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NYC
Birthday Parties
New York City has many
wonderful activities for children (you
might want to take a look at our list of
our favorites).
But perhaps one of the nicest things
about being a parent in NYC is the
variety of great places to hold your
child's birthday party. No matter what
your child's age or interest might be,
you'll find a special place to celebrate.
Here are some of the best choices:
Bronx Zoo
Looking for a birthday party
full of fun, adventure, the beauty of
wildlife and even the excitement of a
safari? The Bronx
Zoo offers birthday
adventures complete with visits the
JungleWorld, the Reptile House and the
Himalayan Highlands, plus age-appropriate
activities, party masks, birthday songs,
and crafts. Each party also includes
refreshments, birthday cake and a
take-home t-shirt and party pack for the
birthday child. For kids age 8-12, you
can also consider an overnight Zoo Pajama
Party in the Congo Gorilla Forest. To
learn more, call 718-220-6854.
Buzz Martial Arts
NYC is full of budding tae kwon do
experts, so having your soon-to-be
black-belt's party at a martial arts
school might be just what the karate kid
ordered. We especially like Buzz Martial
Arts because of the personal attention
each guest receives. Within 5 minutes of
the start of the party we attended, Mr.
B. knew the name of each of the dozen or
so children in attendance and kept them
all thoroughly engaged in an hour-long
class of kicks and punches. A brief
demonstration of board-breaking featuring
the birthday child followed. And then
there was pizza and cake for all. The
party package is all-inclusive and
includes decorations and goody bags in
addition to the class and food. Call
212-831-0250 for details.
Chelsea
Piers
This exercise emporium provides
a wealth of options, including parties
featuring gymnastics, rock-climbing,
skating, and so forth. Like many places,
all the refreshments are included in the
(somewhat expensive) price. But after you
send out the invitations (they provide
them; all you do is address and mail),
you can sit back and relax because the
staff does a wonderful job of keeping the
children safely entertained. They even
provide the birthday child with a special
Chelsea Piers T-shirt. Call 212-336-6666
for more information.
NYC Fire Museum
Many kids are fascinated by
firefighting, making NYC's Fire
Museum the perfect place
for a party! Birthday parties are held
for children between the ages of 4 - 8 on
Saturday and Sunday at 10:30AM
and 1:30PM (each party is scheduled
to last an hour and 45 minutes). The
first fifteen minutes are free play with
dress up, puzzles and fire-themed toys,
allowing time for guests to arrive late.
Then the museum's firefighters gather the
kids together to discuss safety tips,
discover the artifact show and tell
collection, and read an age-appropriate
story. The birthday bash also includes a
scavenger hunt, creation of a
personalized fire truck, games and a
marching band. A fire-themed birthday
cake and juice, "One Alarm"
loot bags and colorful balloons are all
included. To arrange your event, call
212-691-1303 ext. 16.
New York Aquarium
A birthday party event at the New
York Aquarium
includes a guided tour, artifact
handling, a children's art activity and
more, making this a celebration you will
not want to miss! Ages 5+ only with a
maximum 16 children per party. Call
718-265-2673 for details and
reservations.
92nd Street Y
Like Chelsea Piers, the Y offers
countless choices. Whether your birthday
child is interested in basketball,
gymnastics, water sports, or just the
chance to race around like crazy in their
fabulous 4-tiered maze, the Y is the
place for you. And because they function
largely on a pay-as-you-go method, you
are in control of the price of the party.
Short on time? Their party planners will
do it all from invitations to decorations
to goody bags. Rather do more yourself to
personalize the experience (and control
the costs)? That's okay, too -- just pay
for the space and the rest is up to you.
Call 212-415-5710 to learn more.
Pizzeria Uno
We've been to successful parties
at Pizzeria Uno
for children as young as a year.
Pre-schoolers and school-age kids will
enjoy the "make-your-own-pizza"
activity. Parents will be delighted to
learn that they can budget exactly what
they want, since the host chooses the
items to be served in advance. Most
managers will even let you bring your own
cake and decorations, and provide plenty
of set-up time. Our favorite location is
220 East 86th Street, because of the
great semi-private space upstairs.
The Craft Studio
& Little Shop of Crafts
The Craft Studio's
Upper East Side shop is a neighborhood
favorite for kids who like to paint,
decorate and create. Parties are for kids
age 3 and up and include a Haagen-Daz ice
cream cake with candles, apple juice (and
coffee for the adults), candy treats,
helium balloons, music and dancing, goody
bags, and experienced instructors. There
is a whole host of themed activities to
choose from, including painting
plastercraft items, creating and
decorating a spectacular chocolate house,
puppet-making, scrapbooking, even
decorating and dressing a cloth doll, cat
or bear. Little Shop of
Crafts offers similar
parties in a larger space, although their
focus is much more heavily on
plastercraft.
Entertainment
While most of these locations
provide the entertainment, there are many
venues that do not. If you are having
your child's party at your apartment or
your building's play room or common room
(if you are lucky enough to have one),
you may want to hire a performer to act
as a clown or your child's favorite
storybook character. Most kids
entertainers come prepared with a short
show and then do face painting and/or
balloon making (twisting the balloons
into various shapes requested by the
party guests). We've been impressed by Polka-dots
the Clown
(Susan at 212-679-4991) and Bongo
the Clown
(Ramone at 718-461-0272). Polka-dots
incorporates lots of sing-a-longs into
her act; Bongo entranced a group of 12
kids ranging in age from 1-13 with a
series of silly magic tricks. We also
like Silly Billy,
who's droll demeaner appeals to adults as
well as kids (he's even been on
Letterman), and Magical
Dave (917-886-6364),
who incorportaes a live rabbit and a live
snake into his act. If you have very
young children (under 3 years), you may
want the clown to ease up on the make-up
so it is clear to the kids that there is
a person in that funny outfit. We also
recommend that you plan the entertainment
for about 30 to 45 minutes after the
party starts, so that all latecomers have
arrived, and there is still plenty of
time for cake and presents after the
clown's act. If you haven't seen the
performer yourself at another child's
party, be sure to ask for references --
we attended a 2-year old's party where
the Superman's costume was so revealing
it was almost X-rated, and the performer
spent more time hitting on female
attendees than entertaining the kids,
much to the embarrassment of our hosts.
Expect to pay about $150 for an hour of
fun.
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