about it. I really like the idea of a park party, but don't want to completely stress over it (like I have been doing for the past month).

Thanks for telling me about Withrow and Monarch. I think they're too far out of our neighborhood for this party, be perhaps we'll venture out there to play one day.

For party activities, someone told my husband that she arranges for the ice cream truck to come by the park when she is having a park party. She doesn't have to pay the truck to come, but she buys all the kids an ice cream and they think it's fantastic. I like this idea, but I don't know how you balance the ice cream with the birthday cake. How much junk can you really feed kids in the space of 2 hours? (Perhaps that is a rhetorical question.)

 

The birthday party was at a place called Midway, and they supplied it. Not sure where you would buy them, but they have to be available or they wouldn't use them.

I just did a quick search and a local party store calls them Pull Pinata's, not string pinata's.

 

We did a park party last year for their 4th birthday and it worked out great. The schlepping was a little much, but we brought both our cars, and my parents loaded theirs too, and it wasn't bad.

I did have two activities besides the pinata (BTW, it was a string pull one, but I let the kids all take a turn whacking it, then we pulled). I got these little plain wooden maracas from Oriental Trading, and brought markers, crayons, and stickers for them to decorate them. Then we had cupcakes, and I had a bunch of sprinkles, and the kids could all decorate their cupcake.

For food, we ordered pizza, but I also had chips, a fruit platter, and a veggie platter with dip.

Best part was I didn't have to do much cleaning up afterwards. Just threw all the table covers away along with the trash, and we were done!

 

We got an Elmo "pull string pinata" for my boys' upcoming third birthday, which is a Sesame Street theme and also at a park. The reason I got a pull pinata is because I thought it would be disturbing to the kids to beat on Elmo with a stick, LOL! JK, they actually don't even make the regular kind in that theme. I have never used one, so I will let you know how it goes. It is supposed to rain and be in the 50's for our park party Sunday...stupid Seattle.