Instant Birthday Party Planning - and a Cars 2 movie theater party at the Elwood Quad

I was lucky enough to have my husband fully research options for my son’s fourth birthday party.  He found some really cool venues in our neighborhood.  Here are some of the ideas he found, and I was pleasantly surprised by some.  If you’re outside of the Queens NY area, and one of the interesting ideas below inspires you, try doing an online search for your neighborhood. 

* THE WINNER:  A morning movie showing! We’ll be seeing Cars 2 in a real movie theater the day after it opens – a much anticipated event for the pre-K crowd.  Our party includes free popcorn and soda for the kids and adults.  We learned that most movie theaters offer a pre-show option at 10 am before the first scheduled weekend showing.  Zach’s party will be at the Elwood Cinemas where the part fee includes 30 kids (no limit on the adults).  We’ll bring in some coffee and bagels from a local shop, grab a cake from BJs, and will be set for far less than any of the other venues we priced out.  This is quite a machine – we went to a friend’s party (where the birthday boy played his favorite DVD in lieu of watching a currently playing movie) and every theater in the entire cinema hosted a birthday party.  

The price per kid was really reasonable (note, we’re jaded by the exorbitant cost of kids party places, so bear in mind that “reasonable” is relative)

* Pottery Painting:  these parties are great, and the kids paint their own party favors.

* Bowling: most alleys offer bumpers for the kids and arcade tokens.

* Chuck E Cheese

* Cookies by Design: many of the Cookie by Design outlets offer tours and cookie decorating for the kids

* Museum party rooms (our local Hall of Science has a great Preschool Place as well)

* Zoo party

* Parties in the Park: you’re on your own for bringing everything, but you can often reserve a gazebo or picnic area.  Note, you often need to apply for a permit.

* Inflatables party – giant bounce-house esque mayhem with inflatable slides, American Gladiator arenas, basket ball courts and more.  Some chains are Bounce U, Pump It Up

*Horseback riding.  In Forest Park on the Forest Hills border, we have stables with pony rides and tours.  There are a number of places in Long Island with horses and horsemanship parties.

* California Pizza Kitchen: Zach’s Aunt Tali discovered this party option. Many CPKs offer a tour and pizza cooking class for the kids where they make the pizza they’ll eat for lunch.