Kids birthday parties - daughter turning 5

Here is an idea if your child likes dancing or want to try some new activity. We now offer dance class party for any ages (3 years upwards). Great way to keep them entertained for 1 hour. The group learns a fun dance routine and dressing up in bollywood costumes is also an option. Dance Studios can be organised in any suburb in canberra. And depending on the studio chosen there will be areas for food/cake cutting celebrations. Enail us on canberrabollywood@bigpond.com and will make your kids party a truely memorable one.

Thanks for all your suggestions – some great ideas and I like the recommendations. We have done a bouncy castle from Gecko Gang before and it was great – I think I’m going to outsource more things and make it simpler.
Making the birthday cake nearly leads to divorce in this household – I have the WW cookbook and then things go awry and my very helpful other half suggests I shouldn’t get stressed by it and then neglects to help for the party… anyway you know the drill.

How about buying or hiring a karoake for the children to sing and dance in addition to hiring a community centre on the southside for the afternoon? You choose the timeframe, drinks, partyfood and some parents stay and help with the fun and activities (if you prefer), That way, the costs are lowered and the kids are collected on time.

Pearce, Calwell, Chisholm, Richardson and Tuggeranong all have Community Centres for hire.

P.S. dont forget your digital or video camera to capture the fun and hilarious moments!

We had Alley Bee entertain the children at our wedding. She was amazing. The kids aged from 3 to 8 loved her and she kept them all amused for nearly two hours. Highly recommneded and extremely good value. http://www.alleybee.com

For parties where someone comes to your house, we have always used the Gecko Gang. They are certainly reliable and easy to deal with… not particularly cheap …. but then I guess these thing never are.

I don’t know what constitutes “expensive”, but the Gecko Gang seems reasonably priced, and they did a great party for my sister (albeit years ago).

I recommend Fairies in the Garden – a local Canberra family business. There are lots of activities and the fairy helpers are fantastic with kids. My daughter had her fairy party in our backyard but a friend organised a community hall (hire fee not included in Fairies in the Garden price). There are a few price options too but all very reasonable compared to some I’ve priced.

This is the link – http://www.scallywags.net.au/FairiesintheGarden.html

If the site rules allow, I’d suggest my fiancee’s company!

http://birthdaysinboxes.com.au/

The site will explain better than I, but essentially she provides everything you need to run a kid’s birthday at your own home. There are themes to choose from and all food is home made with real ingredients (avoiding sugar, sweeteners etc)

We’re an “every 2nd year birthday party” house as well. I have a mid teen and a preteen. Except for their 10th birthdays, all parties have been at home under the decent sized pergola. Up until the 15th birthday party this year, they’ve been for 90 minutes. The younger kids still love pass the parcel and other party games. A pinata goes down well with teenagers as well as the younger kids. They were also easy to cater and clean up. A couple of parents stayed to get the food ready so we could run the games for the kids. Because they’re in the afternoon, the weather is usually OK.

Our 2 10th birthday parties were at Questacon (sadly no longer offering parties) and CSIRO Discovery. They were both fantastic experiences.

Dynamic Studios in Mitchell used to do birthday parties, if you’re willing to travel, and can’t find anything suitable southside. They have a website you could check. The Gecko Gang might be worth checking out, as well as The Fool Factory. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.