Planning a party at my house for a 7y.o. -- how long should a party be?

I usually do a 2 hour party for my girls. They play a couple games, eat lunch (unless I have it after lunchtime, then it's just snacks), may have another game or 2, do the cake and ice cream, and then the birthday girl opens her gifts. And usually there is a little time leftover for the kids to play before the parents come. Last year tho the kids would have preferred a 5 hour party.....after all what I had planned was done, we had some time left so dh offered to take them all for a 4 wheeler ride (with a wagon hooked on the back filled with cushy pillows and blankets) and they had a blast, but their parents came to get them and they were so bummed that they had to go home. One kid even cried that he had to go.

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Friends are like butt cheeks.
Crap might separate them,
But they always come back together.

I think 1 1/2 to 2 hours is plenty depending on what activities you have planned. If you have lots of resources (like a nearby playground, etc) and space, then you can do longer.

I used to do 2 hours, but had a craft (boy or girl) snacks, cake, then presents and games until pick up.

Some crafts I did were painting t-shirts (or hats), hand dipping candles, embossing stationary, and building and flying paper airplanes.

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I agree 2 hours is just enough time to do all the fun party stuff. I did a sleep over once for a bunch of 12 yr old boys I couldnt wait for the parent to come get those kids

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Proud mom to 4 great boys Anthony20,Nicholas16,Michael4,Sean2

I also always did a 2 hours party.

This is what I did.

1. As the kid arrive I have a table set up with markers, stickers, etc and they decorate a bag to be used when we do the pinata. I would usually have at least one more craft for them to do if they wanted to.

2. When done with the bags I always had a jump that they could play in until everyone arrived.

3. Pizza time/Jump.

4. Games and prizes/jump.

5. Pinata

6. Cut the cake.

7. Open gifts.

8. Soak in a hot tub after all the kids are gone. LOL

If it was running a little long the parents might show up as presents are being opened so I would ask if they wanted pizza and or cake. I think it is better to have the parents wait a little then to have a parent an hour late picking up their child. At my parties 75 % of the parents usually stayed so that was not too much of a problem.

My dd is 7. 2 hours seems to be the norm around here.

Have fun!

Sandy

Two hours.

And don't forget to "overplan" your time! I think there should be free playtime scheduled in, too! But be sure to have extra ideas on hand...for some reason, everything takes much less time to implement than it does for me to plan! LOL...

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