Ideas for Birthday Party

R., if you are pooling your money, I would suggest the best well-spent money would be on renting an inflatable "jumpy castle" type thing. Or, even for $200, you can get your own inflatable jumper that you can keep and it would be a more scaled down version for littler kids. We got one last year and we can even use it downstairs in the winter! (try this link: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2332961 )

It will keep the kids and their friends busy for hours. For that same amount, you can entertain them with a magician - but only for a while. Hire a high school kid to do the face painting. You can do that for very inexpensively. It doesn't matter if its phenomenal - it just has to be cute.

This is possibly the worst-designed website ever, but it has the contact info for Bill the Juggler:

http://www.alltimefavorites.com/v/379.htm

He's fantastic, and really includes the kids in the show. The audiences often have a wide age ranges and little toddlers and grandparents alike seem to love the routine. You could still catch him at a number of libraries this summer if you wanted to review the show first - check out St. Paul or Ramsey County to start.

I would suggest Rainbow Party Arts-Award Winning Face Painter and Balloon Artist - Barbara Alldaffer - ###-###-#### or web rainbowpartyarts.com. She does whole faces and is fast - what kid doesn't like their face painted and you can do it inside or outside depending on weather. Glitter, animals, fairies, scary, etc. Also, we were at a party with a inflatable jumper - that kept all the kids very busy too. Hope this helps. P.

R., have you thought of having a Stuff-N-Fluff workshop party? I am a crew member for Noah's Ark Animal Workshops, and we bring everything you need for the party right to you!

Basically, we are an animal stuffing company that runs parties for kids where the children will stuff and dress their very own stuffed animals. Kids love it! We are like Build-A-Bear in our offerings, animals and various items of clothing (outfits), shoes, etc. BUT the big difference between them and us is the fact that we are more affordable, we actually come right to you, AND last, but not least, the children actually get to stuff the animals themselves instead of watching someone fill the animal up like at Build-A-Bear.

Our parties are perfect for boys and girls, and for a variety of ages. I know you mentioned that their is a 2 year old, which could still work because someone could basically just assist the child in stuffing their animal, and the older children could do it themselves with maybe a little help.

Children love these parties! Please check out my website at www.CuddlyStuffinFriends.com and feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I am not too far from you, I am located in Bloomington.

I would love to help you make the children's party a ton of fun!

What about asking "pony pals" to come to your party. I believe that's the name of it. I think they bring a variety of animals to the party. The kids get to feed the animals and the teenagers/adults that are the helpers are fantastic with the kids. We've had an inflatable thing before. You could even get one that has a slide and/or obstacle course. IT is definitely for all ages - I even went in there (when no one was looking) and I was pregnant at the time. I didn't bounce around - I just wanted to do the obstacle course and the slide. Ha!

I'm not sure the little ones would appreciate a magician. They usually need to be at least 4 or 5 to sit and enjoy that. What about renting a bouncer/jumper for the day? You can get them at a variety of places. You would need to maybe divide the time up so that the little kids went in separately from the bigger kids, but all of those ages can do it. You just have to hope for nice weather--they aren't supposed to be used in the rain. Also, could you meet somewhere? A beach/park, the zoo, indoor or outdoor water park, the Children's Museum? You could have a meal together, but people could also maybe do their own things. Have fun!

I was going to suggest Bill the Juggler, too. We have seen him at our local library a couple of times. He's very funny, great with kids and entertaining for older people, too.