3 Kid’s Birthday Party Ideas That Will Make You The Cool Mom
By: Brooke Chaplan
Every mom wants to throw their child a cool party that will be the talk of the entire year among their friends. Younger kids are interested in entertainment, fun, and food which provides a pretty wide range of choices for a party. While you may want to throw the best possible party, you’ll want to be careful not to go overboard. This means planning it out, choosing a good venue, and managing the guest list. Here are a few ideas for great parties that are sure to make your child’s special day one to remember.
Fun Center
If you live in even a small city, there’s a good chance that there is a fun center near you. Fun centers are the king of kids birthday party places, offering food, drinks, and all sorts of activities like arcade games, laser tag, go karts, miniature golf, and more. If you choose to go this route, you will likely want to go one of two ways. The first way is to reserve a room at the venue have parents drop off and pick up your guests there, spending the whole party in one place. For this option, most fun centers have birthday packages that offer game tokens and passes for other activities for each child, food, drinks, and the room, all at one price. Most places will give you the option of bringing your own cake or having them provide it at an additional cost.
The second way is to have everyone meet at your house, have food and cake there, and finish the party out at the fun center and have parents pick up their kids whenever they want. This can be a bit more cost effective as you’ll only need to pay for the games and activities while you’re there, and not the room, food, and drinks.
However you decide to utilize a fun center, don’t be afraid to ask other parents to help out by chaperoning or driving. The more help you have, the more fun the kids will have.
Bowling
Bowling alleys are notoriously fun venues for birthday parties. Nearly every bowling alley is likely to have fun birthday specials with group rates. This usually includes at least two games for each kid, shoes, and sometimes food. If your child likes bowling, this is a fantastic option, but you’ll want to be certain or it can be a frustrating way to spend a birthday! However, depending on the type of bowling alley you might find that it can be multi-purpose.
Like the fun center, your local bowling alley might have laser tag, an arcade, bumper cars, and other games. This can be good if some of the guests aren’t too keen on bowling. Also like the fun center, you can either start the party there, or start at home. If your bowling alley is a more traditional venue, offering just bowling, make sure you have parents RSVP and let you know if their kids like bowling or not. You might be able to have everyone at your home party, and just the bowlers go with you to the lanes.
Jump Party
There are two awesome ways to have a jump party and they just depend on the age of your child and their guests. For younger kids, you can have a classic outdoor birthday barbecue and rent an inflatable bounce house. You might also think about getting a bouncy slide, obstacle course, or other inflatable fun depending on what your kid likes. Older kids may think a bounce house is “kid stuff,” but don’t worry, there’s a grown up version.
Indoor trampoline arenas are becoming more and more popular and are definitely worth checking out. The facilities are covered wall to wall with trampolines for kids to bounce around on and have fun. Some places will even have trampoline basketball courts and other bouncy activities. These places make for fantastic parties, but there are a few things to consider. Any reputable trampoline arena will require parents to sign a waiver, which will require some extra planning on your part. You also will want to be careful about food and drinks so the kids don’t get sick. One way to play it safe is to forgo the cake (maybe have one with the family another day) and just send the kids home with a goodie-bag after they jump around.
However you decide to celebrate your child’s birthday, some extra planning and a little care can go a long way to making the day special, and making you a cool mom. Don’t forget to check with parents and ask for RSVP’s to make sure you have a great turnout!
