Kids' Birthday Party Ideas??

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by 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.

I was sure that was going to read Henrik Sedin.

[Aeneas]

For my daughters last birthday, 7, we started off by having the girls make thier own tie dyed t shirts. When it wasn't thier turn they drew on the driveway with chalk or played on the swing set/ bounced in a bouncy castle.

Cost so far pretty cheap.

Next we had made up puzzle/ riddle clues for some locations in the (very large) green space behind our house. There is a tall hill, several stands of trees, a stream and a small "lake" even a "castle", at least a ruined foundation hidden in a group of fir trees. Anyway, perfect for a treasure hunt.

I bought 100 plastic golden coins and hid them in 8 different locations. First the girls had to decipher the clues that would lead them to the tobaggan hill, the ruined castle, the hide and seek trees, the tallest mountain, etc.

15 girls went nuts trying to find the coins, some I left in plain sight some they had to work for. While we were gone my wife held a smaller treasure hunt in the backyard for the 2-3 year old younger siblings of birthday guests.

When the girls got back they used thier treasure coins to buy little toys crafts and treats.

They had a blast and I think they really liked the shirts. Two neighbours offered to help, so we had them run the tie dye operation. All the parents dropped off except those that also brought younger ones.

[CRXguy]

The last couple birthday for our 3 girls have been at Altadore Gymnastics and Flip Factory. Kids had a blast, and so did the parents.

[HalifaxDrunk]

Originally Posted by 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.

Bulk Barn to the resuce!

http://www.bulkbarn.ca/en-ca/product...&search=pinata

Plus you can buy candy to fill it while you are there.

[Pizza]

ditto on the lasertag idea.
Paul, the Laser Quest GM, is a pretty awesome guy to work with in getting something booked for a kid's bday party. they've got 3 party rooms you can book too.

http://www.laserquest.com/public/loc...AB-Calgary.cfm

[Kybosh]

Buy them all a pack of smokes and tell them to get a job?

[Coys1882]

Magician - Richard Young. /thread

[Rathji]

Richard Young is pretty good, did one of my nephews parties a few years back.

[KTrain]

Any idea where I could get someone to come to my kids party dressed like Darth Vader? Hopefully not some cheap costume. Do places like the Costume Shoppe rent the deluxe Vader/Stormtrooper costumes?

[Circa89]

Originally Posted by KTrain

Any idea where I could get someone to come to my kids party dressed like Darth Vader? Hopefully not some cheap costume. Do places like the Costume Shoppe rent the deluxe Vader/Stormtrooper costumes?

You can try these guys.
http://www.badlands.ca/forum/

[Wormius]

UPDATE:

Well, now that the party is done, I wanted to say that the bouncy castle and pinata were really successful. Fortunately today the weather held out for some outdoor fun. I was looking at the Weather Network every day just hoping that it wasn't going to snow. Started out with RSVPs from 17 kids, but later some dropped out because they were sick and we were just down to 14, with a few parents sticking around to make it more manageable. Also because we planned it for after lunch and before dinner, we didn't have to feed them a lot, so fruit tray, drinks, and cake were enough before they all were back out bouncing around to their hearts content.

The only bad part was the miscommunication between my wife and myself and had the kids starting to come about an hour before the bouncy castle was set up. Also the pinata was the kind of rip it apart kind, and not the smash it kind. This resulted in about 10 minutes of kids hitting something that they would have no chance of smashing open before we realized that it wasn't paper mache. Also the cake, from Costco wasn't that great. The icing was too sweet, and I am surprised how many kids didn't even finish a small piece of cake. Next birthday will probably be a small home-made cake and ice cream instead.

Overall, really happy. Cost breakdown was basically - $180 for the bouncy castle rental, $20 for goody bag stuff, $15 for a pinata, $20 for cake, $20 for fruit tray and various drinks.