Decide what you are comfortable with and let people know what you will allow. If you require masks, say so. If you are not requiring masks, say so. This will allow families to decide to attend or not based on their comfort level.

I recently had a bday party for my 10 yr old. Very small and outdoors. Only invited 5 girls. I told the parents I would follow the lead of the most conservative parent and if it bothered them, I was ok if they declined. 4 girls plus us were fine with no masks, but 1 parent wanted masks. We all masked and no one was upset and the kids had a great time, according to their parents. When it came time to eat, they were each 6 feet apart.

Do what you want for your child's party but be ok with people declining because you're choosing to mask or because you're choosing not to mask.

no masks outside!

No

Anonymous wrote:So, I’m in PA...a liberal, educated area FWIW, no one has ever masked for outdoor parties.

And I just got back from our pool club Memorial Day party...hundreds of people, no masks, and gasp! a self-serve buffet.

That is disgusting!

Last year we hosted a backyard party for my kid's bday. Because we were serving food and drink, we put everyone on picnic blankets (which they then got to take home as their party favor) 6 feet apart.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Not a mask in sight.

Hmmm... can you also identify where you are posting from? Since I am not seeing this uneducated behavior in most of DMV.

Oh FFS, MoCO and Fairfax Co are both in the single digits this week per day. People are following logic at this point. You know, the thing you learn to follow throughout one's education.

Our preschool no longer masks outside. Just one data point.

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Not a mask in sight.

Hmmm... can you also identify where you are posting from? Since I am not seeing this uneducated behavior in most of DMV.

Anonymous wrote:Yes I’ve been to several backyard parties in the last few weeks. All kids masked outside.

I think this may be a MoCo thing. Very educated parents are more cognizant of the risk of being unvaccinated and are scared about the mutations. They are also probably aware that the Trumpers are unvaccinated (except for Trump, his family and GOP bigwigs).

I would not require masks in that situation but I also know that all the parents involved are vaccinated.
I don't think that there is a right answer here but either way you should make it clear on the invite.
We ask that kids wear masks when possible or
We will not ask that kids wear masks while outdoors.
I wouldn't keep my 12 year old home from a party because they are asked to wear a mask. I am asking my kid to follow a families rules when they are at that families house. If my kid goes to someone else's house where they don't allow XXX, I expect them to respect that rule when they are there.

It sounds like you are fine with the kids being unmasked.

So - next step. Thinking about the kids that it's MOST important for your daughter to have there, like her 1-3 best friends. Presumably, you know their families. Do you think any of them would be upset or not come if masks weren't mandated? If that's the case, then I would request that all kids are masked outdoors except while eating. Just put it on the invitation. Sounds worth it.

Beyond that - I wouldn't say anything. Kids who want to (or who's families want them to) wear a mask will, others may not. At this stage in the game, I think that's fine.

Nope. Not a mask in sight.

There’s no way to make everyone happy with this. If you require masks, they will definitely come off to eat snacks and then just stay off for some kids. If you don’t require masks some parents will not allow their children to attend. With low rates, some kids partially vaccinated, and the party being outside I probably wouldn’t require it. Anyone who wants to wear a mask is welcome to do so, of course.

We just went to pool party. No one was masked. For outdoor, why would you require that?