Morning Birthday Party?

You have great ideas. 10-12 is a great time. Kids seem to thrive in the morning. Since it's really a brunch time, pigs and fruit are perfect; 3yo's love them and I happen to know that moms and dads love them, too. You're right on track.

I just listed a FaBuLoUs drum on Craigslist and am getting ready to list a pile of musical instruments my kids have outgrown. I wish there were more early in the day parties for kids. They seem to be so happy early in the day and so very eager for the party to start. And it really does allow for more free time in the afternoon. You could do 9:30 -11 and it wold probably make little difference to the parents who are all up at the crack of dawn anyhow. Breakfast foods make up a great menu for little ones! Have a blast! I think you are on the right track with the am. idea.

I have been to both morning and afternoon parties. If you do it before lunch, just be sure to include that a light snack will be provided. You can also do it in the late afternoon (3-5). That way, your guest can go and prepare dinner. Either morning or late afternnon also works for most people because that will not interfer with nap time. When you do it at the odd hours, this will be a saer on the pocket book!
Best of luck!
J.

I did my son's 3rd birthday in the morning from 9 - 11. It worked out fantastic. I was really concerned about the turnout but the parents thanked me. The kids had a ball and were at their best not to mention when the party was over they were worn out and went home and napped. I served donuts, Fruit, Coffee & juice. It was great and the parents really enjoyed themselves as well.

Hi A.,

I'm a big fan of morning parties for kids! There seem to be fewer tantrums and melt-downs than compared to afternoon soiree. If your friends are anything like mine and tend to be 15-20 minutes to everything, then 9:30 is a great time. And, I am all for the breakfast finger foods: pigs-in-a-blanket. mini-quiches, sandwiches (jelly or ham & cheese), mini-cinnamon rolls, fruit - you may even consider having cereal!

Best wishes for a happy and festive celebration!

I am SO happy to hear someone else wants to do this. I decided to have a breakfast party for my daughter's upcoming second birthday! We are having ours from 09:00-11:00 and most of our guests are very excited about it. The hardest part is being ready first thing in the morning so recruit some help if you think you'll need it.

We have been doing morning birthday parties for the last couple of years. We like them for a lot of reasons. Our kids get to take their afternoon naps, breakfast foods tend to be cheaper than other meals, and as you said, you have the rest of the day to do what you need to do. We usually do ours from ~10 to whenever (but things are usually wrapping up around 12-1). A party at 9:30 might be a little early for us, but I would much rather go at 9:30 than 2:30. We tend to cook up some pancakes sausage and provide a fruit salad. If you are providing a meal around 10 I would not expect you to provide more food at 12. Some other parties we've gone to have been morning parties at a "party place" but we tend to have ours at home. Either way works well for us.

My nephew just celebrated his 3rd birthday. My sister kept it simple and had it at her house from 10-12. She served cake and drinks. The five boys were happy and played.

She's 3. Why go to an expensive party place? The rule used to be one child guest for each year, but mothers today seem to have overlooked that. At 3, she and her friends can have lots of fun at a community park. She likes music, so make (or help them make) musical instruments and have a parade around the park or neighborhood. Since some 3 year olds still take afternoon naps, a morning party sounds great (wish we'ed thought of that when mine were little), and why does it have to last 2 hours. one and one half hour should be enough for any 3 year old. They won't get bored. From 10:00 to 11:30 allowes mothers a "not so rushed" morning and since they will have already eaten, just fruit and cheese for the moms and fruit and birthday cake for the guests. If you are really good friends with the moms, you could all go to McDonalds for lunch...and go dutch.

The nice thing about most breakfast foods is that they are great to eat at any time of day and may of them are great finger foods and can be dipped in syrup versus having the syrup oured all over them.

I say go for it and you can do it as a brunch serve pigs in a blanket, french toast sticks, muffins fresh fruit(orange wedges, apples slices, grapes, etc) and juices and water to drink. It's all healthy and fun for kids to boot. You can't go wrong no matter how you look at it.

Good Luck!!! ;-)

Don't feel the pressure to have to feed everyone a meal. I think what you suggested is perfect for a party at 10-12. That is still lunch time and everyone can eat a full meal after the party. Finger foods are great. That is what I have done the last couple of parties and it has worked out great for me, afternoon and morning. The kids are always to excited and want to play. They aren't worried about the food. Have fun with it and don't stress :)

I love morning parties for kids. They are up and awake and then they can get home and have a nap. It is nice and cool in Texas. You are correct about morning foods. Remember fresh fruit and yogurt too!

Years ago, I had a morning party and it was great. The parents appreciated it too, because as you mentioned, they had the rest of the day to do whatever. I would go with breakfast foods and make it easy. I served pigs-in-a-blanket, fruit,juice, and the cake was sprinkeld donuts -the kids loved it. Have fun and don't stress out more than you have to! I have an easy breakfast casserole recipe that you can fix ahead of time, let me know if you need it.

I have had several morning parties at a pool for my summer birthday child. I usually have it from 10-12 and serve bagels and cream cheese along with an easy fruit, like grapes or cut up watermelon, and juice boxes. Of course the recquisite cake, but also some snacks the kids can grab when they get out of the pool hungry, like pretzels and granola bars. The parents who stay seem to enjoy munching on the bagels. I'm a firm believer in keeping it simple...the more you try to do, the more stressed out you become! Happy birthday to your daughter.

If they provide the foods it will not really matter. If you are able to bring the foods etc. still does not matter. If however you are not allowed to bring in any foods it might be better for the early one because they will want to have lunch and that can add up. (there are also finger sandwiches, cheese cubes, and sliced vegetables) Instead of a cake if you have to make it, make it in the ice cream cones that have a flat bottom, they will sit in a muffin pan, will not burn, just bake them the way you would a cup cake. Ice and there will be no paper to peel.

I know I am always late and so is my family so a morning party would be out of the question for us. Having it at a party place would work out nicer. If you are over at noon then I wouldnt serve lunch. They can go to lunch after. The snacks will hold them over till then. Good luck and have fun. Dont sweat the small stuff. Do what works for you and the majority of your group.

Hey there,

I own a party place and I have two party times. 11:30 - 2:00 and 3:00 - 5:30. For parties for kids that age, most people pick the 3:00 - 5:30, but honestly, the earlier parties are the best. The kids come in refreshed, play, eat a little something, play and then are ready to go down for a nap at the end of the party. The later parties, the kids are cranky and tired by cake time. I would definitely go with the earlier time!

Does your child still take a nap? Might keep that in mind when planning a party. You don't want a fussy child that needs a nap during her birthday party! Been there and it is not fun. Remember, she is 3 and sometimes little ones don't eat a lot. What are her favorite foods? I liked the morning parties and get it all done by noon and have the rest of the day for other things. If you have it 10 AM-noon or 9:30- 11:30, then do the pigs in the blanket, cheese sticks or cubes, cut up fruit (grapes, apple slices etc), chilled juice boxes or any of the things she likes and keep it easy for you. My grandson loved the cupcake birthday cake from Kroger. It was awesome and lots less mess. The cake breaks into cupcakes or you can just get individual cupcakes, too. Two hours is a long time for little ones. Were they just going to play outside? Have you thought of having it at a park for the kids to play at? Keep "disposable everything" in mind, so you don't have lots of stuff to take home, but just toss in the trash. Walmart or Party City is great if you want to color coordinate plates/spoons etc. Peckham Park in downtown Katy off Ave. D was just been redone and is awesome. Less humid outside in the AM, too and little ones can run themselves ragged and be ready for a nap. Have Plan B, if it rains, too. Hope it all turns out nice!

As a full time working mom I really dislike morning birthday parties. Saturday is the only day my family and I don't have to get up early and be somewhere. Saturday mornings are for relaxing around the house in my family.

Just something to think about....

hi A. B.---kid birthday parties can be soooooo stressful...but you know having a party in the morning is a great idea...the kids are probably already used to getting up that early for school/day care and it can be really easy on the other parents who come b/c they can have the remainder of their day to do something else...and having fruit tray and some light breakfast foods are good in my opinion....you can probably find a party spot that hosts morning parties and even that do music or something...i know there is a music place www.fundamentallymusic.com and they do parties as well as teach the kids music...i do not know the times though...but if your little one loves to dance it may be a lot of fun...have fun and happy planning...remember to not get too overwhelmed in the party planning