What to Do for a 8Y/o Bithday Party?

when my 13 year old was about that age, I threw a fear factor party for him and his friends - they LOVED it.

I had a pickle jar full of canadian nightcrawlers (really big worms) with pennies that they had to dig out in 30 seconds, they ate fried frog legs, they walked a "wobbly balance beam" - (2 cinder blocks and a landscape timber) and downed chocolate pickle milkshakes. I made a worm cake - just a chocolate cake with gummy worms sticking out and oreo crumbs over the frosting.

Total cost, including prizes, was about $30.

S.

What about a pool party at the city pool? Or we've found that the big parties as not as much fun. My oldest is more about me taking him and a couple of his friends somewhere. Last year I took him and 2 friends to an arena football game and dinner of their choice. He wants to do it again this year.

How about a place like Main Event with the arcade games, laser tag, bowling? I have no idea of costs, but my daughter (now 13) went to some parties there and it wa a lot of fun.

She is in middle school now and the orchestra has a Main Event night every year and they all have a blast.

Hi A.- Yes the Jump House is a great idea- and Mountasia on Rt 26 also has some great party packages. Also- jsut a thought- Grapevine Campground has renovated and that could be really cool too to do a campout with a/c cabins! They are affordable- available even during the week and its different.... water ballons kick ball- set up some horseshoes- it can be a ton of fun- top off the night with sores- can't get any better than that! Great game- left right center- you can find it at Spencers-
If you go to the campground and speak with John- tell him I sent you.

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Hi A. ...you can check out Jumpin' Jack's Party Shack. http://www.jumpinjackspartyshack.com/ ...my 7 yr. old loves it there. ~Debbie

Check out Classy chasy Art Studio and I have a FREE GIFT for your son if you do.....I think I am afordable and fun for anyone any age! Plus you get a discount because you a Mamasource member!
Regards,
C. Lewallen
Owner of Classy Chasy’s Art Studio
Located at 1110 Bard Dr., Garland, TX
For classes call: ###-###-####
http://classychasysartstudio.blogspot.com

Try The Science Place downtown - fun and educational!

I 2nd somewhere like Main Event or The Zone. All the 8 yr olds I know love laser tag.

Make a scavenger hunt in the back yard and have a cook out or camp out with a couple of his buddies.
Get him involved.

Our daughter had a craft party at Michaels it was a blast and everyone had something they created to take home as the party favor!

How about the Skatepark at Grapevine Mills. Don't know the cost but my son just went to a party there and had a blast!

What about a pool party? Water balloons, water guns ...

Hi A.,
My two boys 7 and 5 have attended a birthday and soccer party at Going Bonkers in Lewisville. Regular admission is $5.00 per person, not sure about party packages. It is a place with a huge maze/jungle gym-. It also has video games(like Chuck E Cheese) One feature that is unique is the parent area it is a room where parents can sit free of noise and watch TY, use computer or just talk. Good luck in your search.
J.

Have a Bike Hike! Everyone rides their bikes together to a specified location, then eat outdoors and play games. This works really well if you live or know someone who lives out in the country with less traffic. When I was a kid, my mom borrowed a truck to follow behind the laggers and pick up anyone who got too tired.

Great memories!

Rock Climbing. Canyons in Frisco has great party packages. They were fun to work with.

i just had my son's birthday party at incredible pizza in euless. it was great they have tons of games and mini golf, mini bowling, and go carts. even the little kids had a blast. go to www.ipceuless.com to find out more info. J.

what about PUMP IT UP its an indoor bounce house place with tons of huge blow up houses and obstacle courses. or what about taking him and a couple of friends to a matinee movie....or if he is into skateboarding,scooters or rollerblades...there is an indoor skate park at grapevie mills mall or an outdoor one at lone star park in grand prairie

My daughter and I checked out a place called Jake's in Collin Creek Mall, next to Macy's. This place had A LOT to offer, don't think kids will get bored. It has two levels and has go carts, bumper cars, miniature golf, bowling, food, etc...very coooooool place. Hope this helps, may want to check out the website...try Jakes.com? Kat

One party I have done several times, with great success, is a party and picnic at a local park. I'm not sure about all cities, but Frisco will let you reserve tables at a park for your party for a minimal fee. However, you can do the party without reserving tables (although you run the risk of having no tables available, I have done this several times without a problem). The kids run around on the playground, play party games, and have a great time - all for free or next to nothing! Of course the time of year is important - it may be too hot or cold depending upon the date of the birthday. Hope this helps!

I have had a couple groups of children that age come by my house (with adult supervision) on scavenger hunts. They seemed to be having a lot of fun. I understood that they had divided into teams with an adult accompanying each group. They had points assigned to items on a list with hard to get items receiving higher points and were competing to see who got the most points. I am thinking about doing one for my 13 year old and making lists of things they can donate to a charity.

We have done "Laser Quest" parties for the last couple of years and the kids (especially the boys!) loved them. We've gone to the Laser Quest in Mesquite - there is also one in Plano. They will provide you with a room and you can bring your own cake, ice cream, pizza, etc. So - that helps with the expenses.

Hi, A..
I don't have boys, but I did attend a bday party for a boy at a recreation center, and the kids had a blast! There were a huge group of kids there... there was a gameroom (like foosball and such), a big screen TV that you could bring a DVD for, a gym with basketball goals, and bounce houses. There was also an area set up with tables for cake and pizza, and it wasn't expensive from what I understand. This is in Denton, but i'm sure there are many of these around.
Another good party is Main Street Bowling in Lewisville.
I've also heard moms saying that their boys loved having home parties where the kids had video game tournaments,etc... like I said, I don't have boys :)
Hope this helps!!

look into mom owned business www.grishamfarms.org

I don't know what the cost is per kid, but in Keller there is a place called "Lets Jump", and I know there are other places like that around the area. You might also check out put-put, and the go carts.

I'm not sure where you live but for the last couple of years my daughter has had her birthday at the Arlington Recreation Center. They have lots of themes to choose from and they take care of EVERYTHING!! They give you invitations to send out, they do the cake and goodie bags, and then give you thank you cards to send out afterwards. It is really great! We did the "Extreme Blacklight Party" this year and the kids loved it. Its where they turned off the lights in the gym and turned on blacklights and the kids played basketball, dodgeball, etc. with glow in the dark balls. The price was $140 and again, that was everything!! If your son doesn't like sports they have a scavenger hunt that we did last year that was a lot of fun also.

I just went to a birthday party over the weekend to a place called Main Event. Don't know if they have any close to you, but it was pretty awesome. Bowling, lazer tag, pizza, drinks, arcade games, separate room for party. It was a fun a safe atmosphere.

J.
Little Elm, Texas

www.familyfun.com has great birthday party ideas. I've planned a lot of budget friendly parties from that website.
You could also get your son involved in the planning. Eight is not too young to help and you might be surprised at what his ideas are.

I don't know where you live (don't recognize the town name) but I had a very successful birthday party at the Roanoke Community pool with 12 kids and various parents for a pool fee less then $60. I provided cake and snacks. If you are not close to Roanoke you might check out communities near you that have community pools. The kids had a blast and it was easy and there were lifegaurds on duty...

Check out my Mom-owned business. We run the local Space Walk (of Tyler). We have some COOL water slides.

These are GREAT if you want something the kids will be talking about. :o)

Hope this helps.

P. <><

Im also planning an 8 year old bday party (but for my daughter). Main event is a great idea since it has laser tag, bowling and lots of other things for kids to do. We are planning our party at the new Community activity center that just opened in our town. It has a couple of pools, for all ages and some water slides. My daughter loves the place. They also have life guards on duty during the party. Good luck with whatever you decide!

My son went to a 9 year old party at the skate park in Allen -- they did the bike park -- everyone met there, they brought their bikes and helmets and rode on all the dirt hills etc. THey had a water balloon fight (and cleaned up after) and had cake and drinks. It was a blast. AS a party favor they made cd's with the birthday kids favorite songs on them! I think we are going to do the same thing next year!
E.

I just did my daughters bday at Surf and Swim in Garland! She loved it! It is not that expensive either and she loved it! Easy too! You can have pizza delivered there too! Hope it helps!
M.

I went to a bowling party at Jupiter Bowling or Jupiter Lanes....something along those lines, that was fun for the kids. It is on Jupiter at Garland Rd.

A.,

I don't know where you live exactly, but my 8 year old nephew had his party at an arcade called nickelrama-arcade-garland. I was a lot of fun for the kids and adults as well as affordable. You may want to check it out if your son is into video/arcade games.

Kim

One of my son's favorite parties was the one we had a home in the backyard with silly string fight, water balloon fight and scavenger hunt with notes in each place to send the kids the next one with treasure for each kiddo waiting at the end. It was inexpensive and they had tons of fun.

Sno-cones and a sno-ball fight! They would be in heaven :)

www.CandiSno.com Very affordable too!

Hi my name is C. massiatte I am a mother of 3 children ages from 5 4 2 and been married for 6yrs. I really love to to do parties. So here is an idea for you. Its an indoor place called Pump It Up.Its rooms of different inflatable jump houses the serve pizza and you can bring the cake and any decoration to set up the place. It is located on 850 Mustang Dr Grapevine,tx 76051 Phone# is ###-###-####. I am not sure about the prize range since it all depends on how many hours and what else you might want in the party packages.We have to to parties there and my kids loved it and yes kids all ranged in ages.

I second the PUMP IT UP suggestion. My nephew had a party there and everyone from the 2 year olds to the adults had a blast! It's also nice because they do everything for you, no messy clean up.

Try a bounce house party. They are indoors and loads of fun! A.

Gatti Town in Frisco is fun for parties!

Let me know if you need party favors...

A. J
www.celebritypartyfavors.com

Laser Quest, Incredible Pizza, or Celebration Station in Mesquite.

hmmmm, I know the fire station gives you free parties.. and I believe a ride on the fire engine(frisco... other then that, I don't know what's easier on the pocket book. Pump it up is kind of pricey for waht you get. maybe a gymnastics party might be fun, or a karate party. a swimming party at Jack Carter is super cheap! it's only 2.00 a person or so, but I think it's 60 for the deposit which goes towards your party.
you should call them, they have a water slide as well.
that's Jack Carter pool in Plano.

My son turned 7 in June and we had a sno cone party and played in the water. Candi's Sno to Go, the company that came and did the party, just started offering snow ball fights! They provide the snow balls and the kids have a blast! It is very different. She also has packages that include making individual snowmen. Very different. If you would like to visit her website it is www.candisno.com

H. M.

Rent one of the city pools. Not that expensive and you get the pool for 2 hours with lifeguards. All you have to do is provide a cake.

This is something I did years ago for my son and I know kids still love it. Have the party in your back yard, with the cake and ice cream inside. Have everyone wear shorts or bathing suits and let them have a slip and slide in the yard, along with squirt guns and water balloons. At 48 I still ove a good water balloon fight. It is good fun for the kids, burns off energy, waters your lawn and it wears them out so they aren't still wired at bedtime. You can even make a game of cleaning up. Whoever finds the most empty balloons in the yard wins a prize!

I,along with my daughter, own Bouncin Bonanza in Crowley. We are an indoor facility with 15,000 square feet and have 13 inflatables to jump and play on. Please check us out at www.bouncinbonanza.net or call us at ###-###-#### for more information.
We are family owned and operated and kids and adults of all ages have lots of fun with us.
We look forward to helping you out.
M. Yarger

Hi A.!

I'm a Tomboy Tool Consultant and have some cool parties for boys - where they actually get to make something! Marshmellow shooters (what 8 year old doesn't like that???) or other small wood crafts.

www.sweetsurprisesbyteri.com

Teri