It's A Birthday Emergency!

The Little Gym or Ashley's Soccer Dome are great places for that age group.

Bowling parties are also fun. T-Bowl lanes in Wayne is clean and nice, though it is a bit of a drive.

a 5-year-old that needs the WOW factor. What will he/she need next year???

At the risk of being branded obnoxious, do 5 year olds really need birthday parties with "WOW" factors? Will they appreciate it, or even remember it when they get older?

Perhaps it's because I have no kids, or because I never had any birthday parties growing up (which might explain how I got to be how I am today), but I just don't get why people lavish indulgence and money on their kids like this.

That said, it's your moolah. Feel free to burn it how you please. (Wanna throw me a brithday party?)

Try ice skating. The MSU rink is available for parties.

If the chill is too much, there is a nice roller rink in Wallington. I believe it is called United Skates.

how about a make-up party? Bobbi Brown has a studio in Montclair.

You should hire a caricature artist, they are awesome and so much more entertaining/less scary than a clown. Oh, and I happen to be one. EMAIL.

see. it's all about advertising here....

Self-serving capitalist pigs!

we had our son's bday at The New Jersey Children's Museum. It's educational and fun and all had a good time.

http://www.njcm.com/

I had an ice-skating birthday party for my 9th(1961 @ South Mountain Arena ) and wound up with a mild concussion and projectile vomiting.

Good times..

Fun Plex is a great time for all ages. They have a huge climbing area filled with the colored balls that the little kids have an absolute blast with.

Throw a current events party. Hire cathar and lasermike to debate the patriot act, health insurance and global warming.

The new kids Y hosts parties.

Spicoli, sounds like a perfect recipe for your kid to be able to blame you for a lifetime of emotional damage!

My favorite birthday party that I ever threw for my kids was an "Open the Presents First" party. The kids all came with presents, they were opened immediately, and they spent the whole time playing with them on our front porch. One caveat: the birthday boy has to be able to share.

Add a cake and some balloons and you have a party for about $25.

I also recommend FunPlex in East Hanover. They could spend ALL day in the ball complex and the adults always enjoy it in there too!

I know someone that had a basketball party at the Y. They rented the gym for a couple of hours and hired a few of the kids from the Y to be refs and had the boys play basketball. Your son may be too young for that but I think it's hysterical watching 5-year olds running around on a basketball court (or soccer field)!

I am SO there, spicoli. I also do balloon "animals." You should see my "The Clintons doing the beast with two backs." It requires three balloons, five to do really well.

In all seriousness, however, the "WOW" factor is much diminished around age 5. A nice cake, some noisemakers, maybe even the rental of one of the party rooms at Clifton Commons, followed or preceded by a showing of "Bee Movie." This is not an audience already jaded by discos, right?

In quick retrospect, I can't quite believe the post in the first darn place. Especially because of the parental misspellings.

www.princessmoxie.org does GREAT parties! My niece loved her show, and she's 5.

Glen Ridge Train Station is available for such uses.

cathar,

Did someone spell parent incorrectly?

What woke you up? Did your diapers need changing or was it time for a beer?

Well.... at that age my kids' parties were at home. Cake, fruit punch, ice cream, a craft. If nice weather they played on the swingset until their parents came to pick them up.

But, as they got older and wanted to invite "the whole class" I had a couple of parties at the Franklin Theatre (Nutley) (now closed). You could rent it on a Saturday morning for about $150 and bring as many people as you wantd. Maybe another movie does that, too? Also fun we had a party at Gymnastic World (Nutley). That was really fun. I think the kids were about 3rd grade when we went there.

I would echo the NJ Childrens Museum suggestion. I took my almost 2 year old there, and he had a blast even without a birthday party. Plenty for kids up to about 8 years old there.

You can all come to my house and rake my lawn. I can handle plenty of people. You provide the cupcakes and pin the tail on the donkey and the yard work will blow off steam a plenty.

Does Burger King still do birthday parties? 'Cause that was about it for WOW when I was a kid. (Okay, I did go to Chuck E. Cheese once, but I wasn't impressed. Things especially went downhill after the discovery of some unpleasant bodily substances in the ball pit.)

Oh, user_name, thou art such a wag. Have you thought of offering up yourself as birthday party entertainment? People could read, and then parse, your posts. Such fun!

And then they could pin the tail on you! With lovingly sharpened darts, to be sure.

The Boys & Girls Club in Clifton has swim parties. They have a shallow pool which is perfect and a party room.

And now you're cranky. Did your handlers NOT give you your beer?

ok, I've got to ask - why was this posted? To mock (my preferred method) or to really involve the community in finding a "WOW" birthday location for a 5 year old who won't really care as long as it involves cake and friends.

Cather in a clown suit twisting baloon animals for the kiddies...what a heart warming image.
Throw the kids in the basemnet with some cardboard boxes, colored paper, markers, string, tape, etc and see if using ones imagination is still as fun as I remember.

On the other hand maybe Bon Jovi is available..........

Try the Turtle Back Zoo. The party room rental is ONLY $25 and it's still relatively nice outside for the kids to enjoy the zoo! I held a birthday party for my 1 year old there a couple of weeks ago and the kids really enjoyed themselves as well as the parents! Good luck!

How about the clown from Stephen King's "It?" I hear he's available.

PSA:
UG! Adults being invited to kiddie parties.
Why, why, why do people feel the need to do this?

I'd rather sit quietly tranquilized in the dentist chair while he gives me a root canal and takes pia mater out through my nose.

To the person whom posted the Craigslist ad: Here's a word to wise. You don't want to "dissapoint your littel boy (sic)?" Why don't you learn how to spell, for crissakes, so that you don't embarrass him when he's old enough to read this?

Me thinks the WOW is for parental use only.

doingtimein...., you're not simply Kurt Eichenwald posting under another name, are you? You sure have an active imagination for someone who'd, I'm sure, "protest too much" were I to imagine the same horrible things done by you.

a 5 year old needs a WOW? What to you see how he turns out when he's a teenager and actually wants things. (like a car).

Give him a football and tell him to have fun with his friends. When they get dirty enough there will be pizza and ice cream cake on the deck for them.

And, pray tell, why does a 5 yo need a THEME party? Sheesh.

Cather, what "horrible things' are you referring to?
Bon Jovi, making animals out of baloons.....I think you may have taken my post other then intended.

I would highly recommend the Manor in West Orange. The 5 year olds will be blown away by the ornamental fountains in front when their parents drop them off. But I understand...some parents might find the Manor a bit "tacky." In that case, I would suggest the Highlawn Pavillion at Eagle Rock Reservation. It is s a bit more understated than the Manor, and the view of NYC definitely qaulifies in the WOW factor department.