I posted this same question on Sunday, but no one answered, so I'll try again...
My son will be 3 on December 29th. With a Dec. b-day, out door parties can be risky plans. For his 1st b-day we had the party at the house. His second b-day, I had just had surgery the day before, so we didn’t have a party. This year we want to do something really fun, as this is the first birthday he has ANY chance of remembering. So far we have looked into “Jurassic Parties” with Pre-Historic Pets and 2 different Ice-Skating rinks (he’s taking lessons right now), but can’t think of anywhere else to do an indoor party. Oh yeah, except “Chuck E. Cheese”, which I personally can’t stand. Their pizza gives me a gut ache, and all they are is video game stimulus and robotic puppets. So, my question is… any other ideas of where to have a great indoor party for a 3 year old boy’s, December, POST CHIRSTMAS, b-day. Oh yeah, and with 1st COUSINS ONLY, there will be roughly 13 kids ages 26 months to almost 13 years. Thanks for any idea’s you can offer. ~J.
BTW- I live in pretty close to central OC, so anything is OC is most helpful. AND- The year he was born and his first b-day it rained pretty good. Last year I don't recall too much do to the meds I was on.
Thank you for all the suggestions. I had forgotten i had left this post. Well- his 3rd b-day has come and gone, and his party was a hit! We ended up doing it at the Ice Arena where he takes lessons. We also paid his coach privately to stay for the full party and help the rest of the kids. It was a lot of fun! Thank you for all the advice.
Try a Gymboree type facility that offers tumbling parties or even some of the local gymnastics studios may offer them as well. Locally we have an indoor "Bounce House" type of facility that is amazing with slides, zip lines and such that caters to all ages, toddler to grandparents which works best when you have multiple age groups. Where are you located?
Try a party where you can do a craft activity... like get fabric paint and blank white t-shirts, and have the kids paint their handprints or designs on it.. and then each kid 'sign' their names on it... it will be a great souvenir for everyone. On your Son's t-shirt, paint the date on it.. then he will always remember his 3rd birthday party. With the younger kids, the parents will need to help them. Just put a HUGE plastic sheet (you can get at hardware stores, like the kind house painters use), and put it on the floor to protect from the mess. I'm assuming, other parents will be there at the party, and will need to assist too. Just because it's a 'boy' party... doesn't mean you have to do 'boy' things only... crafts appeal to any kid. And get a Pinanta.. that is always fun. Also, you can get low priced (but nice) kids things and party supplies from www.orientaltradingcompany.com They have GREAT kids things for parties, in bulk, at great prices. All kinds of 'theme' supplies too for Birthdays. I'm sure you will find something here. You can also offer a "smoothie" bar.. .and get all kids of fruits etc., and have the kids choose their own smoothie recipe to drink. And have 1 parent 'volunteer' to be the 'bartender.' I'm also assuming the party has a 'time' schedule to it? Meaning, it goes on from 1:00-4:00 or 10:00-1:00.... so you don't have to worry about entertaining kids ALL day, and the parents know that the party 'ends' at a certain time? If not, you will be having to entertain kids AND parents all day, with no end in sight. Just a tip I've learned from other parties. ALSO, if you have a 'paint-your-own' pottery type of store in your area, you can have a party there. I've done this for my 3 yr. old and it was a BIG hit. Everyone had so much fun. Also, at some parties, the parents will just drop of their kids and leave. Which leaves YOU with the whole responsibility of watching ALL the kids. Make sure you specify that parents will need to stay with their child. Unless you don't mind watching everybody else's kids.
Well good luck!
I don't know where you live, but if you have a gym close by you can do it there... like gymniekids or any of those gymnastic/rec. places are great for children!
Good luck!
I saw that you live in Anaheim and I am not very familiar with that area, but I do have a few suggestions. We did my sons 2nd bday at Gymboree and we have an indoor playground in Agoura called Jungleland that does parties. There are also many others in the area called Under the Sea and Playsource. Check in your area for indoor playgrounds. The kids always have a great time. Also, I hate Chucke Cheese too. I refuse to go to parties there.
I hope this helps.
D. L.
You could also try an independently owned kids indoor playground (one I've been to in Silverlake is called Naya's Playground and it's awesome). Many of them do parties and obviously, it's a great, safe, fun place for kids. They're popping up everywhere so you'd just have to find one in your area. You could always go in a few times with your son and see if he likes it, and start building a relationship with the owners. Just a thought. Have fun with it!
Here is one fun option. For my sons 3rd b-day we hired a bubbleologist. A person comes in and talks about bubbles and shows some fun ways to use and create bubbles. Then they put them in a bubble. They have a little plastic pool and they have the kids stand in the middle. The put this hoola hoop around them and dip it into the bubble soap and bring it up to the kids heads and they are in a bubble. The do all this inside because there cannot be any air blowing when they do the bubble presentation. Then afterwards they have little pools set up in the backyard with all the fun wands and they can play for about a half an hour.
Another fun option is for my sons 4 b-day we hired "The Reptile Family" We had it at the park. A gentleman drives up in his safari jeep with all these cool baskets. He displays them and then has all the kids sitting in front of him. One by one he takes each reptile out talks about them and lets the kids hold them if they want to. The birthday boy gets to help (if he wants). He had everything from a Kamoto Dragon to frogs. In the end he had this huge snake that all the kids got in a line and held it. They had a blast. and yes the girls participated.
The only other place I can think of that is indoors is kidsville. They have a web site and they do a lot of parties. Its kind of like an indoor play ground, you should check it out online. Good luck!
What about a kid zone type place? I know in Torrance they have a place called kids concepts. It's like an indoor playground for kids. Here's the website for kids concepts
N.
You can try The little Gym or Gymboree. They're pretty pricy, but i'm sure the kids will have a blast. If not, you can have the party at home and rent a jumping house for the kids. it's not that cold during day time, and w/ the jumping house, they can surely "warm up".
Good luck!
I'm not sure where you are from so I can't really give you much advice on a specific place. I am in Oceanside, Ca and we have a lot of things near here that are great for that kind of thing. If you are in near a big town then try looking on www.gocitykids.com It is one of my favorite websites and is great if you are in one of the areas it covers. If that doesn't work, are you near any community centers that you could rent out? Just a thought. That's really all I can think of for now but I'll let you know if I come up with anything else.
C.
My daughter has a Dec bday as well.. What about a bowling party? bumper pads...
hello, I too have a son that was born in december. On his third birthday i did a magic show party and it turned out pretty neat. I hired a guy that came over to your house and did magic. I found him on the yellow pages not sure how much he charged but it wasnt expensive. Anyways I sent out invitations that looked like tickets so I did a magic show in my living room. My husband wanted to add to the fun so he went and rented a spiderman suit and came out at the end. The magician made all the kids balloon swords and they ended up beating up spiderman as he shot him with his webs. Very good time and it was indoors in your own living room.
Oh, my gosh - at THREE, he will probably not remember a whole lot of details about his birthday party, so I recommend keeping it as simple as possible. For my daughter's 3 party, we went to a park, asked four friends to bring a picnic pot luck item, decorated with balloons, & pinata. The kids played, we ate, did the pinata, and had cupcakes. After the party, she said "mommy I LOVED my party because I had blue icing on my cupcake!!" Ahhhhh, youth!!
With that said, I know you are not doing outdoors, so just don't spend a fortune, dress it up with some balloons, have cake & ice cream and let the kids run wild. I think a skating rink is a great idea. A friend of mine just took 4 friends out for pizza & a movie for her son's Dec 27th 3 year old birthday party and it was a big hit. In 5 years, you will be taking the whole neighborhood to Disneyland, so enjoy this time of innocence and don't over-do it!!
Hi You didn't give any idea as to where you are located, but there is a pizza place called John's Incredible pizza. I had my son's 3rd birthday there, it was wonderful. A lot of my friends liked it so much they go there rather than Chuck E.Cheese.
Okay, my daughter's bday, kid you not is 5-5-05...Cinco De Mayo! For her 1st we went to my sisters and drank too much...for her 2nd...we did the same, went to my sisters and drank too much...oh, I forgot to mention that my sister also gave me my baby shower at her house. So this year, she gets a break...we are going to Chuck E. Cheese's. My son who is 13 will just go crazy on the video games, and my daughter will play in the mazes. We love Chuck E. Cheese's. Its easy! Don't know if she would really sit and listen to a "bubble guy".
I think Fo-Fo Figgily's is a great place for kids. I've only taken my 3 1/2 year old and 1 year old to play (haven't had a party there, but they do do parties) They have a place for the younger ones (under 3) and the kids and run and play. The only thing is I don't know how fun it would be for a 13 year old. Here is the website if you would like to check it out. http://www.fofofiggily.com/
My daughter is also a December baby. When she turned three last year we held it at the park and just stipulated on the inviation that if it did happen to rain we would move to our house. SoCal really doesn't get that much rain so you could have it outdoors if you wanted to risk it. Claire just loved her party at the park!
