Birthday Party Venues

[rani]

Hi,

We went to a bday party this weekend at the Bishop Lei Hotel on Robinson Rd. The party was on the Terrace and the kids had a blast.

They have a special bday package for $75/person and it includes an inflatable castle, face painting, balloon twister, and a selection of finger foods.

Any other good venues?

 

[loupou]

Own home

I am a big believer in keeping kids birthday parties SIMPLE. The way some kids have birthday parties, you wonder what will happen for their weddings

I use the formula of "number of kids invited = Childs age X 2 +1). The I add my own numbers which is "If I have more than 15 kids in my house I will go nuts".

Thus, for a 4th birthday the maximum number of guests would be kids would be 9.

I usually decorate w/ baloons and streamers (I hate "themese") and we play some simple games (pin the tail on the donbkey, pass the parcel, etc.) and give out prizes like small candy bars and little balls (go to stationary stores for little oddments, or Toys R Us sells minipots of playdough).

Some years I have managed to obtain white paper bags and the kids decorated them as part of the activities and used them to carry home their goodies.

Keep the party to 2 hours of less.

Have some wine, coffe, and softdrinks for the parents. Have juice and water for the kids.

Let them eat garbage (chips, pretzels, candy) and then bring on the cake and ice cream.

If you don't have an oven to bake your own, the cakes at Maxims or Arome other bakeries are very acceptable to the little ones.

 

[shri]

You know .. sometimes we forget who the parties are for, the kids or the parents.

Loupou, brilliant suggestions. Thanks for providing a contrarian view point to the norm of overdoing it at parties, because the joneses overdid it also.

 

[HKMum]

Birthday parties

I agree that parties should be aimed at the children(obvious).
But i think putting in some effort also makes for a great day for all the little one's friends and family members.
I think having a theme makes the party easier to plan as, you can organize all the decorations and cake etc. around that theme.
As for the party guest list...i think the more the merrier. And it's your little one's birthday....go nuts for a day!!
Go all out....have fun and take lot's of great photos for the birthday album.
my thoughts........

 

[pattyt]

gymboree for little kids

we went to a party on sunday morning at gymboree - the kids were all around 2-4 and they loved it.

 

[shri]

Not to sound too paranoid, but I'd avoid places like the Gymboree given the risks of cross-infections right now. If Gymboree sterlizes the toys then its fine -- both for parties and classes. If they don't they should be avoided. Same goes for any of the developmental classes -- check and see what their sterilisation / hygine and sick kid policies are.

I'm about to write a seperate article about irresponsible parents who take their sick kids to these classes without any concern for other kids around them.

Sorry .. I know I'm being off-topic and a bit too dark on a fun happy-happy thread.

 

[kiwifi]

any other kid's party venues?

Yes, it would be great if we could all organize simple parties for our kids in our home - for one thing, the birthday kid is in familiar surroundings and more likely to be in a good mood!

However, given the space limitations of the majority of HK families, most have no choice but to find an outside venue if we want to celebrate with a party. Great to hear about the Bishop Lei Hotel which will keep in mind for next year!

 

[rani]

Hi,

Have added a new section in the resource directory for bday venues.

So if anyone hears of any good places feel free to add them to the database.

Here's the link:

Party Venues

 

[loupou]

Decoration & party #s

Decoration:
Baloons and streamers in bright colors

I once heard a formula for the # of kids to attend is

Child's age X2 +1

So if your child is 3 years old, maximum number of guests is 7. I usually try to keep it way below the maximum. For both my kids the average number of guests is now 5.

Entertainment:

Simple games
Maybe an "art project" (I get paper bags and stickers and markers and glitter glue and let the kids make their own "goody bags")
"Prizes" for the goody bags: mini-pots of playdoh, the stickers and markers they used, candy.
Water baloon toss (outdoors!)
"Egg and spoon race" (I used pinpong balls, which were also prizes that they got to keep)

I did once go to a kids party held at "The Climbing Wall" at the YMCA in TST. It was nice and the kids had fun. But... Maybe I'm just stingy, but I think of the expense and how it "ups the ante" (how will other parents "compete" with that) and while I was happy to go to it, I would have hated to have had to organize the whole thing.

But... different people have different styles. There's no RIGHT way to have a kids party.

 

[scr]

Really great ideas Loupou, I'll definitely keep them in mind when I plan parties for little ones.

I too believe parties should be simple. It might sound strange to people but for my son's first birthday I invited no one !! Dressed him real special, took loads of pictures, gave him his first taste of sugar...weird ?..maybe but he enjoyed himself. We didn't have to worry about a thing so relaxed and enjoyed his big day with him giving him all our attention.