My little boy is turning 5 in June so it will more than likely be wet and cold. I have never been good at organizing birthday parties for him.

He only has a couple of friends, 2 girls that will be 4yo and 3 baby friends who are roughly 1 and a half.

My ideas so far are:

BBQ at our place; however house is real small and might be wet for BBQ outside.
Just go to Macdonalds and let them play on playground; done most birthdays
Hire small hall; expensive, how do I keep kids entertained?
Hire out a room at a kids playcentre; expensive

Any ideas would be appreciated. I am wanting to make a nice cake and party bags etc

I have organised my 4year old party in July at a gym. They run a little program for 1.5hrs with the kids and then provide hot food afterwards, with total duration of 2hrs.

No mess at home this year!

Winter is hard - a local gym near you may have a similar thing available??

I find that if you find a theme parties and the games associated are easier to organise. Think of a theme; some of the popular ones at the moment are Under the Sea, Pirates,Magic and Ben Ten (although this is a bit controversial as lots of parents don't like Ben Ten),then just google the theme with Under the sea party for example and you will find an area where people have put in complete lists of party games, cheap props made with cardboard, odds and ends and a bit of imagination and then there are lots of small places you can hire for not much money. I have approached local pre-schools and day care centres, scout halls and council playgroups. Often the deposit is high but the final price, once you get your deposit back is not too bad.

I am not sure where you live but the other option, if you only have a few children going and you are in Sydney there is a place called plaster Master where they organise birthday parties and the children get to paint a little plaster mould that they have selcted themselves. I am sure they will have similar type places all over Aust. It is expensive if you have a lot of children but it is quite fun and original if you just have a few.

I hope this gives you some ideas. If you have selected a theme I am happy to help you out.

My DDs went to a party last year at the local indoor pool - they put on all the food and took the kids out playing games in the pool. It was great and my DD wants to do the same for her upcoming 7th bday in July (either that or go to the snow. - I think we will be doing the pool!)

My DD is turning 5 next month and I was also worried abou the weather, so we are having it at a bistro type restaurant that has a playroom. Some bistros have face painting etc at certain times during the week, which most kids love. DD is having about 15 guests so we have booked out a party room.

Good luck