Birthday Party Ideas - Please!

All I can say is, if they have access to the internet - Webkinz. You can get them at Meijers, Hallmark store, or many other places. They are these little stuffed animals that come with a code and kids get online with them and have a great time. They are all the rage at my kids' school, ages 5 - 12! They cost about $10 - $15 and there are many, many varieties. So even if they already have some, chances are you will pick one they don't already have. If they are like my kids, they would like to have every single Webkinz made!

What about having a body paint party at a park or something and let the kids paint with their feet and hands on a huge sheet of paper the kind that rolls out on top of plastic..

J.,

If you are in the Warren area. Warren Recreational Center has an indoor water park. Very nice, very clean, family locker rooms, plenty of lifeguards, and all the great slides etc. You do not have to be a resident of Warren. Call them for cost info. Food and baby sitting, I believe is avail., as well.

My kids loved bowling too. Most alleys have bumper bowling, and some have these medal contraptions to set the ball on, for the smaller kids. With adult assistance, you put the ball on this thing and it rolls down and on to the alley. Great for the really littles ones, if you have any. They too have the food. At least pizza and hot dogs.

Why not have a party at home? Yes it's on the market, but realitors do understand "Sorry today is not a day the house can be shown". If someone was truely interested in the house, they would be willing to see it another day. However if you are looking for something that will be easy try your local park. A lot of them have pavilions you can rent our use, and you have plenty of room for kids to play. Also some of the communities have picnic packs (Volley Balls, Whifle bats and balls, lawn dart etc.) that you can rent out so you don't have to buy or supply everything. Chuck E Cheese is alright, but the kids have to have a ton of tickets to get any of the decent prizes. Mine we took to Dave and Busters, spent a little more, but the kids had more fun and when they didn't have a lot of tickets they still had a decent choice of a prize. The zoo has some decent packages. However if you are planning big parties for two differant days, remember you have to get all these kids to what ever function you are going to, especially if parents would have to drive a distance to drop their children off.

I do pinatas in the yard, water balloon fights if we are home, we use the park a lot, because of the size of the family and then the biggest problem is getting all the presents home.

All depends what they like to do - Chuck E Cheese is fun but wild, nature center outing, picnic and games at a park, go to minor league hockey or baseball game, zoo - those are my favorites, hope you can find some that work for you and your boys. Have fun! We tried to keep the numbers of kids manageable when we did parties. one kid for each year seemed to work pretty well. Make sure you have parent helpers if the group gets big!

Laser tag is always a fun one. Or bowling birthday parties. Or McDonald's. Chuckie Cheese's.

We have had parties at PlayWorld (might be too young for your boys) and we have also had a party at the Bowling Alley... that was great fun...

Good Luck..

Try booking the pavillion at your local park then the kids can use the playscape and you can bring pizza for everyone or use the grills there. Do a treasure hunt, egg and spoon races, sack races, limbo, hot potato etc. In Rochester the fee is $90 and I think $40 in Auburn hills. If it rains you have the pavillion to shelter under. We have done this for the past 2 parties we had and it works out great. Rochester Hills also has a park with a beach so you can do swimming parties too.....I'm sure Troy, Bloomfield hills and many others have similar park rentals but I don't know where you live - just contact your local council for info! We theme the party - pirates so everyone dresses up and the games and prizes fit the theme...

A day at a park is always nice, the kids can play on the playground and just enjoy being outside. Another idea is a lifeguard supervised pool party. Have a beach/Spring Break theme with hawaiian decorations, food and a beach or pool inspired cake. A pizza place with arcade or funland may be an idea, or even something as simple as a McDonalds or Burger King with a funland. At an arcade, you can give each child a couple of dollars worth of quarters or tokens, or request that they bring their own (many will probably come with their own, anyway). Good luck, I'm sure you will figure out something and everyone will have a great time!! Hope these ideas helped you.

I live in the GR area and Craig's Cruisers is always a BIG hit with the kids. Also, what about going to the West Michigan Whitecaps(or other baseball team that may be closer to you). Since it's a minor league team, tickets are very inexpensive. They even have a deck area for parties. Whatever you do, have fun!!!

Try the movies, bowling, laser tag, or miniture golf. I hear Pump it Up is fun too. Let us know what you decided.

J. -

I have done several kid parties. Be prepared for the work! They are totally fun though. My favorite resource is this:

http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/party_ideas.html

It's basically a site where mom's who've thrown a party, post all they did i.e. games played, decorations used, ivitation ideas, food served...you name it, they have it. It's organized according to theme which it makes it really easy for us to benefit from other's great ideas! Hit the dollar stores for prizes for the games and goodie bags. I use this site for every one of my kid parties. It's the best resource.

Oh! One more piece of advice. You will be amazed at how overwhelming it can be while running the party with all the kids. Enlist the other mom's to help out! They are very useful and I always have them help me. They are always more than willing to pitch in when it comes to helping with the games, serving, etc! Have fun!!

K.

If you can go somewhere that has an indoor pool, those are always hits for pool parties. If you live in or by Lapeer they offer the use of their pool via the community center, or if you know someone who belongs to outdoor adventure they have a nice indoor pool.
Or depending on when the b-day's are, things like a putt-putt or and go-cart place (if the kids are tall enough)

go to a local nature trail and have a scavenger hunt.
See if you have a trail w/ park toys too.

Hi J.,
I understand why you don't want to host the party at home. It is hard enough having your house on the market when you have young children! I noticed that you are in the Northville area. A couple of ideas came to mind. First, the Howell Nature center does parties. I am not sure if you would be willing to travel that far, but they do a "nature tour",show the kids animals that they have there, and they have real zip lines that they harness the kids on to ride. It is awesome! The other place that we have had parties at is the Milford pool. It is indoors, at the high school. It has a mini water park in it. There is a party room connected to it, and it is very reasonable. Pump It Up is fun, but it is very expensive. Good luck!

YOu could do anything from swim parties at a local hotel, a party at Chuckie Cheeses or McDonalds, or maybe even a bowling party at a local bowling alley. There is even the possibility of a skating party at a local ice rink or roller rink. My children, I have four, have enjoyed all of these ideas over the years. I hope this helps.

Sometimes parks have pavillions that you can reserve and then the kids have the play equip to play on.

I took my son to McDonalds for his 7th birthday. The kids had fun. You could also try Castaway Cafe. For your 8 year old girl, there's a store in Brighton called Next Generation. They do Webkinz parties. I don't know what the details are on that, but...

One idea I have is that you go on-line to Oriental Trading Company for decorations and favors. You can get good ideas there too - pirate theme or whatever. Cheap stuff and so many choices! You can do a party in a park this time of year. I heard of someone who buried treasure in a park sandbox area for a pirate party. G. B.

Hi, Not sure what time of year you are talking about but my son went to a "Survivor" party last year in June and had a great time. Kids were all asked to wear Camo. They had obstacle courses, endurance tests etc. Really a great time

Hi J.,
I had a great idea a couple years ago for my son who then turned 7. I called the fire department and the police station and asked for tours. I took 4 other boys and everyone loved it. Best part of all is it was free. The departments were happy to do it and they get requests all the time. It was just something different and it was a learning experience for them and me. After we came back to our house for cake and ice cream.

You should check out familyfun.com. They have idea's for boys,girls, outside/inside, bowling, whatever you can think of!

Maybe a webkin party====do your boys like webkins? Or a bounce house party===we have a new indoor bounce house and indoor golf area called confetti's. Very fun!

Another idea would be a roller skating party. The one in our area provides skates, drinks, pizza and the cake. (Byron Center) No work involved for you and it's very reasonable. (Alot cheaper than Chuck E Cheese especially when 6 and 8 year olds can go through the amount of token's they provide in less than 1/2 hour.

Humm you could do a acarnival in the park. I have a lot of those items I also do party planning from food to games I have had about 15 so far this year and can offer letteers. I know they are 6&8 do you know if you want to do a combined party? I charge 5 to 10 a person for the planning including cake games and prizes and if you want custom invites I can do those as well. Not that I don't want to keep things away from you. Typically an out door party once spring comes works well. Another thing since they are boys is an overnighter camp out. Those are always fun if its in June or later I offer small group tenting on my property and I have a pool and volleyball court as well as usable restrooms and firepit areas. I hope this helps. Christy. You can reach me at ###-###-#### for more questions.

try Bobby's Bouncer's in Wayne on Michigan near John Hix. You get to bounce on the BIG inflatable toys, play basketball and other stuff for an hur, then they serve pizza and pop.

Check out "Pump It UP!", they have locations in Utica, Auburn Hills and other places. You get to jump around for 1 1/2 hours on inflatable toys then go in a party room and have pizza, cake, whatever you choose. It is a GREAT way for kids this age to have safe fun and burn some energy!

Depending on the months you could do a party outside at a park, just something simple. My daughter just went to a party at Chuck E Cheeses. That was very nice and seemed very simple (yet possibly costly) for the hostess. There may even other party type places (like Chuck E Cheeses) in your area that you could use for the Birthday party.

Chuck E Cheese, a birthday party at a park or zoo (weather permitting), or if you have any indoor water areas near by.

My son attended a party at Jungle Java (in Ann Arbor and other places). Kids run around on a huge indoor play structure and parents watch from below. We had cake, drinks and munchies (host is allowed to bring in food from outside). Very safe and is great for active kids. Kids got a gift bag with a mask and other jungle-themed stuff plus coupons for free admission later on.