The politics of children’s birthday party planning can be surprisingly hard to navigate, and one dilemma that many parents agonise over is whether you should invite the whole class to the occasion.

With class sizes regularly 30 or more, it can of course add to the expense of playing host – but it will mean that you won’t have any upset class mates on your hands (also remember that some of the parents get just as upset as the kids!).

The key thing is that there are no hard and fast rules, so it’s best to play it by ear, be guided by what other children in your son and daughter’s school do, and go with your own instincts. In extreme cases, this is something the school may even have a policy on.

You certainly don’t have to feel obliged to invite the whole class, but it’s probably best not to leave just one or two children out if you ask everyone else along. Although you could argue that learning to deal with rejection is one life lesson children are going to have to learn sometime!

It’s also possible to minimise hurt feelings by getting your son or daughter to hand out party invitations discreetly, or to perhaps post them instead. You may also want to consider discouraging your child from talking about the party in school or in front of those who have not received one of the birthday party invitations.

When deciding how many children to have, one rule of thumb could be to ask “age plus one.” So, for example, if the child is seven, they are allowed eight guests, and so on. This can keep things manageable.

Don’t be afraid to involve your child in the party planning process from the outset.

At Putty Print, we offer party invitations for a wide range of special occasions including children’s party invitations for boys and girls. Customise and order all our templates online, with same day dispatch if your order is placed by 10am – we won’t even charge for delivery!