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Infants, Toddlers, & Preschoolers
Birthday Party at Daycare -- would you bring a gift?
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Anonymous
I was starting to wonder if I was the only one thinking an entertainer at school for a birthday party was odd. We do cupcakes at daycare. And a separate party at home. We never send out announcements for the daycare one, and would never think that they would get gifts there either. We do have a close circle of friends from daycare, and if they miss a birthday party for whatever reason, they still give birthday child a gift. |
Anonymous
I've never heard of bringing in entertainment for a daycare birthday party, and I'm pretty sure our daughter's center wouldn't allow it. Birthday parties at her daycare are usually cake and juice affairs, and if parents are feeling fancy they bring in lunch too (chicken nuggets seem to be very popular in the twos room, while pizza is the big thing in the preschool room). Parents get a notice a day or so before the party so those who prefer their child not have the treat(s) in question can opt out. I've never heard of anyone bringing a gift to a daycare party - and if someone did, I'm thinking the parents would either need to take it away or have the teachers hide it until the end of the day to avoid the whole "I want to play with my present now/where's MY present?" thing. |
Anonymous
| We did a daycare party with an entertainer this year for DD. I cleared it ahead of time with the director and all the teachers in her classroom. I asked for the headcount to make sure I gave the entertainer the correct number (they were providing goodie bags as part of the package) and for the cupcakes. I did not notify the parents ahead of time, figuring most kids would be there anyway, and if anyone had any dietary restrictions the teachers would already know how to handle that. This was the only party my DD had. I didn't want to deal with the politics of who to invite and who not to invite, potentially hurting little kids' feelings and with 25 kids in her classroom, I could not affortd to host all of them in our small house. So this was the best solution: DD got to have a "party", all the kids in her classroom had fun, nobody had to go out and buy presents and we didn't have to deal with setup, cleanup and a massive amount of toys/gifts we didn't really need. We got her a cake at home and gave her our presents and she was a happy camper. I don't know what's so unusual about this - it's the best of both worlds. To summarize: no, no gifts are needed for a daycare party. |
Anonymous
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Usually parties at daycare don't involve gifts (or an entertainer). They just have a special snack (usually cupcakes).
I wouldn't send a gift unless we were really close to the child (and even then, I'd give the gift separately and not through daycare). |
Anonymous
| No gift, no goody bag. Entertainment seems weird, since by paying for daycare, parents seem to already be providing entertainment (among other things), but I am sure both the kids and the dcp's would enjoy it. |
Anonymous
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Do preschool kids really need to do a friends party and a family party? I find that surprising.
We didn't start friend parties till about 6 or 7. Before that it was a family party with an invite to a few close friends who might be around (friends of the family who had kids). Pretty casual too - a BBQ or the like. No big entertainment. I would not send a gift. A card or a picture sounds perfect. |
Anonymous
Ditto. No fuss, no muss, no gifts, no worries. |
Anonymous
| For our kid's daycare party, my husband might come and play guitar. I'll think about making cupcakes and end up buying them from Safeway. No invitation will be sent so gifts won't be an issue. The last thing parents need is another thing to do or buy. |