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3 yr. Birthday party: The Golden Bear Recreation Center, east of Clark Kerr Campus at UCB has a fun gymnastics birthday packet. Their number is 642-9821.
The past couple years I reserved the gym at the Albany YMCA (on Kains and Solano): that way the kids have a great indoor place to play, a brief time for refreshments and gift opening, and presto! it's over. Two years in row is enough for my little one, though, so this year I'll have to come up with something else.
Our daughter wants to have her 7th birthday party at Head Over Heels Gymnastics in Emeryville. Head Over Heels is quite expensive--$280 for 25 kids; we're willing to spend this kind of money if the parties are staffed by interactive, well-trained "party" teachers who are able to create a fun, well-paced celebration.
Last year we had a very disappointing experience with a gymnastics party at Golden Bear Gymnastics (low energy teachers, no effort made to make the birthday girl feel special, kids spent a lot of time standing around, etc.).
Has anyone hosted or attended a birthday party at Head Over Heels? What was the overall quality of the event? Thanks for your help!
we haven't used head over heels, but we've used the albany YMCA, just off solano, for two years running. the teacher is great, there's a separate party room for food and presents, and the activities and equipment keep the kids engaged for the duration. the organized activities single out the birthday boy or girl.
it's a good deal cheaper than head over heels, as well. tipping the teacher is recommended -- twenty bucks at the end of the session is conventional.
My daughter had a birthday party at Head Over Heels when she was a student there. As I recall, the kids had a great time and the teachers at that time were a group of energetic, young people who really organized the kids well and gave them a workout. I have also been to a couple of parties at the Albany YMCA on Kains and they did a pretty good job but it is better at the level of Kindergym because it is small. This was a number of years ago but, for that price, I think Anne Marie would tell you how many teachers will be with your kids and you could ask for the activities you want. They played lots of fun games (very active).
Re: Head Over Heels
We went to a party there for 6 yr olds and I really didn't like it, nor did
many of the kids. The teachers were TOO involved--tried to make it like a
gymnastics class, rather than a birthday party. All structured activities
and no time to just play around on the equipment (supervised of course).
We've had 2 parties at the kids gymnastics place on Piedmont Ave (can't
remember the name but in yellow pages) and liked it much more.
Head Over Heels in Emeryville does kids parties. I went to a party there and it was great (its a gymnastics place - the kids loved it) but I believe its a little pricey. Its probably worth checking out.
From: Barbara (9/98)
Windmill Gymnastics in Richmond does birthday parties, as does the YMCA in Albany.
Last year for my daughter's 11th birthday we held an overnight, with the main attraction being a trip to the 10 pm Laserium show in SF (the particular one was LaserRage, but I don't think they show that any more). We provided the usual cake, ice cream etc (and had a contest to see who could eat their cake most neatly with NO HANDS), as well as breakfast for the kids. We asked the parents to pay for the show itself ($5 each for the kids; $7 for any adults who wanted to go). The kids agreed that this was one of the best birthday parties they'd ever been to.
When one of my kids was 6 or 7 (he's now 15), we held his birthday party at LHS. With a January birthdate, we always needed a format that could work in spite of bad weather. It was a real success. We hosted the maximum number of kids (I think something like 12) for the biology workshop - the one where the kids get to pet, hold and observe a variety of animals. It was well managed by a high schooler or undergrad (can't remember which), who supervised and explained about feeding and handling, etc.. The kids all really enjoyed it. Afterward they got to run around LHS for a couple of hours, and everyone found something to do that interested them. I had two other adults to help me - definitely necessary! We brought everyone back to the house for goodies and opening of presents, but I believe you can reserve a party room right there if you like.
It was one of those rare birthday parties where my husband and I actually had a good time, too!
With a little advance planning, one can have a birthday party at the Lawrence Hall of Science. Adults are definitely needed to keep track of all the small party-goers as they check out the displays, the animals for petting, etc. In good weather, one can picnic on the lawn. There is an indoor cafeteria ... check and see, I think they will allow you to bring your own food ... or maybe at least some of your own food if you buy some from them.
More information on Birthday Parties at the Lawrence Hall of Science :
LHS Weekend Workshops and Parties are a great way to celebrate birthdays and other occasions. Workshop topics include Astronomy/Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and vary month to month.
Party workshops are $95 ($85 for LHS members) and include:
Admission to the workshop and current exibits for a maximum of 15 children (children 2 years and older are counted towards the max) Admission for one adult per child participating in the workshop (guests over the max pay regular admission upon arrival)
Two tables for your refreshments are provided. It's okay to bring your own food. For more information on the Galaxy Cafeteria call 644-3171.
Adult participation is required in all party workshops and reservations must be made at least 4 weeks in advance by calling (510) 642-5134.
The Discover Corner Store now offers special LHS invitations, favor bags, party tableware, and more. Order forms will be included with your party reservation.
Laura Beard
Directors Office
Lawrence Hall of Science
We had my son's 4th birthday party at the nature centre at Crab Cove Regional Park (part of East Bay parks & rec) in Alameda last Sept. They have a choice of 3 parties; we had a tidal pool-themed party, and I think the other choices were reptiles or birds. The cost is $50 for up to 10 kids, and $5 per child over 10 kids. They had about 1 hour of indoor activities, which for the tidal-pool party was an overview of what we would see when we got outside. They also dressed my son up in a crab costume to explain all of the parts of a crab, and what they do. After a craft session during which the kids made crab hats with antennae, we went outside with the naturalist and poked around in tidal pools for another hour. They also set up tables for lunch (we had to provide all food), and gave each child a gift bag filled with loot from the gift shop (a pencil, an eraser, shells and a plastic crab). We had a lot of fun, but it would probably work better for an older group of kids, because the 3-4 year olds in our crowd didn't understand everything the naturalist was trying to tell them. (The naturalist was great, though, and really tried to keep it to their age group). The nature centre is closed for the winter, but I think that it reopens in March. We had to time our party around the low tides, and booked about 1 month in advance. Because we have a small apartment, we could not really host a party at home. This was a good place for a party, because there is lots of room for the kids to run around outside. For this age-group, we needed to have 1 adult per 3 kids, but all of the parents wanted to come too, so we had plenty of grown-ups around. (I just asked my son if he thought other kids should have their parties there, and he jumped up and down and shouted yes!)
Birthday parties for 11 year old: one thing you didn't mention is a pool party. I think you can arrange for one at the Berkeley YMCA for about $75. If the weather is nice on the weekend you want to have the party (and you are right that you can't count on this), a kite flying party at the Berkeley Marina is a very cheap option. It might be possible to have a pool party at the Albany pool; you'd have to contact them about this.
I've noticed before that there is a real dearth of parks with covered areas around here. I guess they are more common in areas with hotter summers. You might try calling Live Oak park and see if you can reserve one of their rooms for a party.
Good luck,
Diana
I understand that Albany Pool will let you rent the pool for an hour, unlimited guests, for $35.00. Great in the winter because it's indoors.
The Emeryville rockclimbing gym is called City Rock and it's a great place. They do do birthday parties, though they're a bit pricey. Not sure it's advisable for kids younger than 6 or 7. My 9-year old found it when she was 8 and loves it.
How about rock climbing? Mission Cliffs is in SF (and, BTW, they showed up on Nash Bridges a couple weeks ago). They have little cliffs that my 4 year old was able to climb, and bigger ones for the 8 year olds who had the confidence. The place seems extremely safe, though everyone has to sign a slightly intimidating release of liability. I believe there is a similar place in Emeryville; if you can't find it, just call Mission Cliffs (I believe they are affiliated with each other).
Extra possible bonus: Parents can try climbing, too (separate from the kids!). I think they can do it half price if there's a party their kids are attending.
When my son turned three, we had a party for him at the Tilden Park Carousel. The Carousel has a party package that costs $10/person, including 4 rides (I think), but we decided against it because all of the kids would also have a parent along and it would get expensive. There are lots of tables under the trees next to the Carousel so we bet on enough being available for the party time, and we lucked out, although there was another party in the area at the same time. I think it would have cost $50 to reserve a site at Tilden. I gave each parent 8 tickets and those who brought along other children were welcome to split up the tickets any way they wished.
If you plan a party for such young children that requires admission to something, keep in mind that you may also have to pay for a parent, and decide in advance what to tell a parent who asks if their other young children can come along.
Popular birthday sites for young teens I know (the only young teens I know are boys, but girls might like these too)
1. LazerX (in downtown Berkeley off Shattuck - just reopened) Have you been to one of these laser gun things? They are really fun, even for moms. Gets your adrenalin going.
2. Grand Slam USA - baseball batting range 5892 Christie Av, Emeryville
3. Raging Waters in San Jose: I like the parties that my child is invited to, not the ones I host!
4. The Underground (video arcade on campus under ASUC building) A couple years ago we had a successful b'day party for 6 boys - we walked to campus, gave them each a handful of tokens, and went to LaVal's after for pizza. They had a great time. (Kids seem to like LaVal's better than adults do.) I think now you'll need to show campus ID to get in - not sure what the policy is for kids.
Other popular parties (my daughter is twelve) are at Iceland, Head over Heels and the rock climbing place and beach volleyball places in Emeryville. Don't know how much they cost. I've also been the bad guy and insisted on limiting the number of people who attend. Last year I took three of her friends to a movie matinee.
About a party for an 8 year old.....did you think about an outing to an aquarium, amusement park or minature golf? Also, Marine World has spaces available for parties and they have a tremendous play area for children. Good Luck....
Last updated: Oct 30, 2007
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