4th Birthday - is this plan okay?

[Anonymous]

My DS is an energetic lover of life, and has a crew of about 4 other little boys in his PK-3 class that he loves to run around (literally!) and play with.

For his birthday, we're thinking of inviting just his 4 friends to hang out with him in a space where they can get that energy out and have fun. The last 2 years, we've invited his whole class somewhere, but we're thinking of changing it up.

Is this okay to do at this age or should we invite the entire class?

[Anonymous]

Lots of people don't do whole class birthday parties. I think you're fine.

[Anonymous]

Small birthday is fine. All class birthdays get expensive and chaotic fast.

You can't really do an exclusionary birthday (you can't invite say, more than half the class and then leave people out) but small groups are fine.

[Anonymous]

That sounds fine as long as his class isn’t really small. Also make sure he knows not to discuss his party in front of kids he isn’t inviting. It’ll be easier and cheaper for you, and he will have a great time.

[Anonymous]

How many kids in the class and how many boys? I would not invite more than half the boys without inviting all of them.

[Anonymous]

At this age it's common to invite just one gender.

Boys this age can't be expected to keep a party a secret. Even if your son can, his friends won't. So just be cautious of that.

Since he's so young I would encourage him to be inclusive. You can always do it at a playground.

[Anonymous]

We never did a huge preschool birthday because that wouldn't have worked for my kids (way too overwhelming).

So do what works. 4 kids sounds great.

[Anonymous]

The only rule is, less than half or all. How many boys are there in the class?

If there are fewer than 10 boys in his PK class, I don't think you should have five of them at a party (your son plus four). The other 1-4 boys could really feel left out.

If there are 10 boys (or more) in PK, then great, but since the classes are 16, that's unlikely.

Totally fine to just invite all the boys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That sounds fine as long as his class isn’t really small. Also make sure he knows not to discuss his party in front of kids he isn’t inviting. It’ll be easier and cheaper for you, and he will have a great time.

The bolded is not a practical request for a three year old.

[Anonymous]

I never invited the whole class. We did parties at home for the most part and our house just isn’t big enough.

4 is perfectly fine. And you can absolutely tell your kid to try not to talk about it in front of other kids. Even if they don’t fully understand at this age, the conversation can begin and those who do understand can do their best to follow that rule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sounds fine as long as his class isn’t really small. Also make sure he knows not to discuss his party in front of kids he isn’t inviting. It’ll be easier and cheaper for you, and he will have a great time.

The bolded is not a practical request for a three year old.

plus 1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS is an energetic lover of life, and has a crew of about 4 other little boys in his PK-3 class that he loves to run around (literally!) and play with.

For his birthday, we're thinking of inviting just his 4 friends to hang out with him in a space where they can get that energy out and have fun. The last 2 years, we've invited his whole class somewhere, but we're thinking of changing it up.

Is this okay to do at this age or should we invite the entire class?

A whole class of 4 year olds? Good lord NO! Invite only his 4 other boys.

[Anonymous]

I'd make sure the 4 are available, because it's not much of a party if half of them don't show up.

[Anonymous]

I invited 3 kids over for my kid’s 4th birthday. We live in an apt so literally no space for the whole class. I know we didn’t get invited to some classmate’s parties, too. Totally fine.

[Anonymous]

I do not think it is a necessity to invite the entire class.

Just invite who your child requests.