| Author | Message | ||
     cannuck Citizen Username: Cannuck Post Number: 31 Registered: 1-2003 |
Our daughter is turning three soon and we would like to book someplace (ie: other than our house) to have the party. We were going to do Gymboree but they don't do birthday parties in our area, Music Together might be a little sedate for some who might want to run around and three year olds in "Paintin' the Plates" is probably a nightmare. Does anyone have any suggestions or are we forced to do Chuck E Cheese (please say no). Thanks! | ||
| bak Citizen Username: Bak Post Number: 399 Registered: 5-2001 |
Our 3-year old enjoyed her party at The Connection in Summit. We rented out the gymnasium where the kids have free reign, and there was an adjacent party room for cake etc. It's a bargain but it books up quickly. Good Luck! | ||
| mwoodwalk Citizen Username: Mwoodwalk Post Number: 92 Registered: 9-2001 |
I was just at a party at the messy artist for 3 year olds in South Orange and it was great, despite what you might think about 3 year olds and paint. There was easy cleanup (many sinks on premises, and smocks for all) and the whole time was not spent with crafts, there was music and sing along as well. I highly recommend it and will probably have my own son's party there in March. | ||
| ral Citizen Username: Ral Post Number: 63 Registered: 10-2001 |
Does anyone know of any Music Together-type party that can be held at home? | ||
| mommydee Citizen Username: Mommydee Post Number: 69 Registered: 5-2001 |
My girls both have been to very good parties at the Messy Artist and the Summit Connection. Both were great for the preschool age. | ||
| algebra2 Citizen Username: Algebra2 Post Number: 1454 Registered: 5-2001  |
People always rave about Diamond Gym in E. Hanover (or Livingston). I went to one at Playzone (or something like that) in W. Orange -- that place was really cool. The Y Gym is good and convenient -- they really run the kids around and Mr. Tommy does a good job. I have always felt it would be good just to invite everyone to meet at Ikea and the parents can shop around and the kids can be let loose in the play area and afterward everyone can go eat swedish meatballs. | ||
| susan1014 Citizen Username: Susan1014 Post Number: 61 Registered: 3-2002 |
I know that Susan Leone of Kindermusic advertises the ability to do parties in you home. The Kindermusic number is 973 762-6575. We had a Messy Artist party last year, and thought that it was great (it was a 4 year old party). Happy to give more detail later if needed. | ||
| peteglider Citizen Username: Peteglider Post Number: 371 Registered: 8-2002 |
Diamond Gym -- highly recommended for children your daughter's age and older, too! When is the party? I can also recommend Mr Kasaver (not spelled correctly!) -- who is the gym teacher at South Mountain School & the Annex. He does at home parties or at the Y gym. He is great. (my son has been to both) As much as ChuckECheese has just too much commercialism for my taste -- I went there for a couple hours yesterday with my son to play the games -- the kids really do love the parties there. (be sure and had out ear plugs for the older adults!) Good luck -- Pete | ||
| monkeyd Citizen Username: Monkeyd Post Number: 15 Registered: 7-2002 |
Leap N Learn in Summit was great for my 3-year-old's party and for another I went to a few months later. Only up to 15 children. | ||
| Wendyn Citizen Username: Wendyn Post Number: 67 Registered: 9-2002 |
We had our 2 year old's party at the NYSC in Springfield. Worked out really well for kids that have no attention span and just want to run around and be crazy. The gymboree party we went to (at the now defunct JT's) was fun but too structured for our age group. We now go to classes at the Little Gym in Livingston that also has bday parties, but I think they might be a bit more structured as well. | ||
| shoshannah Citizen Username: Shoshannah Post Number: 317 Registered: 7-2002 |
For tumbling parties I prefer Sunburst Gymnastics in Union over Diamond. First, Sunburst is much less expensive. Also, Suburst does only one party at a time -- no factory feeling. | ||
| suzanneng Citizen Username: Suzanneng Post Number: 61 Registered: 3-2002 |
Peteglider - It's Mr. (Jeff) Kaesshaefer <g>. He can be reached at jkaessha@somsd.k12.nj.us . (He told me I could post his email address.) | ||
| tsd33 Citizen Username: Tsd33 Post Number: 56 Registered: 6-2001 |
I second the NYSC party (we attended Wendy's daughter's party). It was great for the younger age group. We had our 2 year old party at Gymboree and agree it was a bit structured for that age group but something like that might work better for 3 year olds. We also attended a Messy Artist party and loved that. If you have a large group, do it at a gym or something like that. If it is a small group, try doing it at home as it is less stress (they can just run around and play in your house). | ||
| Duncan Citizen Username: Duncanrogers Post Number: 1235 Registered: 12-2001  |
Another vote for the NYSC party (we co-hosted Wendy's daughter's party along with another family) and it was a great big ball of fun. Lots of padding, trampoline, parachutes, my son had a blast! The only drawback was the fact that the big room was BIG, the room where you have the nosh and the like, was SMALL. Really claustrophobic. But other than that we had a really great time. Not sure what to do for the little man this year...Will keep checking back on this thread for ideas  "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" Wayne Gretzky | ||
| DLB Citizen Username: Messyartist Post Number: 5 Registered: 3-2003 |
Thanks for all the great feedback about The Messy Artist! If anyone wants more info check our website, www.messyartist.com or call 973-378-2425. Music together does home parties too! Their website is www.musictogetherwithkelly.com | ||
| Lydia Citizen Username: Lydial Post Number: 194 Registered: 5-2001 |
For my 3-year-old's party we invited over 4 of her friends from the neighborhood to come over after pre-school. For the "big day" we rolled up the dining room rug and covered the floor with reams of newsprint and traced out the outlines of the kids (like a crime scene) then let the kids color in and glue with crayons, glitter, feathers, etc. While the pictures dried we served purple cake with (lots of) pink frosting that the birthday girl decorated. During the post-cake sugar-crash lull we opened the prezzies and shooed everyone home with a goodie bag and the poster they made of themselves. My daughter loved her party and talked about it for weeks, plus it was pretty stress-free for me. My first child we had a big blow-out with around 40 kids and parents. It was overwhelming, she cried when we broke the pinata, she cried when they sang "happy birthday", she cried when the pizza arrived. With young children the simple parties work so well - the focus is on them and their special day. | ||
| cannuck Citizen Username: Cannuck Post Number: 32 Registered: 1-2003 |
Thanks for your all of your great responses. We ended up going with the Messy Artist, but now have lots of great ideas for when the next daughter hits 3! | ||
| ffof Citizen Username: Ffof Post Number: 1667 Registered: 5-2001  |
lydia- that was a nice post. I was going to write a mean post saying something like "why are you all inviting so many kids to a three year old's birthday? Who's the party for anyway? You or the kid? The kid's just gonna cry, and anyway, at age 3 you can't just drop your own kid off at the party and go grocery shopping, cause your own kid is probably gonna cry too or poop his pants or something, so it's a big fat pain in the ass for most invitees' parents. And then there are all those plastic gifts that you really don't need, besides the thank you notes..." But you said that all much more nicely! | ||
| Wendyn Citizen Username: Wendyn Post Number: 71 Registered: 9-2002 |
Ok, to answer the question "why are you all inviting so many kids to a three year old's birthday?" My daughter goes to the Y and had 16 kids in her class. Since her birthday is within a week of 2 classmates (including Duncan's son) we did a combined 2 year old party at the NYSC that allowed us to invite the whole class as well as our own friends and relatives. It was huge (25 kids and 50 adults) but the kids seemed to have fun and the birthday boys/girl didn't feel put on the spot since they shared the day. The parents agreed that next time we request that books/toys get donated to the Y or another institution as the kids really did get to much (and writing the thank you notes sucked very much). TSD's son just had his 3rd birthday in a nice small party at home that was very fun. Unfortunately we have 2 crazy but loveable dogs that terrify most kids so having a home party is impossible. Plus my daughter's friend threw a (child's) chair down our stairs last week so we are not thrilled about having a bunch of 3 year olds to monitor at our house. Not sure if we will do a combined party this year but I know ours will be out of the house regardless. Duncan, this year I was thinking we can go to Chuckie Cheese and watch Jack eat Malcolm and Renee's pizza. | ||
| Duncan Citizen Username: Duncanrogers Post Number: 1240 Registered: 12-2001 |
 Thats a PLAN "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" Wayne Gretzky |
