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Ok, FINALLY convinved DH to have a party for DD. But it needs to be economically viable. On a Saturday. Preferably in the PM. Can anyone help with ideas? He says no to McDonald's.
Last year we did it in the garage at home. 8 kids. Bouncy Castle. Decked the place out like a fairy cave. Was a massive hit. Don't have the time or money for that this year. Don't have a yard. It's in Feb.
TIA!
MG
Picnic in the park?
Not sure what the weather is like where you are, but maybe a picnic in the park? Maybe teddy bears picnic - or if she still likes fairies (although you might be over the idea) a fairy picnic in the park?
If your local park has BBQs you could do that - or have a picnic lunch of sandwiches, and chopped up carrots and celery and stuff with dips - and fairy bread and all the rest.
last year was 41 degrees on her birthday... but I do like Teddy Bear picnic!!!! Hmmmmm
any other ideas?
Fairy party (all dress up as fairys, have toadstool cupcakes, fairy bread etc)
Teddy bears picnic is cool idea
BBQ at the beach? Water and kids isn't such a flash idea though is it? Play center?
A BBQ at home with balloons and cake and games is more than enough sometimes.
she is turning 4. I had thought of pool party but they have to be 5 years old. So no go.
no yard and the whole garage thing is a bit much which is what we did last year.
we did Fairies last year so need something new on that front (although Mummy has a FANTASTIC Fairy Dress with plenty of wear left in it! :rofl:)
Where do live MG? There is an awesome kids garden at the botanical gardens in Melbourne, great spot for a picnic.
Or what about a 'farm' You kow where the kdis can see and pat the animals. Often they have BBQ facilities. You could have a farm party?!
i had another idea, but by the time i clicked on the thread...... i forgot it. :doh: placenta dementia or what?! :doh:
I'll be back.....
We're in Greensborough. I looked at Bundoora Farm but a lot of stuff is closed when too hot there. Collingwood is possible IF I can get in! A lot of her friend's parents work in the city so won't go there unfortunately.
There is a great thing called gymbus but need access to electricity and flat ground... i live in a very hilly area!
Lower Eltham miniature railway! Great park nearby and then train rides for all!
Ladybug Picnic at Wombat Bend?
The children's garden at the botanical gardens really is a great spot for a picnic. Worth looking at.
What about a play centre? I can't think of any good ones out there.... oh Rare bears in Eltham is ok....
Or you could take them to a kids movie, if there was one screening that was appropriate?
oh I feel like a negative nelly!
Both venues are always PACKED. unless you get there at 0700 you can't get a BBQ :( Same at the Eltham Adventure Playground (we did her 1st birthday there)
i'll look at the children's garden.
Her friend is having one at rare bears. They're a week apart. I thought of play days in Doncaster which was great when we went to a party there not long ago.
pls keep the ideas comming!
There's a place in Ivanhoe, or maybe Malvern that do little kids art classes and i'm pretty sure they do birthday parties. would that be $$$?
ooooo i'll look them up! there is a cool cooking thing in camberwell but too $$$
oooo good idea JM! $260 for 12 kids but didn't say if I need to provide food or not. Will call tomorrow! And it was called The Art Factory
But any other ideas?!
Tupperware cooking party??
the plaster funhouse in malvern is fantastic, and will keep them going for ages.
or did you see on masterchef when they were doing cooking for the kid's party, and one team ran out of time to finish the cupcakes, so they just had the plain cupcakes with bowls of different coloured icing and sprinkles and choc chips and cherries etc ... you could do that but instead of cooking a million cupcakes, you \could get plain biscuits for them to ics and decorate?
feeb - please explain!!!!!
Pea - no, a friend's girl went to the cooking party last year and I filed it away in my memory bank. But it's nearly $26 per child with a min of 12.
Will go look at plaster fun house now!
they only do plaster fun house parties in Ballarat now :(
How you going with your party ideas? I love the idea of a teddy bear's picnic or going to the movies.
Build a bear for an out of the house gig - not sure on the $$ tho.
Best part ever that DD has been too was theme of Gingerbread man story - the invites said - run run as fast as you can............ to x's 4th bday! Then the kids decorated gingerbread men, ate party food, did some art work, cake and finally a treasure hunt for the treasure bags (no lollies at this one) and then it was home time. Party went for 2 hours and was only with 6 kids but was a smash hit!
How many people is it for MG??
oh Dan - I've stopped thinking about it! I asked her this morning what she wanted and she said Play Days! But at $19 a kid min 10 kids...
DH finally agreed to McDonald's but I'm not so keen...
Rang Collingwood Children's Farm this morning and they're booked out until July where they have ONCE vacancy... and then nothing until Sept. Basically if I want DD to have her party there, I need to book in 4 weeks... for NEXT YEAR! Crazy!
Rang Bundoora farm and they were insanely priced! Was going to cost me around $250 for the 13 kids she wants. Plus food, cake, and goodie bags.
DH is pushing for McDonalds. DD is wanting Play Days or Teddy Bear picnic in the park; no wait - Play Days; no wait - McDonalds; no wait, Fairy Party like last year Mum; no wait - I want McDonald's Cake....:wall: I'm over it! Trying to give DD what she wants in the financial constraints DH has placed is doing my head in!!!!
I'll look at it again tonight. DD has been told she has to give me her final answer before bed time.
Mak, build a bear is insanely expensive. And Chaotic. We took DD there to get a bear last year and there was a party. About 6 7-8 year old girls.... NIGHTMARE! :lol: the poor guy "hosting" looked like he was ready to check in to a facility!
Bummer - sounds like a good idea tho! Hmmm - I guess on the upside you could buy a McDonalds cake from the supermarket for a party at home?
On another tangent - do you have Meals/entertainment salary packaging at work - we were able to claim a Playdays party on that last year (after checking with our sal pack guys) so it was a bit more cost effective as it was before tax ITMS....... Maccas may be the same too?????
yeah, I could claim the party but Sal Pack kills me at tax time because of my HECCS debt - so I don't Sal Pack.
I'm tempted to just not have a party! :rofl:
Kew traffic School?!? Loads of fun and kids can byo bikes or trikes or they have stuff there!
Tupperware do kids cooking sessions where a consultant comes to you and cooks simple things with kids. I have not been to one but a local cafe that is kid friendly ran one a while ago that was a big hit!! I am pretty sure they get an apron and hat to take home.
oooo tan and feeb - thank you! Off to google!
ok Kew looked great. But the fee is a bit much. DH said no.
Looked at tupperware but it seems like it's a hosting party type thing which didn't sit too well with me.
Currently tossing up between McD's and playdays. The $ thing is killing me! I WANT to give her play days but McD's is $100 cheaper. I sound awful! I don't feel comfortable with encouraging the kids with McD's...
Someone HELP!
Ok mg here are my top ones
Hungry Jacks parties are HEAPS cheaper than mc donalds- try the HJ at mill park as it has a great party room and good play equipment that is easy to supervise- its about $5-6 per head if i remember correctly
You can hire a shelter shed at Buzy kids which also gives you full use of the bike track- then you can self cater if you want- there is a fish and chip shop and a pizza shop next door!! - cheap cheap cheap
there is also wriggle it at bundoora- that wasnt badly priced either
Eltham Lower train park- you can bring a picnic and just buy tickets for the train for whoever wants them
we found rare bears and mc donalds the dearest
also magic castle was awesome too but it shut down at xmas time boo hoo
let me know if you need more ideas
oh Det - I LOVE YOU!
I wonder if my friend knows about Mgic Castle shutting down as she was planning party there week after DD's.
DH doesn't want to have to do any work (last year was a NIGHTMARE! We had a fully decked out Fairy Cave in our garage!).
How does a HJ's party differ from McD's?
Do you have any other ideas?! I'm keen to avoid Eltham mini trains...
nah pretty much the same as mc donalds the Hj ones are- just heaps cheaper
my friends and i both did the HJ party in mill park one and we were more than happy- but that was a few years ago mind you
hmm other ideas
that park in wattletree road is aways popular - been to a party were the host made wraps for the kids and that was lunch- it was great
umm
what about hiring a hall and having a disco mob come along and run the party?
or a magician?
sausage sizzle at a park?
boof still running around so will think of some more ideas when he settles!
btw feb is an awesome month to have a birthday
ooh btw i know an awesome cake maker in mill park- she is amazing what she can create- she made an ollie cake for boof's first bday!
Thanks Det! Typing whilst meant to b getting ready for work.
The other prob we have is we will have dance class morn of party so can't camp out at a park early enough to secure a good shady covered spot :( did the adventure play ground for her foray birthday and it was a nightmare!
DH makes good cakes sp I'm xpcere there!
Just thinking along the lines of environmentally friendly, if that is a passion maybe you can theme the party like animals or plants, or flowers (for a girl) and have them dress up as their favorite flower? Then you can decorate with flowers, have a flower cake, make food with edible flowers in it? That could be different! and it's be bright and colorful... Then you could make up some games, not sure what but make them kinda educational. What ever the theme I was just thinking about sustainability... hey maybe a recycled theme LOL you can wrap the pressies in newspaper and use old containers to paint or decorate as an activity and then they can take them home and use them as their special box to write down all the things they are manifesting... Gosh I don't know really, just throwing some ideas out there :)
We always do a park party... its cheap and you can spend more money on the food and decorations and games. Best thing about it is that you can have different aged kids and they all have fun as it is in a park and the older ones can kick a footy or play cricket etc.
Still have games like pinata, pass the parcel etc but we find that them all just playing in the park is enough and they are not interested in the games!
Weather is the only problem though...
Got your PM, sorry i didnt reply all GREAT here thanks, when are you at work next?
A bit far but I just found a place called Pixie Mischief in Upwey and oh my gosh their parties look amazing!!
ideas...
HJ , tastes way better , is healthier and cheaper Than mc Donalds, they do pirate,fairy parties etc.....
a play land of some sort, here we have jumbos and we went there for DS bday last year. It was $10 a year including their party food and balloons etc I just took a cake...easy too
Park, Teddy bears picnic or tea party.... Maybe you could have a little tea party with a plastic tea set etc.....
(the weather is very strange though) DS bday was in nov and rained out...... Whereas the year before it was 35 and my Nanna nearly passed out from thruway in the yard.
how about that new movie tangles.... Maybe invite only 4 or 5 kids and watch the new kids movies, I think at Childs prices for adults too, and have something ready for dinner when you get home....and a cake......
Tiny Chefs in Essendon..kids get an apron and chefs hat and they cook the party food.
Also look up Hub Bub as they have heaps and I mean HEAPS of ideas and advertisers for kids parties. You can condense it down to area's and so on.
Science Works or the Museum???
Heather - Tiny Chefs looks great! Although more expensive than gourmet kids in Camberwell.
I had thought about a movie but some of her friends don't have the attention span. And put the 4 girls together and they are T.R.O.U.B.L.E!!!
SJ - yeah, I love a park party. But the weather is too unpredictable at the moment :( Last year it was over 40 degrees! This year will prob be wet! Glad things are good for you! I'm at work tomorrow and Fri. 830 - 1700 Thurs and 0700 Fri.
We have BOOKED a party people! I relented and booked her in to Play Days at Doncaster. The staff on the phone were great and I've paid the deposit. I'll talk DH into some extra money so she can have a few more kids (she'll def want to invite people from Dance class once she starts that). I'm so glad something has been booked now! Will give out the invites next week and then plan the cake with her in a few weeks. I have two books she can sift through and am sure she will find something she likes!
Thanks so much for all the great ideas!