What do you think? At the YMCA it's $130 for only 1.5 hours, with 45 minutes spent in the adventure room climbing a huuuuuge foam slide, a rope ladder thingy, a maze cube thingy, and possible something else, cannot recall....then 45 minutes eating cake and juice supplied by me off paper products supplied by them, and then opening presents. Eight girls total.

Or, I save myself quite a bit of money and have it here, for the same amount of time, but of course I'll have to be brilliant and come up with stuff for them to do! Her party last year was at home and it was a disaster...we made Shrinky Dinks, played pin the honeypot on Pooh, played the statue game, and other Simon Says type games. There wasn't enough to do and kids were bored and I was frantic.

What do you think? Bad thing about the Y is that it's at ten o'clock in the morning!!! Yuck! Good thing, of course, is that I don't lift a finger....the party person even writes down the gifts/giver and packs them all up for us. No kids running around in my house (and it's in November, could very well have tons of icky, dirty, wet snow tracked in) is a plus....but I keep thinking about the price! Help! If you vote for a home party, I need ideas!!!

By Annie2 on Sunday, October 1, 2006 - 08:15 pm:

My vote is for the YMCA!

By Hlgmom on Sunday, October 1, 2006 - 08:28 pm:

Seems to me it would cost close to that to do it at home anyway with food, games, etc...plus you have to clean up! So the money would not be the thing to me!
I am just a fan of home parties!
We did and art party last year- set up a bunch of easels with paints and stuff, had cheap wooden frames for them to paint that I got at Oriental Trading and took a polaroid of them to put in it of them painting it! Had some other Dollar store cheapy crafts around to do etc...The kids had a blast!
Hope you have a great party whatever you decide!
I am in the middle of this process myself right now...dd birthday is Nov 12th!

By Reds9298 on Sunday, October 1, 2006 - 08:39 pm:

Ditto on the price. I think I spent $80 alone on decos, cake, calloons, invites, and party stuff for my 2 year old this year! I think the Y would be GREAT!

By Luvn29 on Sunday, October 1, 2006 - 10:16 pm:

I wouldn't think twice. I'd go with the YMCA. If you have to buy things to do, games to play, treat bags, or anything, it will quickly add up.

The kids would have a great time at the Y and you won't have any hassle. Go for it!!!

By Dana on Sunday, October 1, 2006 - 11:55 pm:

I'm the odd man out here. There is no way I could spend that type of money on a childs party...or even and adult party.

I'm very good at doing children's parties for about $50 or less, usually less. That includes food, supplies and goodie bags for 12 or more. The kids and parents ALWAYS have a great time and I like to have it completed in 2 hours if I can. Email if you are interested in ideas. Let me know what your daughter's favorite themes are when you email. You'll find my email in my profile. When is her bday?

By Bea on Monday, October 2, 2006 - 12:00 am:

If you can afford it, let the Y do the work.

By Insaneusmcwife on Monday, October 2, 2006 - 07:07 am:

We are having ds's 9th bday party at the roller rink this year. Its $14 per kid but that includes the skate admission & rental, play land admission, party room for 1hr, icecream cake, invitations, decorations, pizza and soda. We will get there at 2 and the kids can stay to closing and skate their hearts out. I am a huge fan of home parties as I love to plan them and make my own decorations, pinata and cake but this is what ds wants so this is what we are going to give him. How old is she going to be? Is she old enough to help you make the decision?

By Tripletmom on Monday, October 2, 2006 - 09:05 am:

I'm a vote for the Y also.The kids are going to love it.It's really nice going home to a nice clean house too!!

By Yjja123 on Monday, October 2, 2006 - 12:15 pm:

$130 is very reasonable for a party. I would go with the Y. When mine were younger we had ours at a zoo, at Chucky Cheese, etc. It kept them entertained and was easier for me. Now mine are older, we have most of the parties at home. I would go with the Y in a heartbeat.
Have fun!

By Jackie on Monday, October 2, 2006 - 01:16 pm:

The Y sounds like a lot of fun. I say if you can afford it, go for it. Im sure the kids will have a blast.

By Bellajoe on Monday, October 2, 2006 - 01:47 pm:

For my dd's 6th birthday party we did a Princess theme. She was (and still is) very into the Disney Princesses. The invitation asked for the girls to dress as their favorite princess, or to just wear their favorite dress. Dd wore her Cinderella costume. When the girls arrived, they each decorated a craft foam crown that i bought at Michaels for $1.00 each. Then they went and played in the play room for a little while. I had them play musical magic carpets, which was just like Musical chairs but they sat on my couch pillows. The music i played for that was "a whole new world" and other disney princess songs. They also played "pass the poison apple" which was pretty much "Hot Potato" with a apple.

I served Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I used a cookie cutter to cut them into star shapes. Then i took pretzel sticks and added those to the PB & J stars so they looked like Magic Wands, it was very cute. I think i also had pizza. And i gave them juice in plastic champagne glasses.

When i decorated i took gift wrap ribbon and curled it, like you would a bow on a package, then i taped them to the ceiling so the ribbon was curly and hanging down. I only did that in the dining room over the table where they ate.

I had a separate chair for her to sit and open gifts in. It had balloons and streamers on it too. This way all the kids could see what she got, and they didn't crowd her too much.

The whole party did not cost much at all.....plus i made the cake myself instead of buying one.

So, if you decide to stay at home, maybe some of those ideas would work for you!

By Kate on Monday, October 2, 2006 - 11:26 pm:

Thanks everyone, and thanks Bellajoe, for the tips! Sounds fun! Dana, I will email you, thank you!

I do think $130 is high for only a 1.5 hour party and I'm still supplying all the food....it's $16 per child and only 45 minutes of entertainment...the other 45 minutes is in the party room having cake and opening presents, which we could do in my living room for free.

I prefer home parties but I just don't want to be caught with nothing to do and eight six year olds staring at me bored....

I'll keep thinking....thanks!

By Tunnia on Tuesday, October 3, 2006 - 09:09 am:

When my dd turned 6 we had a Tea Party for her birthday. On the invitation we requested that the girls dress up for the Tea Party. I made apple herbal tea with honey and milk and real lemonade to drink. To eat I made pb&j and strawberry & cream cheese finger sandwiches with the crusts cut off and cut into little triangles, pigs in a blanket, crackers with cheese, and a small fruit tray. Then instead of a regular birthday cake I bought petite fours (sp?) with little rosebuds on top. I also dressed up and we all acted and talked very hoity-toity and I showed them how to "properly" drink their tea with their pinkies up in the air. LOL It was a lot of fun.

For something to do I bought narrow ribbon and a bunch of beads and the girls all made necklaces to wear. I also had a huge dress-up box of things I had picked up at garage sales (hats, scarves, costume jewlery, gloves, boas, high heels, etc) that I let the girls play dress-up with. The dress-up box was the huge hit of the party. The girls played with that almost the entire time. For goodie bags I ordered from Oriental trading. They had little plastic purses filled with little girly things and then I also bought a set of little resin teapots to put in the goodie bags. The goodie bags didn't cost much, but they looked like they did. Even though we've had several birthday parties since then, my dd still talks about her Tea Party and how it was her favorite party.

By Fraggle on Tuesday, October 3, 2006 - 09:23 am:

I have done two at home parties with 6 and 7 yr. old girls so if you need more suggestions I can help, too. We had one very similar party to Patti's daughter-the girls came dressed in Princess dresses and we also had all our Princess costumes available to try on. We also started with decorating the foam crowns. For the second party it was a beach theme so the girls made necklaces, anklets or bracelets with beads and foam flowers. A craft is a great activity to start with because it gives the girls something to do while they are waiting for everyone else to arrive. I also like having a theme because then you can build activities around it and I find that decorating the room in the theme also helps to set the party scene. I have lots of game ideas to share if you need them. My email is fragglemama22 @ yahoo dot com

By Kaye on Tuesday, October 3, 2006 - 09:31 am:

We have also done a home theater. Picked a movie, like jungle book, then made popcorn, made frames using a prebought frame and a jungle cut out. While the movie was showing hubby when and got prints So if you knew they would all like something like that and you don't mind food near your tv, it could be fun.