a peek inside the fishbowl

1 | suze

February 23rd, 2012 at 9:12 am

As much as I enjoy the thought of hosting a kids’ party away from home (and letting someone else run it!), the cost of these activities is prohibitive for many, many people. I can’t justify spending $200+ on a 2hour party for a 5 (or 10) year old.

We always have our parties at home – with a homemade cake and a small toy (like a small craft kit or a mini lego set) to take the place of loot bags (which I hate). Even if you throw in a couple of prizes, the cost is rarely more than $50.

We always limit the number of kids invited though, too.

2 | andrea

February 23rd, 2012 at 9:22 am

Our eldest had her last group birthday party when she turned twelve. That’s the cut off year. Until that time we always insisted on the “one kid per year” rule. So a five year old had five friends, the six year old had six friends over etc.

There some inexpensive offsite birthday party ideas out there. The pool rental wasn’t too pricey (we booked a “half” pool but then no one took the other half). You can also take them for a public skate (only a couple bucks per kid) or to see a movie at the Ottawa Family Cinema or Rainbow Cinema. All inexpensive and fun!

And suze: I’m with you on the loot bags!

3 | fern

February 23rd, 2012 at 2:49 pm

You must be reading my mind with this topic … I was going to browse your site to see if you’ve writen about this topic or ask you to consider writing something on this topic!

My boy/girl twins are turning 3 in a few weeks and I am planning a small party for them.

This sounded premature to me but it seem some people host away from home parties even for kids aged 3 and under. I think we’ve decided to wait until our children are a fair bit older to consider venue driven parties. It’s not really about cost as everything adds up, one way or another. I think we’re trying to create some family traditions and try a few things to figure out what works best for us.

I’ve had a few good conversations with friends who’ve given me some good ideas and I will definately check out Andrea’s latest piece in Savvymom. I am wondering, though, if anyone has recently tried what I consider to be “traditional birthday party games” like pin the tail on the donkey, musical chairs and hot potato/pass the present at their children’s parties? I wonder how our modern children would react? Saving this for next year or the year after …

For now, I’m just trying to adjust to the idea that this year I’m going to buy a cake.

4 | andrea

February 23rd, 2012 at 4:39 pm

Oh, kids love traditional parties, especially when they’re little. When they’re that little, all they want to do really is play and run around the house. :)

5 | Erin

February 24th, 2012 at 1:20 pm

One new spot that we recently tried was Altitude Gym in Hull – an indoor climbing wall. Great active party. Would recommend for 5 yrs plus.

6 | Sara

February 24th, 2012 at 7:11 pm

We have always done a combination; family party (15-20 ppl) at home and friend party (10-15) at a venue, with the exception of the first birthday. Then I got pregnant for thr third time ;) For sanity/saving reasns we’ve nixed the big family party and will have one small friend party at home. We always spend their actual day together as a family (we all miss school/work) and so six celebrations a year will be more manageable than 9!

7 | Soft Play Hire

February 28th, 2012 at 6:50 am

I really enjoyed reading your post and agree that there can be both pro’s and con’s. Children’s party planning is hard work but well worth it when you hear squeals of delight and see lots of smiling faces.

8 | Tobs Gabriel

November 30th, 2015 at 3:21 pm

Have you guys try gamesontruck.ca? They supply mobile video game truck and photobooth to kids birthday parties across Ottawa, Ontario.