Seeking a Good, Inexpensive Play Place for 3 Year Old Birthday Party

Z.,

Well depending on the time of year, you can do what we do, which is have them at the park. Our son was born at the end of September and we have had 3 out of 4 at the park.

Less mess, everyone even helps pick up after the party... and the only trick is getting started early enough so that the darkness doesn't catch you there.

Good luck.

C. B.

We had my daughter's 4th birthday party at a McDonald's with a big, indoor play place. (Her birthday is in November, so parks aren't really an option.) All they ask is that you buy a Happy Meal for each child. If you reserve the room, they also provide balloons and a cake at no extra cost.

How about the carousel or pony and train rides at Griffith Park? You can bring a simple picnic over there, very inexpensive and the carousel is beautiful with old show tunes played on a pipe organ. Lots of room to run around near the carousel, picnic tables and grassy hills. Plus a concession stand in case you decide everyone needs popcorn.

Check out www.EducationandEnrichment.com for a great list of fun places to go and things to do with your children. Many of these places offer reasonable birthday party packages. Go under the enrichment section on the web site and then pick a category that you are interested in. Best of luck!

I'm not sure of the cost, but you can look into gymnastics facilities. I used to work for American Gymnastics Academy in Long Beach. They held great birthday parties with one or two (depending on number of children) trained/certified instructors. The kids jump on the trampoline and play on various obstacle courses. It was a ton of fun!!

Not sure where you are located, but my sister had my niece's b-day at a place in Valencia called Scooter's Jungle! It is an awesome HUGE indoor party place with these enormous inflatable slides. The parents had just as much fun as the kids! It was a blast! They have party rooms for food and cake after playtime. Here is their website: http://www.scootersjungle.com/. They have a few locations. Hope this helps! Good Luck!

For this age group, Gymboree Play & Music is fun. You can search locations: Here's the web: http://www.gymboreeclasses.com/b2c/customer/home.jsp

I don't know where you live, however there is a really cool park in Garden Grove called Atlantis (like under the water). They have parties there or you can bring in your own. It is completly enclosed and no adult is allowed in without a child. The cost to get in is small.

Look into My Gym children's fitness. It is on Keitzke if you're here in Reno. My duaghter's friend had hers there it was great. The Sierra Nevada kids directory sometimes has coupons.

I'm not sure what side of town your on but on warm springs and cimaron there is a place called kidz rule. Its an indoor playground with lots of slides, tubes for the kids to climb through and also an arcade. They have a party room and also a cafe with pizza, popcorn and all those goodies. Their website is www.kidzrule.com
I take my kids there and they have a blast. I know that they have party prices and everyday prices.

Have you thought of Chick fil A? I know this might not be the ideal place, but you can reserve some tables in the corner, order up a bunch of chicken sandwiches and the kids can play in the little play area. This will work with a smaller invite list. The restaurant may supply balloons and all you have to bring is the cake and some birthday napkins.
This on by my house in Upland (on Campus) is the cleanest one and it does not have a ball pit which scares any parent.

Otherwise, ask a relative or grandparent to borrow their home. Your party should not last more than an hour or two at this age... make the party in the morning, so the kiddos can go home and take their afternoon naps.

hope this helps.
M.

Hello! You can check out Wild Island. There is a toddler section in High Ballocity and the kids can play as long as you want (all day...), for the price of a wrist band. Other options might be Gymnastics Nevada, Flips Gym or My Little Gym. You can also rent Alf Sorensen in Sparks -I believe it's $60 for a party area for an hour plus indoor swimming and you can take over the baby pool... If you decide on the park and are interested, my husband owns a small bounce house business and we'd be glad to give you a good rate. We have a smaller jump (13x13), that little kids LOVE.

Chuck E. Cheese is reasonably priced and the kids always have a blast.

If $200 is too steep, don't go the park route. You have to pay to reserve the spot or risk not having it in the spot you want. Then all of the food, plates and stuff, decorations, games it all adds up. Then you have set up and clean up, it's kind of a pain. If the $200 is all inclusive, I would go that route.

Chuck E. Cheese's has a great party room, serves pizza, and has lots of indoor activities for kids of all ages. This might be worth checking out.

Hi-

Where I had my kids party at that age was a McDonalds that had a play area. I'm not big on fast food but have been known to give a chicken nugget now and then. Anyway, the party was cheap, cheap, and fun, and NO CLEAN-UP! The birthday child gets a cake and a gift.

There is "jump and play"-which costs less I believe but almost equivalent to jump man jump. Also gyms around the town offer less costly alternatives. However, I wouldn't go the Chuky Cheeses route unless you like (and like only) video games.