OK not to open gifts at party venue available for only a short time?

[TwinFoxes]

I know people have varying ideas about opening gifts at parties, but if you're inclined to open gifts at kids' parties, do you still do it at venues that are available for a limited time? The "gym" we're having the girls' party only allots 1.5 hour blocks. The gym's guidelines recommend not opening gifts in order to maximize playing time. It's a small party, but if everyone gets a gift for each girl, it could take awhile, plus there's lunch and cake. What do you all think?

(wait for poll please!)

[wellyes]

Let the kids play, for sure.

[SnuggleBuggles]

We do most of the time. We have hosted 4 parties at the same gymnastics' venue with 1.5 hour parties now and 3 of them we opened gifts. We only didn't do that on the 4th one b/c we invited so many kids and served lunch. I **always** try to schedule the party outside of meal time so I don't have to serve food! Cake= good enough! eta- play for an hour, eat and gifts the rest. It's enough play.

Some of those times we opened were a bit rushed but worth it, imo.

The 4th time, I took pics of ds2 opening his gifts at home and emailed the pics to the gift givers. I got lots of raves from people!

[AngB]

I think the child-guests would much rather spend time playing then watching gifts being opened.

[dec756]

i would say about 1/4 of people open gifts at a party venue (ie gymboree, little gym, mygym etc).

i do not recommend it if you are paying $300 + for under 2 hours of play/food time.

[ckso]

Maybe it varies by city but I have not gone to a kids party where they opened gifts during the party. The kids would much rather play than watch someone open presents.

[citymama]

I've only been to one kid party where the child opened presents and I found it somewhat strange. In 1.5 hours, definitely not.

[o_mom]

Home parties and longer venue parties we usually open gifts. The last venue we did was 2 hrs and we did not get to gifts - it was an arcade style place where there is *always* something to play and the kids were all engaged. The other venue party we did, it was more of an activity for 1 hr, then you have pizza/cake/party room for an hour. There we did open gifts as everyone was done eating.

I generally like to have the gifts opened at the party, but 1.5 hrs is going to be pushing it with lunch and cake, so I vote for no opening. ETA: We do small family-only parties until age 7, so I wasn't paying attention to the age group...4 yos I would probably skip for sure.

[katydid1971]

I prefer not opening gifts at parties regardless of the amount of time. Who likes watching someone else get presents? Take the gifts home and open them there. That way you don't have to worry about pieces being lost etc at the party.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I prefer not opening gifts at parties regardless of the amount of time. Who likes watching someone else get presents? Take the gifts home and open them there. That way you don't have to worry about pieces being lost etc at the party.


I like to watch other people get gifts. :). Always makes me happy to see someone els happy. But, I think op acknowledged varying opinions about the practice.

[Still-in-Shock]

SnuggleBuggles, you are not alone, many people like watching someone open a gift that they gave. But these are kids, and unless they picked the gift out themselves, they probably won't care whether the birthday girl likes her gift or not. They want to play and they want cake! Also since you have 2 girls, opening 2 sets of gifts will take a twice as long!

OP, I with everyone else. Open the gifts at home, and let the kids play. This way there's less chance of losing the cards that went with each gift and no one's feelings get hurt if your daughter(s) doesn't like something.

[infomama]

We always open gifts at parties...even two hour gym rental places. We just make it part of the agenda.

[o_mom]

SnuggleBuggles, you are not alone, many people like watching someone open a gift that they gave. But these are kids, and unless they picked the gift out themselves, they probably won't care whether the birthday girl likes her gift or not. They want to play and they want cake!


IME, most kids DO like to see the gifts opened once they are past about age 4 and are able to understand that they are giving and not getting something. My kids are always involved in picking out gifts, though not everyone does this. I think it is a great opportunity for kids to learn about gracious gift giving and receiving.

I know not everyone agrees (there have been numerous threads on this... it ranks right up there with sneaking food into movies and wearing yoga pants as a divisive issue). In this case though, with 4 year olds and limited time, I would skip it as I said above.

[lucybabymamma]

IME, most kids DO like to see the gifts opened once they are past about age 4 and are able to understand that they are giving and not getting something. My kids are always involved in picking out gifts, though not everyone does this. I think it is a great opportunity for kids to learn about gracious gift giving and receiving.

I know not everyone agrees (there have been numerous threads on this... it ranks right up there with sneaking food into movies and wearing yoga pants as a divisive issue). In this case though, with 4 year olds and limited time, I would skip it as I said above.

:yeahthat:
I appreciate knowing if presents will not be opened because it helps me prepare DD, since she enjoys picking out and wrapping the gift. I forget the wording but ive seen it mentioned in invites:)

[ZeeBaby]

Maybe it varies by city but I have not gone to a kids party where they opened gifts during the party. The kids would much rather play than watch someone open presents.

This has been my experience as well.

[TwinFoxes]

Maybe it varies by city but I have not gone to a kids party where they opened gifts during the party. The kids would much rather play than watch someone open presents.

Yeah, like I said, people have differing opinions about whether it's appropriate to open gifts. Here, people tend to open gifts, so that's why I was wondering what to do in this situation. I personally don't feel strongly one way or the other.

[megs4413]

Personally, I think it's terribly rude not to open gifts in front of the giver. My kids pick out the gifts that they give and look forward to seeing their friend open the gifts. It's a total bummer when people choose not to open in front of us and I'm inclined to ignore invitations from those people in the future. JMO!

ETA: I see in your siggy that your twins are turning 4. In that case, I don't know that it will matter too much either way, they're still very little. I am more thinking about the parties we've been to this year with my DD in first grade (kids turning 7.) There's no reason why a room full of 6/7 year olds can't sit for 15 minutes to open gifts....3/4 year olds? different story.

[ha98ed14]

This is exactly what we did today! Today was DD's 5th bday party. I had two hours at the venue and the kids had a blast doing the activities so we opened gifts at home and will send thank you notes. No one objected.

[Mommy2Abby]

In the last 6 months, DD has been to about 10 parties for 4-5 yos, and none of them opened gifts at the party... I guess it isn't common around here? The kids seem like they would much rather maximize play time anyway?

[ilfaith]

In eight years and three kids worth of party guesting, I can only recall one birthday party where gifts were opened in front of the guests, and this was a party held at the home of the birthday girl. At places like My Gym and Pump it Up there just doesn't seem to be time for more than 90 minutes of so of play and half an hour for cake (and maybe ice cream and/or pizza). Many of the party venues I have been to collect the gifts at the beginning, pack them up and give them to the host family as they leave.

I do think whether gifts are opened may be a regional thing, because growing up, we always opened presents at the party...although I also think more parties were held in people's homes back then. If opening gifts at parties where you live seems to the the rule rather than the exception, you may not want to buck the trend.

[bigsis]

i prefer not opening gifts at parties regardless of the amount of time. Who likes watching someone else get presents? Take the gifts home and open them there. That way you don't have to worry about pieces being lost etc at the party.

ita! :)

[essnce629]

We just had DS2's birthday party at a venue last weekend and did not open gifts in the 2 hour time frame. We already felt rushed with the 2 hours to play, eat, and do cake. I did invite everyone to a park right down the street afterwards if they wanted to watch DS2 open gifts and keep playing. Most of my friends with kids DS2's age headed home, but a few people went with us to the park afterwards.

[kijip]

In the past, we most often set them aside to open later but as guests and bday kids reached school age, frequently the guests will ask the bday kid to open theirs. So we do now to respect all the kids who are excited to see theirs opened, even at shorter parties. It doesn't take much time and it gives T time to practice saying thanks (even if he hates it.) This has not always been a strong suit for him, so it is nice to see him doing it. We do it in the cake eating time of the venue parties so it does not take time from the play. Most kids don't need 1/2 hour to eat cake and drink juice.

I would say that in our social circle, opening the gifts later was the norm till age 4 or 5. Now, this seems to have transitioned and most of the 5-10 year olds we know open their gifts at the party. I think part of the joy of giving a gift for many people is seeing it opened.

I voted who cares, as long as there is cake. If the kids don't ask for them to be opened, I would totally stuff them in the trunk and do it at home. Just make sure that each one has the card or giver's name firmly attached.