My daughter is turning eight this month and I need ideas for a party. Last year we had it at a skating rink and the year before that at Chuck E Cheese. I called around to see about renting out the skating rink to have a private party and they charge a flat fee of $200 
Everywhere is getting so expensive. She already has 25 people on her list to invite(8 of them are her cousins) so I wanted to avoid having it at my house.
I just thought with all of the moms and dads on here that you guys would have some ideas or could share some of the experiences or horror stories 
that you guys have had with your kids parties. I guess renting out the skating rink would be a fall back option, but like I said any suggestions would be appreciated.
My daughter turned 8 last February, and we had her party at Michael's. I think we had about 20 girls there, and we did a "custom" party working with polymer clay.
I didn't want to make all the girls do the exact same project, because I knew they'd rather use their imagination and make what they wanted, so we made up some samples and let them do their own thing.
We gave each girl 6 pieces of clay that were 1/4 block, so used about 30 blocks of clay total. They were free to trade with each other to get more colors or more of one color.
I brought their creations home to bake for them, because we couldn't do that at Michael's.
Laura.
I really like the bowling idea. My daughter is only 4 so she's only had the basic parties at Chuck E. Cheese and her first birthday was held at a place called Odyssey Fun World-it's similar to Chuck E. Cheese's. I know bowling doesn't cost too much, and depending on how much you want to pay per person they can include food along with the bowling.
I'm not sure, we played with the numbers to get the best deal, LOL!
Most of their crafts are based on the per-kid charge, but if you do a custom one, I think they base it on the actual cost of the supplies purchased there, plus some sort of markup for the party instructor and the room charge. I do know that it ended up being much cheaper than going any place else with that size group! We caught the clay when it was on sale for $1 a block, so the total material cost was very low.
I took some of the "stuff" in myself, also - the all-metal thumb tacks, toothpicks, waxed paper, aluminum foil, etc, and I brought my pasta machine so we had two to work with the clay.
If you go in to talk to them, I would recommend talking to the actual person who does the parties, if you can, rather than whoever answers the phone or is at the service desk, because not everybody knows all the options, and I think you get more accurate information going to "the source"!
We also took all of our own party supplies (cake, drinks, plates, etc), and cleaned up after the party.
hth!
Laura.
My step-daughter will be 11 next year. I had planned on taking her to Glamour Shots just for fun, but there isn't one around here anymore. So I think instead, I will get out all my make-up and hair stuff, and let her invite a couple of friends over for a sleepover and let them go to town giving each other makeovers. I might even find a thrift store or consignment shop for some 'dress-up' play clothes...
I also like the idea of the cupcake decorating. That might be more appropriate for an 8 yr old, especially if your daughter is not really girly-girl right now (or if you're not comfortable with her putting on makeup) or if she will be inviting boys as well as girls to her party.
My stepdaughter also loves scrapbooking and card making so I've thought about having a project ready for that too... Any ideas for a boy turning nine? That's where I have trouble figuring out what to do...
What great ideas everyone has!! Thank you.
I thought about the cake decorating and was considering Michaels or JoAnn's , but there are going to be some rowdy boys at this party. To give you an example one of my nephews(who's going to be there) was coming down the stairs and pulled my banister clear out of the wall 
These are normal everyday occurances. I just couldn't imagine one of them with a pastry bag or clay in their hands
Next year I think we will do the girls party only with the cake decorating and etc. We will have our room in the attic finished by then. Although it would be funny to see look on the people's faces at Micheals when I bring 30 wild children in ready to play with clay and paint
rvallee: For a nine year old maybe the batting cages or some sort of miniture gold or something?
We had a dress-up tea party for my daughter once. Made the invitations...they were to wear their mother's clothing....we served fancy tea cakes/party sandwiches/ girly stuff! Favors were little fabric bags with nail polish, lip gloss/ lotion.... Also...photographed each guest individually in her outfit and sent dad to the one-hour lab for prints. Each girl took her pic home with her. (plus a group party pic!) FUN!
I read this recently and thought they had some cute ideas...
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/lifestyle/stories.nsf/everyday/story/BFA6BDDF9C7C59D3862570B500384667?OpenDocument
My sister had a MOVIE party for my 9 yr old nephew last year. They mailed the custom made invitations that looked like a movie entrance ticket, stating when, where and which movie they'll be watching at her home. She also included some paper play money to be used for the concession stand, located in the kitchen, where they got the chance to buy hot dogs, pizza, popcorn, soda and candy bars. ( She purchased the mini popcorn buckets at Target ) When they all had their goodies, they went to the theater to watch the movie. They also played verious games before and after the movie. It was a huge success for a very little money.
Emi
Lisa: Some of those ideas were just plain gross!! Could you imagine the kids going home and telling their mothers that they played in a toilet full of pudding..I could just see their faces now 
They did have some other neat ideas though...I liked the karate one. At least they would be breaking something they are supposed to.
Emi: I love the idea of the movie party...that is such a neat idea. With 25-30 kids I'd almost have to rent out a movie theater 
Phoov:The idea of a tea party appeals to me greatly, but this year boys are included. Next year - girls night! Yea!!
I appreciate everyone's great ideas!
Winter pool party at one of the local hotels??
Arcade?
Of course as I am reading the suggestions I am picturing the cake that would go with the theme! LOL
A winter bday party with 25 kids is going to be expensive if you have it anywhere other than your house. What about separting the two groups? My dd will have a hotel sleepover party so she and her girl cousins can go swimming. She'll have cake and icecream with her school friends.
I hate chuckecheese so we've had 3 house parties and they all went very well. We just moved the couch against the wall and the coffee table out of the way so the kids had plenty of room to bounce around. I put my dd's favorite toys and fragile things on her closet shelf so there was no chance of them getting broken.
NEWTODECORATING: I never thought about having it at a hotel...I'll have to check around. Good idea! I do the same thing with the cake...everytime an event comes along I'm wondering what kind of cake I should make for it
bubblezmom: We have 25-30 kids with separating the groups My daughter's birthday is Christmas Eve so she has 2 parties. One for school friends and one for family and close friends and their kids. Either way we do it there is going to be at least 25 people at each party. By the way I hate Chuck E Cheese too!
Usually every year I have her pick no more than 10 kids for her party, but she has 8 cousins. If she invited them she would only have room for 2 of her school friends. This year I wanted her to have a party where she could invite everyone. Otherwise, I would never be crazy enough to invite this many children.
Thanks again for the great ideas
I cheated and have my dd brainwashed that she can't have a huge party because EVERYONE will be out of town or busy. I'm sure in a couple of years she will give me a list of everyone who will be in town during Christmas break. 
Good luck with the parties and here's hoping you remain sane this holiday season. 
bubblezmom: You crack me up...why didn't I think of people going out of town for the holiday? I'm afraid my sanity is not going to stretch all the way to the holidays!
dodibug: I like the New Years theme...just had an idea for an awesome cake.
emi: thanks for the website - it had a lot of great ideas
One of my nieces bday's is New Years Eve and we had a slumber party for her last year. It was the first time she'd had a slumber party on her bday since people usually have other plans.
It was really cheap to buy all the New Years party decorations. I put cheap hors d'oeuvres (cheese, crackers, pizza rolls, etc) on a pretty "grown up" serving plate. They all had plastic champagne glasses with sparkling grape juice. We did have the cake and icecream earlier in the evening as I was not going to give them that much sugar at midnight.
The kids girls really enjoyed the fact that they were encouraged to be rowdy with the noisemakers and got to make a mess throwing streamers and confetti. It was a blast! I can never do one of these parties with my dd cause she will point out that cousin _'s bday is New Years Eve and not hers. 
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