Choosing the Venue can be tricky, what exactly do you want to do?
Basically you are swapping effort for cash
Birthday Parties and Indoor playgrounds
Do you want to walk in, have it catered and walk out? no cleaning and no fuss?
for a Children’s party, there are many playland options, they usually have food as well, can cater for different developmental play levels if it’s a large party with siblings.
these can be very pricy, but they are walk in, walk out so you have to work out what your time is worth… Prices start (depending on the venue) at $15 per child and $5 per attending adult
For that would get you very basic food, hot chips and meat pies and a cup of soda pop, the party rooms usually run for 2 hours , you bump in, the kids play, food comes, there is cake (usually you provide the cake, they can again, for a price)
You can have an attendant (Pay more for a specific costume eg spiderman) actually to run the party, keep the kids on track and encourage the birthday song, they also will make sure you are in the photo when your one blows out the candle, this get’s forgotten by many a parent.
If some of the attendees parents stay, you will also pay a small cover charge for them, plus you may want to feed them as well, Coffee/tea and various platters.
I have used this when my little ones were around 4-6 and they can run and jump and chase to their heart’s content
In the scheme of things, if you are providing a jumping castle and entertainer, then fiscally this could be on par. however, your guests are sharing an environment with many. many other people, toileting can be tricky and you really only have two hours for the actual room, so you will need to bump out into the general area (they usually have tables and chairs) after this.
do a google search for all the “kids birthday play venues” in your area, ask about what is covered, and do the math, in the long run, there is very little clean up, or prep for you, so you can talk with the other grown ups.
Pro Con
Walk in, walk out (no set up or clean up) Can be pricy depending on amount of attendees
Big play area=lots to do Sharing the area with many other people
Getting to talk to the adults Cover charge for each adult + food platters
So, all in all quite good, less actual getting hands dirty fuss, you will need to be very clear of RSVP numbers because you pre book the food so the platters are prepped.
If you are bringing cake then all good, (Ice cream is extra) if you are getting the venue to provide cake then be very clear on size, (I was suprised one time by a small cake that had to go around 15 kids)
They will have a professional photographer on hand, again, VERY pricy but some of the shots are good, so all in all it’s up to you
work out your budget then add 20% because stuff happens, and if it does not, you win
Good luck with your Children’s party venue experience, please feel free to comment or leave a message about how your’s went, what you liked, what you didn’t and how we as party going parents can make it easier on ourselves.
Cherrio
Mel
This is a current sample price @ feb 2016
