Kids' Birthday Party Ideas??

[Wormius]

Okay, so our boy turning 6 soon, and now that he is in kindergarten he has many more invitable friends than previous birthdays. I figure a mix of 15 similarly aged boys and girl would probably be the max we'd see, but 10 is probably more realistic.

We looked into the playcentre type places (Stir Crazy / TommyKPlay), but ultimately, we don't want to spend $500 on a party and food.

So, want to solicit advice on how to host a party in my home to accomplish 2 things:

1) Not destroy anything in my home
2) Keep the kids entertained enough for 2-3 hours so that they don't destroy anything in my home.

I figure if the weather is nice, I'd try to set up something outside, otherwise they'd be stuck indoors.

Also - what is a polite way of asking parents to stick around to make sure their kids don't go too wild. I know most parents would, but some might see it as free childcare for a few hours.

Thanks.

[saskflames69]

http://bouncytown.ca/

[Buff]

Bowling. Under $150 for a bowling party with 9 kids.That included pizza and pop. It was in Lethbridge, prices may vary by city.

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Also - what is a polite way of asking parents to stick around to make sure their kids don't go too wild. I know most parents would, but some might see it as free childcare for a few hours.

While asking them all to stay is a little much I don't see why bringing in one or two reinforcements would be an issue. If I ever find myself in your shoes and felt a little overwhelmed I'd totally ask for help.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by saskflames96

http://bouncytown.ca/

Some of those look pretty fun for even adults! The jousting one looks pretty sweet.

[Slava]

Don't underestimate the enjoyment of a legit pinata for kids. Not one of those wussy "pull a string" kind, but the ones they hit. They love them! My daughter was at a party today where they had a dance off and that was a big hit. I think just the old classics like hot potato, pin the tail and musical chairs are awesome for kids. Parents always want to move the party somewhere else, but like most things in life its the people there that matter.

[bc-chris]

i thought i'd share this with you guys - this is an email i got from a friend of mine who lives in calgary (obviously). a little bit of a read but well worth it.... oh... and a little bit of a tear jerker too!!

**i got this email in early june of last year... just as the 'nucks advanced to the finals, hence the 'saddened & disgusted comment' off the top of the letter......


Chris
as saddened and disgusted as we are all right now, I got some great news from the Flames today. My daughter , who is turning 3 in Aug, is a huge Flames fan (she didn't stand much of a chance with me as her dad).


She loves Harvey the Hound. Ive taken her to 4 or 5 games now, and its all about Harvey. She tells people her 3 favorite flames are Kipper, Iggy and Harvey!!

Anyways, long story short, my son was born 3 months premature last summer. He was 3 lbs. He spent 2 months in the hospital. People always asked how big he was....trying to give a measurement as if I was showing off a fish I caught made it tough for people to understand how small he was. So we bought a Stuffed Harvey doll. Harvey was 18 inches long. That was our new measuring stick. So we took pics of Maddox with Harvey at 2 weeks old, 4 weeks old etc. People could now gauge better how big he was, and how he was growing.

Emersyn (my daughter) was not allowed in the NICU, so she never got to meet her new bro until 2 months after his birth. My wife and I took shifts throughout each day to be with him.....but Emersyn was pretty smart, and realized that we weren't at the hospital 24/7. She asked 'who takes care of Maddox when you guys aren't there?'


We told her the nurses do, with help from Harvey the Hound. We showed her pics of Harvey with Maddox....she thought this was awesome!!! So she loved Harvey even more.

This past season, she was 2, we were at a Red Wing game in my seats. She told me all day that she wanted to go meet Harvey and say thank you for taking care of Maddox. I was thinking 'yeah right, once you see how big he is in real life, you wont want to go near him'


lone behold, we get to the game....flames are up 5-1, i'm happy, she is happy, and we see Harvey in the section below us. She looks at me and says 'daddy, can we go meet Harvey now?'

Lets go!!!

so we head down just as he is walking back towards the concourse level......nobody in between us. Just Harvey, his admin girl that follows him, and us. She RUNS, no....she SPRINTS towards him....i think she caught him off guard. She latched onto his leg and said 'Thanks for
taking care of Maddox' I'm sure Harvey was thinking WTF!! I asked Harvey
for a photo, he scooped her up, and took a great picture. He really made her day.

For the weeks after, everything revolved around Harvey.

fast forward to last month. My wife was starting to think about her bday in Aug. keep in mind, the Det game was in Jan. We asked her what type of party she wanted this year. She is turning 3. Dora? My Little Pony? Care Bears? NOPE!!!! word for word, this is what she said. "I want a Harvey birthday mom......then Maddox can see Harvey again.''

I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, high five her........but I was pumped!!!

I tried to email Harvey (there is a link on the Flames website.) no luck. tried again, no luck. Finally I wrote a email similar to this one to my season ticket account rep. She immediately emailed me back to say she would see what she could do. Today I got a email from Ken King. He said my email was one of the most touching emails they ever received. Not only will Harvey be at Emersyn's birthday, they will waive his appearance fee ($200).....and, they will bring autographed Flames stuff for all the kids!!!!

Not sure who was more pumped, me or Emersyn. Needless to say, if your in Calgary in Aug, you need to come by!! If not, I will take tonnes of pics and send some to ya!

Lets see the Canucks pull off public relations like that!

[Wormius]

Thanks for the ideas. I like the pinata, too. I will just have to figure out how to make one shaped like a Optimus Prime. Anyway, this is starting to seem a lot less overwhelming and expensive to organize.

I like the idea of keeping it at home. The logistics of trying to book it elsewhere was giving me a big headache. At least when its at home, I don't have to worry about how many people are coming and feeding them will be cheaper.

I just had nightmares of the time we had a playdate and one kid brought a chocolate cake over, and chocolate frosting handprints were on everything after.

[Regulator75]

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by bc-chris

i thought i'd share this with you guys - this is an email i got from a friend of mine who lives in calgary (obviously). a little bit of a read but well worth it.... oh... and a little bit of a tear jerker too!!

**i got this email in early june of last year... just as the 'nucks advanced to the finals, hence the 'saddened & disgusted comment' off the top of the letter......


Chris
as saddened and disgusted as we are all right now, I got some great news from the Flames today. My daughter , who is turning 3 in Aug, is a huge Flames fan (she didn't stand much of a chance with me as her dad).


She loves Harvey the Hound. Ive taken her to 4 or 5 games now, and its all about Harvey. She tells people her 3 favorite flames are Kipper, Iggy and Harvey!!

Anyways, long story short, my son was born 3 months premature last summer. He was 3 lbs. He spent 2 months in the hospital. People always asked how big he was....trying to give a measurement as if I was showing off a fish I caught made it tough for people to understand how small he was. So we bought a Stuffed Harvey doll. Harvey was 18 inches long. That was our new measuring stick. So we took pics of Maddox with Harvey at 2 weeks old, 4 weeks old etc. People could now gauge better how big he was, and how he was growing.

Emersyn (my daughter) was not allowed in the NICU, so she never got to meet her new bro until 2 months after his birth. My wife and I took shifts throughout each day to be with him.....but Emersyn was pretty smart, and realized that we weren't at the hospital 24/7. She asked 'who takes care of Maddox when you guys aren't there?'


We told her the nurses do, with help from Harvey the Hound. We showed her pics of Harvey with Maddox....she thought this was awesome!!! So she loved Harvey even more.

This past season, she was 2, we were at a Red Wing game in my seats. She told me all day that she wanted to go meet Harvey and say thank you for taking care of Maddox. I was thinking 'yeah right, once you see how big he is in real life, you wont want to go near him'


lone behold, we get to the game....flames are up 5-1, i'm happy, she is happy, and we see Harvey in the section below us. She looks at me and says 'daddy, can we go meet Harvey now?'

Lets go!!!

so we head down just as he is walking back towards the concourse level......nobody in between us. Just Harvey, his admin girl that follows him, and us. She RUNS, no....she SPRINTS towards him....i think she caught him off guard. She latched onto his leg and said 'Thanks for
taking care of Maddox' I'm sure Harvey was thinking WTF!! I asked Harvey
for a photo, he scooped her up, and took a great picture. He really made her day.

For the weeks after, everything revolved around Harvey.

fast forward to last month. My wife was starting to think about her bday in Aug. keep in mind, the Det game was in Jan. We asked her what type of party she wanted this year. She is turning 3. Dora? My Little Pony? Care Bears? NOPE!!!! word for word, this is what she said. "I want a Harvey birthday mom......then Maddox can see Harvey again.''

I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, high five her........but I was pumped!!!

I tried to email Harvey (there is a link on the Flames website.) no luck. tried again, no luck. Finally I wrote a email similar to this one to my season ticket account rep. She immediately emailed me back to say she would see what she could do. Today I got a email from Ken King. He said my email was one of the most touching emails they ever received. Not only will Harvey be at Emersyn's birthday, they will waive his appearance fee ($200).....and, they will bring autographed Flames stuff for all the kids!!!!

Not sure who was more pumped, me or Emersyn. Needless to say, if your in Calgary in Aug, you need to come by!! If not, I will take tonnes of pics and send some to ya!

Lets see the Canucks pull off public relations like that!

Damn onions...

[gildo]

Here are some things we have done through the years:

Shakers (can be pricey though), Chinook mall Bowling Alley (pretty good) kids and parents like it (moms especially) happy kids play moms shop, Kulinary Kids (more for girls maybe?) but pretty good as boys could certainly enjoy it they make their own pizza, cake and drinks in a kitchen and then eat them everything including loot bags including in the price you just show up, Beaners (again more for girls as they do hair, nails, make over etc.) but one of the best parties we went to were held in community centres like Mackenzie Towne...kids have free reign of sports equipment in gym there is a room on the side to have a party, fairly cheap and keeps kids entertained and you can have big numbers. Bring your own food and clean up and you're good to go rather then kids messing up your house they burn energy in gym!

[Zevo]

Obligatory hookers and blow comment.

Actually, the dads would probably stick around.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Originally Posted by Buff

Bowling. Under $150 for a bowling party with 9 kids.That included pizza and pop. It was in Lethbridge, prices may vary by city.

Both my boys (ages 6 & 8) did this.

Same rough price in Calgary. We went to a few. Toppler bowl was $100 including dominos. Mountain view was much nicer inside and you had to buy their food. Still than $200. My wife has a 10 kid limit though.

Plus the boys got a trophy they think is awesome.

I was surprised how many parents drop off kids that young. Almost all.

[Gundo]

[Northendzone]

At 5 or so the parents just drop the kids off - it is a break for them.

I have no great ideas other than what has been discussed.....

[killer_carlson]

bouncy castles are fun and really tire the kids out. Toss in some plastic balls which bounce when the kids jump and it is an entirely new game. parents can walk around the outside and pretend to be giants trying to get in the castle. It adds an element of terror that little kids love.

if you want to go really off the wall, see if you can get that spider/scorpion guy to come around. Apparently many owners of creepy crawly bugs and reptiles will have birthday party packages where they will bring some of their more tame critters, which most boys will absolutely love (and love the fact that their mom's will get the willy nillies). Google calgary reptile club or somethinig like that and see if there is an option. A friend of my wife's did that for her son when he was about 8 and it went over really well.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

bouncy castles are fun and really tire the kids out. Toss in some plastic balls which bounce when the kids jump and it is an entirely new game. parents can walk around the outside and pretend to be giants trying to get in the castle. It adds an element of terror that little kids love.

if you want to go really off the wall, see if you can get that spider/scorpion guy to come around. Apparently many owners of creepy crawly bugs and reptiles will have birthday party packages where they will bring some of their more tame critters, which most boys will absolutely love (and love the fact that their mom's will get the willy nillies). Google calgary reptile club or somethinig like that and see if there is an option. A friend of my wife's did that for her son when he was about 8 and it went over really well.

That's genius.

My boy went to a party with these guys last year and all the boys loved it, plus almost every parent stayed. Win win.

http://calgaryreptileparties.com/Default.aspx#rates

[#22]

We always had the great annual egg race at my kids parties (every kid a raw egg and a spoon to hold the egg in, set up a course outside, and good to go. After the race, I would let all the kids throw the eggs at me).
We also had the koekhap, where you run a string across the room about 5 feet high and have cookies hanging on vertical strings at appropriate heights for each kid. Then, with hands behind the backs, commence the Koekhap.

[CaptainCrunch]

Skeet shooting contest

[T@T]

When my son and his buddy's were around that age it was either bowling or lazertag parties. they now moved from lazertag to indoor paintball.

Edit: forgot to mention,lazertag wasn't a whole lot more money than bowling, at least 5 years ago it wasn't!