Cool birthday party locations/ ideas/ themes for boy turning 9?

[ourbabygirl]

DS was hoping to do his birthday party at a ninja gym this year, but even the cheapest option is super pricey. We've also done a party at a bowling alley/ laser tag/ arcade place, but would like to try somewhere else.


Two of his classmates did theirs at an older kid bounce house type place, one did an indoor playground, and one did a Nerf-dart type place. I have more time this year and would be happy to host the party at home, but he wants to invite all of the boys in his class, and that would probably be too many people here.

We have a party room in our neighborhood that we can rent, so we could have someone come to do that (one of his friends did that and had a company come out to do some sort of Lego creations a year ago). Any cool ideas for that?


Please share your awesome birthday party venue or home ideas for 9 year old boys!

Thanks so much!

[twowhat?]

If you have a Bass Pro shops, check there. Ours does parties where you can bring in your own food, and they provide fishing gear and all it costs is buying a $100 gift card (which you could sell for $80 to someone who actually shops there and essentially book a party room and fishing fun for $20). I've also heard good things about California Pizza Kitchen parties (everyone makes their own pizza). The neighborhood party room sounds fun and maybe you could get a magician to come do tricks and then teach the tricks or something like that. Not sure where you are but pool parties are popular here and it's cheap to book a picnic table at the rec center with the big pools with slides, obstacle courses, diving boards, spray features, and bring in cake and pizza...kids can easily burn 2 hours just playing.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I’d offer him the alternative of 1-3 friends, dinner out, arcade and sleepover (or just the sleepover!)- that’s been our go to. So easy and can be as cheap as you want.


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[mmsmom]

Some of our favorites... karate place... they do a lesson, play games, bday boy gets to cut cake w/ a sword and break a board. Inexpensive and everyone loved. Also video game truck is a huge hit but maybe more expensive. Last year DD had 6 friends and we had a lady come with exotic animals that they all got to handle then had a sleepover. Also inexpensive and lots of fun.

[candaceb]

I feel like at 9 the days of big parties are over. DS was only invited to one in 3rd grade, and that was a backyard extravaganza where the parents invited the whole soccer team, the whole class, etc. They have a well equipped backyard so it was like a giant playdate.
DS just turned 9 and had a Jaws themed party at the pool. We rented a lounge area at the city pool to have a "home base". They swam, had pizza, and the pool had "jaws" as a dive-in movie. Only DS and one other boy stayed for the movie - out of a total of 5. We could have been just fine without the movie part. The highlight for the boys was the "sharks in the water" drink. I got straw tumblers and had vinyl decals made with each boy's name. We copied the Friendly's drink that DS loved when we lived in CT. Blue soda with a blue gummy shark. We made the blue soda by adding blue koolaid powder (unsweetened kind) to Sprite. It was by far the easiest party I've done and all the boys seemed to have a good time.

[PunkyBoo]

There are companies that will bring legos to a party, and lead the activity- the one we've used had build and race a racecar, plus Lego "sports courts", and a giant built city that kids could play in and add to. My 10 year old DS2 also loves laser tag parties (he's had that for his past 2 parties), bowling alley, and cpk. He's going to his neighbor friend's nerf gun place party this weekend. He just today told me he wants a party at the local tech place- they hold robotics classes and have 3d printers, so they have a few really cool party packages. My DS1 had a home party once where a Mad Science guy came and did cool science stuff, and let the kids make their own super balls. We've also considered having a party at our favorite local amusement park or a local sports training facility.

We've invited DS2's whole class the last 3 years which is 25-30 kids but only 8-12 actually come. But he's had a hard time narrowing down the guest list because he doesn't have a core close group of friends and some of his favorite friends are girls, so I'd rather invite everyone and let them decide to come or not, than risk leaving it just a few kids.
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[essnce629]

I’d offer him the alternative of 1-3 friends, dinner out, arcade and sleepover (or just the sleepover!)- that’s been our go to. So easy and can be as cheap as you want.

Yep, this is pretty much what we've been doing for the past several years. My boys usually do 5 friends, pool in the day, laser tag/arcade in the evening, pizza and dessert, and sleepover (not everyone usually sleeps over). DS1 is just turned 16 and has been doing this every year since he was 10. DS2 did the same for his 9th and 10th birthdays. No themes, party favors, or decorations-- just lots of snacks!!!

[elbenn]

Olympic themed parties where you come up with competitions and have brackets have been a big hit here. Does the room have any activities (ping pong, air hockey, foosball)?

[TwinFoxes]

How about a reptile party? I went to one with DDs and it was pretty cool. It may skew a bit younger. My kids went to a black-light party at a community room and liked it, they wore neon and did art and ran around. I know some people won't like this one, but DD was invited to a video game birthday party. They played Nintendo Switch. She loved it.

I’d offer him the alternative of 1-3 friends, dinner out, arcade and sleepover (or just the sleepover!)- that’s been our go to. So easy and can be as cheap as you want.

I've pushed this for years. It's a no-go. Well, it will be next year because I'm d-o-n-e with planning big parties!

No themes, party favors, or decorations-- just lots of snacks!!!

This is my dream.

[AnnieW625]

I don’t have boys but laser tag was my first thought. Dd1 actually did that for her 12th birthday. There is a nerf gun place near us that looks cool as well. Pretty much everything that PunkyBoo stated in her post I have seen on my insta or FB feeds from moms of boys.


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