Answers > School-Age Kids (5-8)

Do I have to invite my sons entire class at school and daycare for his birthday party?

My son will be turning 6 in November. He goes to kindergarten in the day time and then he is in an after school program at his daycare. Do I have to invite his entire class from both places or can he choose who he would like to come? I don't want to offend any of the mothers, but I am not really sure what the proper etiquette would be. Any information would be so helpful, thank you. Also does anyone have any ideas for a batman and robin theme party?

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jll14... Asked at 11:38 AM on Oct. 7, 2008 by:
  • Answered at 11:44 AM on Oct. 7, 2008 by:
    WadeM...
    It partly depends on the rules at the school and daycare. At my DD's school, if you send invitations to school, there has to be one for each child. If there's a rule like that, then yes, if you want to send them to school you're going to have to invite all of them. If you know the mothers outside of school though, you can always just invite those. I actually like inviting the whole class though, it gives me a chance to meet the other parents, and since they will be going through school together, I'm sure at least a few will become best friends with my DD, so I'd like to get to know the parents now.
  • Answered at 11:45 AM on Oct. 7, 2008 by:
    riotg...
    It depends on class policy. Some schools/teachers will only let a birthday child bring in invites if they invite the whole class. I would be fine with inviting the whole class if I had enough space etc.
  • Answered at 12:21 PM on Oct. 7, 2008 by: Anonymous
    Anonymous
    Absolutely not. Invitations should be mailed to the invitees and you should only invite those that you want to attend. We get invites in the mail from parents who invite everybody; we only rsvp "yes" to those kids that my children are friends with. Everybody has become so worried about hurting other's feelings in this regard that I've seen parents nearly go broke because they not only felt compelled to invite every kid in the class but they take it a step further and invite all the kids in the same grade! One woman here did that . . . she had nearly 100 kids at her house and when i showed up to pick up my twins, nearly half of them were in the middle of the street and nobody was paying any attention to them. If your child does not hang out with people at school, why would you want to invite them? I say friends only.
  • Answered at 2:58 PM on Oct. 7, 2008 by:
    MamaM...
    Who cares what people think? Ask your son who he wants to invite - He's old enough to know who he likes and dislikes. My daughter's school has always provided a family directory. I've just mailed invites to the people she wants to invite - Avoids the "why didn't I get one" from other kids/parents if she chooses not to invite all kids in her class. If you don't have access to home addresses, hand the invites to the parents of the kids rather than to the kids directly. Re Batman party, check out this website: http://www.sanjosefamilies.com/batman-birthday.html - It's got some fun ideas. Good luck!
  • Answered at 4:12 PM on Oct. 7, 2008 by:
    mom3c...
    I'm not inviting anyone from my son's class for his birthday party. We do it a little different here. Since all the boys were born around the same time we have one big party for them. They take turns picking out the theme of the party. We invite DH's family and my parents. The kids don't seem to mind and they have just as much fun. They have 6 other cousins to play with. Our family is real close so that's prob why they don't seem to mind so much.
  • Answered at 4:23 PM on Oct. 7, 2008 by:
    whath...
    My 5 year old's teacher suggested if you cannot invite everyone, we should give the invites to her and she would discreetly put them in their individual bags before the students left for the day.
  • Answered at 9:18 PM on Oct. 7, 2008 by:
    DawnK...
    We invited the whole class. His teacher said the same as the mom stated above. I invited 21 kids and 3 showed up.
  • Answered at 10:10 PM on Oct. 7, 2008 by:
    savan...

    i would invite the whole class. not everyone is going to come. my daughter when top a party this weekend and three of her classmates went. the whole class was inited.

  • Answered at 11:39 PM on Oct. 7, 2008 by:
    Lovin...
    I think it really depends on what u can afford. My older 2 r a yr & 8 days apart. My sons is 8/31 & my daughters is 9/8 so this yr we did a bowling party & let them ea. pick 5 friends that they're closest 2. It worked out really nice & all the kids had a great time!!! As far as ur theme, try a local party store or www.thepartyworks.com 4 some ideas. Have a great bday party!!!!
  • Answered at 1:36 AM on Oct. 8, 2008 by:
    Brend...
    Our school only allows invites to be handed out only if all kids are invited in the class. Like a mom said above- we invite all kids (usually about 25) and only a handful show up.

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