From Pass-the-Parcel and Balloons to Limos, Discos and Entertainers: The Changing Face of Kids' Parties
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Summary
Once upon a time children were happy with jelly and ice cream and a game of pass the parcel. But at birthday parties today Welsh parents are pulling out all the stops to serve youngsters' increasingly sophisticated tastes and desire to impress their friends. And this surge in party daring is feeding a lucrative and growing market for party organisers across the nation. Most parents spend at least pounds 150 a year on each of their children by the time they have hired out a hall, booked an entertainer and ordered a bouncy castle. And that total does not take into account all the food, cake, gifts and party bags such a celebration now demands. Plus - in a bid to achieve the wow factor and quieten pester power - mums and dads are investing in extreme birthday parties more akin to adulthood to give their offspring and their friends a celebratory thrill, such as dry slope skiing and mini makeovers. Dr Richard Wilson, a family expert and member of the British Psychological Society, said the high price parents are prepared to pay for children's parties reflects growing wealth. He said, 'It is a sign that society is generally more affluent and if parents have a few bob they like to spend it on their children. 'But if they are doing it to out do other parents in a competitive way, then they are doing it for the wrong reason. 'Most parents just want to try something different to make their children happy but they might need to be sensitive to other children in their class who might feel what they get isn't as good.' Jan Wake, of Bridgend-based party organisers Parties Are Us, said parents regularly spend pounds 7.50 per head on parties for up to 25 children. That's almost pounds 190. She said, 'They get an hour's play on a bouncy castle, have a disco with snow and bubble machines then after half an hour of food, 'Mickey Mouse' visits and they can have a photo with him. There are party bags, balloons and gifts.' But Vicky Ferda-Riley, 39, from Llandaff, who runs children's shop The Learning Tree, in Cardiff, feels parents are under pressure to provide even more. Vicky is married to Tim and they have three children - Alex, nine, Imogen, five and Beatrice, three. Imogen wants to be picked up in a pink limousine for her sixth birthday in May, so she can dance in it with her friends. Then she wants to go bowling and have a meal out. Vicky said, 'There is quite a lot of pressure on parents coming from children who from the age of six to nine, suddenly have very firm ideas about what they want because they want to be grown up.
'I will probably succumb to most of the things Imogen wants but not everything; there is a danger that if they have too much too young, they will become spoilt.See the full content of this document
Extract
From Pass-the-Parcel and Balloons to Limos, Discos and Entertainers: The Changing Face of Kids' Parties
'I like low-key traditional affairs because they are more fun and that's what I plan for Beatrice.
'We d...See the full content of this document
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