Hello, I have two children (boy & girl) who will be turning 3 and 5 in the month of May. Ever since my oldest was born, I would have big birthday party blow-outs at my (tiny) house for friends and families and I just can't do it anymore. I would supply food, drinks and entertainment and it began to get rather costly, not to mention exhausting. I would like to move the party away from my house this year and other than Chucky Cheese (which I don't have an interest in) I'm not sure what to do. This time around I am going to invite my childrens classmates and friends and relatives with small children. So I am looking at accomodating 20-30 kids. I live in the Mar Vista/Venice area and would really appreciate any ideas. I want it to be fun for my kids and little prep for me.
Jump n Jammin' in Mission Viejo or a place like it would be great. It would be fun for both ages and they do absolutely everything for you. The kids are contained and you can literally just sit if you want to or go crazy like me and chase the kids all over the place and join in the fun. Good luck.
We had my daughters' Birthday party at My Gym which was fabulous. Fit for Kids in West Hollywood is also a great place to host a party.
Look into My Gym Children's fitness center. I don't know where the closest one is for you, but they do parties and can even prove invites and decorations if you want. They do games and gymnastics activities with your kids. Ours has a zip line that the kids glide across and land in a ball pit. It's great fun!
It may be a little far for you, but definitely age appropriate. Check out Adventure City in Stanton. It's a tiny little amusement park for little kids, they do an awesome birthday party there and all the rides are kid friendly. It's pretty clean and really cheap. It would make a great family outing if it doesn't work out for a birthday.
Good Luck!
sg
I think kids enjoy their birthdays without the hullabaloo. My oldest 5 gets to invite 4 friends, (due to having 2 cousins). They play outside for a little while (like a play date), we have cake and ice cream and give out gift bags and open presents and it's over in 2 hours. Easy!
Try Pump-it-up. It is great the kids play and jump around for about 1 hr and 20 min. Then the go into a party room to eat pizza,cake etc., open gifts. My son had his 2nd birthday their. It was nice to play with all the kids and my son. I enjoyed the day no STRESS!!! and after you are done they pack up all the gifts left over food and take it to your car. NO CLEAN UP.
good luck
We used to do the big parties but long ago switched to our girls asking 2-4 of their best friends for a sleepover and a special day together. We've done the big play places, movies, we even did Magic Mountain one year. The trade off is a lot more hours of fun for the kids and way less chaos for Mom! My girls start planning their next bday months ahead.
Hi A.,
Check and see if you have a Gymboree Play and Learn close by. They provide a matted area where kids can play and cut loose! They provide teachers for entertaining and activities. You provide the food and drink. They can handle groups up to 30. Not sure about the cost but it's worth it. My daughter goes to the classes and has a blast! One of the other mothers had a birthday party at our Gymboree and said it was one of the best that she had ever been to or seen. Also try the local Y.
Hope that helps.
Have you thought about toning the party down a notch and only inviting your child's closest friends. We have a rule where my kids can invite 1 friend for each year of their age, mainly because inviting the whole class is so overwhelming for them. There is no way the kids are going to get to spend any quality time with their friends with that many people running around. That is a lot of gifts to open (very boring after the first few--esp. with kids so young) and a lot of thank you notes--which your older one is totally old enough to help you write--to send out. Having a few friends over with a bounce house, or crafts or games is so much more fun and a lot less $$$ and stress. Just my 2 cents from what I have seen over the last 9 years (the age of my oldest) of having and going to birthday parties. Chaos is never that much fun--and 20-30 AND their families (as they are too young to be dropped off) is a lot of chaos. good luck--whatever you decide!!
Our children are spaced the same apart (turning 4 and 6 in July). Last year we had a prince and princess party. We held it in our back-yard, but it could easily be moved to a park. Swings provide entertainment, sword balloons (very easy to make) for jousting activities, and a couple cardboard cut-out horses. For food, keep it simple - sandwiches or pizza, fruit and veggies, bowls of snacks (graham bears, goldfish crackers, pretzels, etc.), juice boxes and waters and a big cake! Have fun.
I had my son's 2nd birthday at My Gym (there's one in Santa Monica) and it was the best and easiest party I've ever given. The kids had a blast. They do everything for you-they give you invitations and thank you notes, provide paper goods (except cups), set up, clean up, and run the party. I had pizza delivered and bought drinks. For up to 20 kids (they didn't charge for the adults), it was $250.00. I probably would have spent twice that if I had done it elsewhere. I HIGHLY recommend it!
I dont know where you live but I found a play place in Temecula called Childs Play. Their web is childsplaytemecula.com. I have not been there but it looks nice. Or I have had experiences with Pump it up and Jump it up.It is alot of fun and the kids loved it because the adults get to play too. Safe and clean.
Mar Vista Bowl lots of fun!!! No mess no fuss
Get her to a lactation consultant. I am in Long Beach and through a local pediatrician / the hospital they offered a lactation clinic twice per week. Not only did they get my daughter nursing correctly, it also got me around other brand-new moms that were just as exhausted as me AND having nursing challenges!
I endured 8 weeks before my daughter got the hang of it... but we did it! Just stopped at 29 months ;)
Have you looked into a nearby park that has a playground. most parks have bbqs and things to cook hamburgers and hotdogs on. It will be fairly inexpensive you would just have to provide food and drinks the playgrounds there to entertain the kids. You can also play like relay races with the kids so you wouldn't have to pay for extra materials.
Good luck I know it can get expensive. Have you thought about getting other family members involved like grandma baking the cake or making mini sandwhiches for the kids. or haveing aunts and uncles making fruit trays to bring along when they come to help bring down the cost.
Check out www.EducationandEnrichment.com for a great list of fun places to go and things to do with your children. Many of these places offer reasonable birthday party packages. Go under the enrichment section on the web site and then pick a category that you are interested in. Best of luck!
Get a bounce house (only around $70 for 10 hours) and go to a local park. Have the party at a non-meal time like around 2 o'clock, and just have cake and drinks.
I'm in the same boat! I am planning my 5 yr old son's and 2 year old daugher's birthdays in march. will be inviting my son's 36 classmates from preschool, plus friends/relatives. could be between 15-50 kids! wanted something that was flexible re: # of kids - and didn't cost a lot more per child. the local YMCA has a great "gymnastics/sports" party package that was very reasonable (~$150 I think) they do the activites, you bring food, etc.. Unfortunately, my YMCA only does these parties during the week during basketball season - so I'm designing my own on a saturday. I reserved the rec room at the local park ($40/hr,capacity for 50+ people, tables/chairs and kitchen). I didn't want the stress of looking for space on the day (or worrying about rain in the ramadas). The park has a huge playground, and lots of space for other activities. I'm planning some craft activities, sports, musical chairs, a couple of kites, etc. and bringing costco pizzas, veggie tray, snacks. making my own ice cream cone cupcakes. minimal decorating (table clothes, balloons). will order crafts from orientaltrading.com, and clean-up is easy. if the kids want to play longer, we'll just move the leftover food to an outside ramada and stay as long as we want.
good luck!!
Pick up one of those free magazines or kids guides for your area - they always have a ton of advertisers for parties.
Build-A-Bear does parties for $10 per child, and everyone takes home a new stuffed animal. Paint your own pottery places offer fun parties. Indoor bounce places are fun. Museums and aquariums offer party packages. Kids also love fast food places with indoor play places.
Check out www.pumpitupparty.com. They have different locations. They have indoor inflatable slides, jumping houses, etc. My kids had their birthday party at a similar place and everyone loved it. Plus the adults can play too so it's fun for everyone.
Wow that is still a "big" party with a lot of people invited!
I give you credit for doing that.
Perhaps as well, just ask your kids if this is what they want? I once asked my daughter if she wanted a 'party' with all the trimmings and she said "no." She just wanted a couple of friends and us, and that's it. She said she didn't want a 'big' party... and that she just wanted her CLOSEST friends and "not the whole world." It was just her and her choice at the time, and that is what we did. It was fabulous and intimate and a nice 'party' for my girl. We just did it at our house... and I got cute little goody bags for them and let them play.
All the best and good luck,
Susan
Are you kidding? May birthdays? Go to a local park! Choose a few party games. For the 5 year old have kids bring scooters or bikes and let them "decorate" them with streamers, etc. All they will want to do is run around and play anyway. Pick up a few Costco pizzas (10 bucks each) a veggie plate, juice boxes and a cake. You are set!
There are lots of fun places but not in your area per se. These are in Beverly Hills but maybe there is an equivilent in your area:
Joey's Gym, Under the Sea, Fit for Kids and the Tree House Social Club - all do great b-day parties with the fun and entertainment included.
Good luck.
P
You know, many people do it, but it's ALWAYS a winner, and very inexpensive and AWAY FROM HOME! Find a nice park with a flat grassy area and picnic tables and rent a bounce house. Kids this age can never get enough and you can get them so cheaply. Make some finger foods and you're done! FOr party favors, you can fill the bounce house with either punch balls (dirt cheap and a huge favorite with this age) or inexpensive, larger balls and after all the fun, they can each take their favorite one home. You may have to get approval from the particular park, but that's usually no problem. Oh, how I wish my kids were this age again - the sky's the limit!
M.
Go to a park and have a picnic. Find somewhere you can feed ducks (we have a duck park here in Simi). You can check into having a bounce house at the park but May is so beautiful you shouldn't have to worry about weather to be outside. Make cupcakes in ice cream cones (very easy and no paper clean ups) and have everyone bring their own lunch. Then it's more relaxing when you don't have to think about games, etc. and the kids can play on the playground after their done with lunch.
Josephson Gymnastics in Culver City gives great birthday parties, especially for the age of your kids. It is very easy and the kids have a lot of fun - the adults can watch and mingle.
