For those of you who have the option of choosing between indoor or outdoor parties, there are a few things you may want to consider. If weather permits, outdoors is the best place to let loose a bunch of party-hungry kids. Fresh air is good for everyone and cleaning up is usually much easier.
If you have a backyard, you’re all set. But, for those of us who don’t have the luxury of a backyard or don’t want to forsake our backyards, you can hold your out door parties for free at a local park, lake or beach, etc. These days, there are lots of places that offer to host children’s parties. And (for a fee), many of these places can provide everything – all you need to do is show up. Make sure you settle the exact details and know exactly what to expect. For outdoor parties, venues can include zoos, farms, water parks, theme parks, miniature golf, batting cages, nature centers, etc.
Indoor party venues provide you with a great option for indoor parties that aren’t actually held in your house. Some of these include restaurants (Chuck E. Cheese’s, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Burger King.), bowling alleys, ice rinks, roller rinks, movie theaters, craft shops, laser tag arenas, Gymboree, museums.
Sometimes, taking the kids to such venues is a great way to diversify, however, because of the cost involved, you may have to cut down on the number of kids that are invited.
Ballerina party ideas and photos by: Ramiro from Miami, FL My daughter Marcella started taking ballet lessons and fell in love with the ballerina! So picking a theme this year for her birthday wasn’t hard at all! We decided to do an “only girls” party, that way the pink colors and tutus could be enjoyed … Read more
Creative party theme ideas and photos by: Molly from Santa Barbara, CA My son LOVES monsters, so his 4th birthday party was a MONSTER PARTY! To create this party I needed some creative party theme ideas. Invitations: We only invited 5 children so we figured making the invitations with our son wouldn’t be TOO time … Read more
Kids party ideas and photos by: Debbie from California There are so many cool kids party ideas for an army theme. Here is what we came up with for invitations: We wrote our invitations in Army slang – “Attention Marine Recruits! You are invited to Cody’s OOH-Rah 8th Marine Corps Boot Camp Birthday Party. If … Read more
My son wanted an airplane/soldier bday party for his 4th bday. I was inspired by ideas found online & in magazines, using several of them for his special day. I love hosting parties esp. themed ones. This was so much fun to put together & execute. Enlistment Orders for Army Invitations American Heroes invitations were … Read more
Barnyard birthday party ideas and photos by: Silvia from Miami, Florida At our barnyard party we had pony rides for the kids. The decorations were all made by me! Bandannas everywhere! The linens were bandannas sewn together. The centerpieces were real corn in buckets. I went to the nearest farm and they sold me the … Read more
Ducky party ideas and photos by: Laura from Mobile, AL We had a bubble maker going and had it outside on the back patio. So our guests would know we were back there we cut out duck feet prints out of orange poster board (mommy duck size and baby duck size) and taped them to … Read more
Knight party ideas and photos by: Caryn from Mackay, Australia We had a Knight birthday party for my son’s 9th birthday. On the invitations we wrote: “Calling all Knights & Wizards, a day of fun awaits you! Sir Troy is celebrating his 9th Birthday. Please join us at Spence Castle.” We had moved house a … Read more
Mario party ideas are few and far between! So I thought I’d post my ideas on here to share. All are original unless otherwise noted. The party was a HUGE success! Games for a Mario Bros. Birthday Party Every game was called a LEVEL – Level 1, Level 2, etc. * There was a Yoshio … Read more
Basketball party ideas and photos by: Maha from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia My 11 year old son wanted a basketball themed party. I printed out basketball invitations from this site and personalized them. I got favor bags from the dollar store and printed out basketball pictures and stuck them all over. I filled them with candy … Read more
Fear Factor Party ideas and photos by: Sandra from Peoria, IL My boys wanted a Fear Factor party for their birthday last year. I made the invites on our computer. The basic yellow and black from the Fear Factor logo, some clip art and all the important party info. The first game we played was … Read more
My son just turned 3 and we did a toy story party for him which was a huge hit. We did the following: Handmade Toy Story Invitations I hand made all the invitations. The front of the invitation was done like the upcoming Toy story 3 movie poster with it saying my husband and my … Read more
Birthday idea and photos by: Tabitha from Indianapolis, IN Our son couldn’t decide what type of party he would like for his 7th birthday, so we convinced him to let us surprise him with our birthday idea (we knew he would love). We chose a secret agent/spy party. He loves Spy Kids and Cody Banks, … Read more
Finding Nemo party ideas and photos by: Kelly from Saint Clair, PA My daughter has a big fascination with the movie Finding Nemo. Seriously, we watch it at least twice a day. That’s why with her 2nd birthday approaching I couldn’t think of anything better than a Finding Nemo party! That’s why with a little … Read more
We decided to have the whole party in our backyard. I got yellow construction paper and cut out a huge circle and drew a railroad crossing on it and hung them on the door leading outside. Then, I used black electrical tape on the sidewalk outside to make a train track that led to the … Read more
Birthday party planning ideas and photos by: Nicole from York, PA It was my son’s 2nd birthday and I wanted to do something fun birthday party planning. My 4-year-old son helped pick out the jungle animal theme. I found a huffalump shirt on ebay and we had Happy 2nd Birthday Brady personalized on it. He … Read more
Fire Fighter party ideas and photos by: Teresa from Malden, MA Since every time the engines leave the firehouse my son goes crazy, we decided to have a fire fighter party for his 2nd birthday. For invitations we sent out postcards, on the front we took pictures of a small fireman statue and sign, then … Read more
My son is a big Star Wars fan – though he enjoys characters from both sides (Empire & Rebel Legion). He is also a big Lego fan so we made his 6th birthday party a Lego Star Wars party. The invitations, decorations, games and food tried to incorporate all these elements. Star Wars Party Invitation … Read more
Boot Camp party ideas and photos by: April from Lexington, KY For my son Colby’s 5th birthday party he wanted to have an Army themed party. We went all out by transforming our backyard into an Army Soldier Boot Camp to make his party unforgettable. For the invitations of the boot camp party my husband … Read more
Fire Truck birthday party ideas and photos by: Sandra from Berryville, VA My son’s 3rd birthday theme was a firefighter’s party. We started with specialty themed firefighter invitations that I bought off eBay. I printed them at home. Next I purchased a bunch of firefighter themed goodies from eBay and Oriental trading. I also ordered … Read more
Last summer, for my son Leo’s 3rd Birthday, he asked for a Beatles Yellow Submarine Party. He was crazy obsessed with the movie, their music, our Beatles Rockband game and he just couldn’t get enough of them. He knew all their names and the instruments they played and he made sure that every person at … Read more
For my oldest daughter’s sixth birthday party we expanded on this concept which we had done on a much smaller scale in the past. She chose a Candyland party theme so we ran with that. We try to limit the number of gifts our children get and focus more on teaching them the value of … Read more
First birthday ideas and photos by: Elad from Israel There are already a bunch of great 1st birthday ideas on this site. For our latest first birthday for Noa, I came up with a few new first birthday ideas while planning the party. 1st birthday parties are a challenge, primarily because the guests are usually … Read more
After watching Kung Fu Panda 2, my daughter was very excited about having a KungFu Panda party. Keeping her happy and working within our very limited budget gave us a very homemade yet exciting party for her friends from school. It also gave us lots of fun “projects” for the week leading up to the … Read more
Carnival party ideas and photos by: Heather from East China, MI For my son’s third birthday we had a carnival party theme. I mixed ideas that I got from this site with my own. Invitations: I printed 3 to a page on red cardstock and cut the corner to look like an oversized ticket that … Read more