Help! I screwed up - birthday party woes

[Piglet]

DS2 really wanted a class pary this year and I am happy to oblige (he didn't have one last year and opted for a bigger Lego set instead). He wanted to go see a movie with his class, which is what I booked for March 9, but of course the Lego Movie is king around here and by now every kid has seen it in his class (that wanted to see it). I was talking to DS and mentioned that maybe we should rethink the movie idea since the Lego Movie will be old news by March. He agreed with me, much to my surprise. The only problem now is that I have to come up with a new birthday party idea ASAP! I can do it at home, but need a theme or an entertainer. Any creative ideas? We did a candy theme a few years ago and he recently went to a spy party. I was thinking of maybe doing something Lego themed, but am in need of ideas, contests, games, etc. I can hit Pinterest but that site scares me! I am not creative (and am 35 weeks PG). Alternatively I can try to book a pary somewhere, but am worried that everything is already booked. Any creative locations to do a party?

[rlu]

For 9th birthdays the popular party was lazer tag. Not sure how big his class is so not sure that is affordable. Pretty easy for the parents, get a party room, set up cake & decorations while the kids played, did food (pizza) and cake between sessions and then cleaned up during the second session.

We're trying to figure out what to do for 10th this year.

[vonfirmath]

Is there a Lego lab there?
I just did a quick google search for "Lego party Austin" and found some stuff. See what is in your area.
http://www.block-party-rentals.com/Home_Page.html

http://www.bricks4kidz.com/texas-roundrock-austin/about-us/ (this is a franchise that may have places elsewhere)

And someone on Craigslist advertising under event services

[SnuggleBuggles]

My kids just saw The Lego Movie a second time. I think kids would be happy to see it again, if you just want to stick w it.

[ECMom]

How about at a bowling alley, roller rink or ice rink? We've done the roller rink twice - for my DS's 9th birthday & again this past weekend for his 12th birthday (he loved it so much the 1st time). I think the best party was at home for DD. It was all outside. We had a moon bounce, popcorn machine (theater style) & snow cone maker. DS & 2 friends manned the popcorn machine and snow cone maker. I bought a bunch of hula hoops & balls and had them in the back yard. The kids had a blast!

[ECMom]

For 9th birthdays the popular party was lazer tag. Not sure how big his class is so not sure that is affordable. Pretty easy for the parents, get a party room, set up cake & decorations while the kids played, did food (pizza) and cake between sessions and then cleaned up during the second session.

We're trying to figure out what to do for 10th this year.

Yes, laser tag is popular in our area as well for 9-11 yr olds. DS didn't have a party there because everyone else did. One year we went to 4 in a 2 month period.

[KpbS]

I probably would stick to the movie also. Most kids really enjoyed it and don't mind watching things again, lol! We have a new trampoline place here that is all the rage. Last year we took DS1's class to paint pottery and they all enjoyed it--lots of things for boys (and girls) to paint. We've been to a bowling party too and I would think you still have time to book one of those.

[BunnyBee]

Do you have an advertiser-driven parents magazine for your area? Ours is about half party advertising! In terms of people who will come to your house, we've been to parties with science, animals (they bring the critters to you, such as snakes and turtles), Lego and Lego Robotics (they bring it to you with the activities). Locations for 9 year old boys--trampoline places (though I kind of think they're death traps and they terrify me, the kids love them!), batting cages, nature centers (hikes and scavenger hunts for older kids), tree climbing, ziplines, laser tag, bowling...

[Tondi G]

I would check and see if there are any lego party companies in your area. We have this one and my DS's enjoyed it http://www.playparty.net/lego.htm

We have always done well with renting a bouncer and having a snow cone machine... ordering giant pizzas. If you have a lot of lego's you could set up a lego building table... or put out a bunch of legos for the kids to build their own vehicles and then have a ramp so they can race their "cars".

Any chance there is a Lego store in your area? They do birthday parties in the stores. http://stores.lego.com/en-us/stores

You could always stick with going to the movies but pick another movie. We did that for DS1's birthday a couple of years in a row. I bought those popcorn cups from the dollar spot at Target and each kid got one with a pack of M&M's to eat while at the movies. We bought 6 large popcorn at the theater and I brought my own brown bags and filled a bag for each child. I brought in my own capri sun juice pouches. worked out well.

Other venues would be
Bowling
laser tag
go cart racing
bounce house or trampoline place

[Simon]

I think the movie would be fine, even if its a repeat for some kids. We're doing the exact same thing (on a smaller scale) and I'm sure at least half of the kids at our party will have seen the Lego movie. Alternatives for us were bowling or a pool party (a few hotels and private swim schools here rent out their space).

[newnana]

If you want to do a home party, it will be a little more work, but there are lots of fun ideas for that age.

1. Mad Scientist- do some fun experiments in the back yard like mentos in soda, make your own invisible ink, stuff like that. there are some science kits at the $1 store right now that would be cute favors: make your own snow, grow your own crystals, etc. Get some test tubes and fill with colored water for decorations. Make a round cake and decorate it like an eyeball.... etc. You could either go nerd or go gross. both fun. Lots of fun food ideas for this one. Quick search found this:
http://www.pinterest.com/karen_kennedy/kids-party-mad-scientist-party/

2. Minute to Win It- tons of fun game ideas for home that would be easy to do and they all get to cheer each other on. Get a bag of hershey's kisses and some mittens and see who can unwrap the most in a minute. Line up a bunch of plastic cups and get ping pong balls and see who can bounce the most into a cup from X distance in a minute. Etc. Etc. Again with the round cake... this time a timer or clock.
Here's a fun pinterest page with more ideas:
http://www.pinterest.com/gwiese/minute-to-win-it-games/

3. Fear Factor- Here's some fun gross ideas: http://blogs.babycenter.com/life_and_home/13-freaky-challenges-10292012-fear-factor-halloween-activities/


Let us know what you pick, i love finding ideas for this stuff!

[TwinFoxes]

I think Mr. Peabody and Sherman comes out that weekend. Why not go see that instead?

[Piglet]

Great ideas!! Thanks! I followed up on a bunch of the suggestions:

It is still the depths of winter here, so bounce houses are not in season yet :(

I left messages with Bricks4Kids and 3 pottery painting places. I will call Laser Tag - it isn't overdone here and his class is small enough (12 kids).

My fear with the Lego Movie is that it will be even older news by March 9 (it is still pretty popular right now). I can't do Mr. Peabody and Sherman because the movie theatre won't let me do a party on opening weekend.

Our Lego Store doesn't do parties.

I LOVE the idea of Minute to Win It! I will have to dig into that one more. It sounds like a riot! DS2 is also insanely in love with Mythbusters - maybe I can do something based on that?

Please keep the ideas coming! They are super helpful.

[KrisM]

We did a Mythbusters party. It was a huge hit! But, it was a fair amount of work. DH and I both ran it and we only had 5 kids! But, the kids loved it.

ETA: Link to my party recap: http://windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?433096-Mythbusters-party-recap&highlight=mythbusters

[Piglet]

Ooooohhh! That is AWESOME!! I can totally see him loving this theme. It is a lot of work, I can see that, but wow!

[newnana]

I was just going to put your Mythbusters party link out there! I loved the duck tape idea as a favor!!!

[KrisM]

Ooooohhh! That is AWESOME!! I can totally see him loving this theme. It is a lot of work, I can see that, but wow!

I think if you have each thing ready to go and 2 adults it works best. We had one of us getting completely set up for the next event while the other was running something. Also, we had child size safety glasses for them, which they loved. We used a large white board for data collecting. Some things took much longer than we thought. Like the Pop Rocks. They managed to get so silly with it, it was easily 10-15 minutes of Pop Rocks and Sierra Mist. But, it was one of the most fun parties we've done!