Just when you’ve finished sending out all of the thank you cards and putting away all of the presents, it seems like planning for your little one’s next birthday bash begins. But how can you possibly top last year? It’s simple, thanks to our annual Birthday Party Guide! Read on to find your next celebration theme and location, ranging from spa parties to rock ‘n’ roll raves and everything in-between.
Perform Like Pros
A “Just Kidding” Theatre Party at Symphony Space for ages 3-6 includes a highly entertaining, kid-focused show (with a special birthday shout-out), plus food, music, cake, and goodies. A TADA! Youth Theater party is specially geared towards musical theater minis. Let your child choose a theme and the party entertainment and activities will be based upon that. Let the creative juices flow! Birthdays at apple seeds are much ado about music with a songs for seeds guitarist and themed musical performance. Plus, an age-appropriate art project gives kids an outlet for their own creativity. Book a party at The Chord Club and you’ll get access to a real recording studio. The offerings cater to all musical tastes with DJ spin sessions, “jam with the band” for instrumentalists, and “mini pop star” for vocalists. Ready for a birthday performance of a lifetime? JCC Manhattan is another popular spot for kids’ birthday parties. Choose a favorite JCC activity like hip hop and turn it into a customized party with friends complete with a personalized play list, costumes, and performances. It is sure to make your child’s birthday special in every way. Little Maestros offers fabulous birthday parties with Broadway-level entertainers for a high-energy customized performance that features instruments, puppets, bubbles, and classic kids’ songs, original interactive songs, and popular music. TLB Music’s Music & Play Parties are their signature singing parties—and the combo will be music to your ears. Just pick a theme from Jungle Boogie, Superhero, Baseball Bash, and more, and the staff will put together a personalized music class complete with a professional pianist. After your music class, you’ll have use of the entire TLB Playroom.
Sporty Stuff
Sports enthusiasts don’t have to pick favorites with a Kids in Sports party that combines 2-3 of your kid’s chosen activities. Be it any combo of soccer, baseball, basketball, football, volleyball, or hockey, peewee partygoers will work up an appetite after an hour of play. Kiddos two years and older will run around to their heart’s content at Asphalt Green. The sporty offerings include gaga, soccer, basketball, and martial arts. A basic party package comes with one hour of active fun (with the help of two coaches) and a half hour for refreshments. Ask your kid their favorite sport and make that the birthday theme with a Chelsea Piers party. The extensive options include gymnastics, soccer, basketball, flag football, ninja warrior, rock climbing, baseball, dodgeball, golf, ice skating, bowling, and more. You can even combine two sports into one party experience. And if ping-pong is up your child’s alley, a party at SPiN is just the ticket. An optional pro can get the party started with demos and tricks before launching a kid-friendly tournament. Super Soccer Stars’ birthday parties are kickin’ with soccer activities that can even be customized with superhero or princess themes. Yorkville Youth Athletic Association can do combination sports parties or create your own from variations of games like ultimate Frisbee or old school street games. Lucky Strike Lanes gets the birthday ball rolling with bowling, kid-sized shoes, low-weight balls, bumpers, rolling ramps and endless fun. Strike! Thinking of serving up a terrific tennis party for your champ? Advantage Tennis keeps the tennis ball rolling in the most fun direction, combining court time with tennis professionals and a great party in the lounge. The same goes for Tennis Innovators, where kids ages 10 and younger can dash around the court while working on their skills. Pint-sized players can rally like ragamuffins at Gotham Tennis Academy’s Stadium Tennis Center in the Bronx. In addition to bouncing around a giant tennis bubble, party goers have access to a ping-pong room and plenty of snacks and refreshments. Yankee fans will love celebrating their birthday at The New York Yankees Steakhouse. With a location on West 51st Street and inside Yankee Stadium, fans will love celebrating at NYY Steakhouse and can choose between three different seating packages, with the option of receiving a customized Yankee jersey for the birthday party host with a package purchase of $2,000 or more.
Strike A Pose
Call in the “glam squad” at Cozy’s Cuts for Kids and party guests get professional up-dos at the Braid Bar and Blow Bar, mini art manicures, and sparkly makeup applications. Once they’re all dolled up, kids will enjoy dancing, runway shows, art projects, and more. Let the kids ham it up in front of the cam at Classic Kids Photography. After a fun hair and makeup session, a professional photographer will snap some amazing pics of the birthday boy or girl and friends doing what they do best—being themselves! After the celebration, your child will take home a custom album full of memories. Or saunter on over to the Upper East Side where Let’s Dress Up! offers themed and custom parties packed with beautiful dresses and accessories, framed photos of the birthday kid and friends, plus a tea party with cupcakes served on real china.
Let Them Create
Hammers and wrenches and screwdrivers, oh my! A celebration at ConstructionKids is all about creating something special. With two hours to party, children ages 4-9 can safely build anything from airplanes to dragons at the Brooklyn Navy Yard location or any chosen offsite location. Got a kid who likes to sew? Pins & Needles offers signature sewing parties (hand and machine) with various beginner-friendly projects to choose from. Kids ages 7-14 will learn fun stitching and DIY techniques during a two-hour party. You’d be hard-pressed to find a kid who doesn’t flip for a Tie Dye Town make-your-own t-shirt party. The fun includes spin art, peace sign stencils, glitter tattoos, groovy seventies dress-up, and three staff members to help the good times roll. Whether you choose to decorate backpacks, flower pots, or picture frames, a party at Kids At Art will give everyone something special to take home. Paint the town in sizzling style with a party at the Craft Studio. There are parties for kids of all ages with crafts suitable for babies to teens! Choose from a scavenger hunt party, a black light bulb dance party, or paint chocolate houses and flower pots. There are tons of outstanding options to choose from, and the Craft Studio will help your child dream up just about anything they want. And Craft Studio To Go offers options for parents throwing parties outside of the studio as well. The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum offers a variety of party themes to be celebrated aboard the legendary aircraft carrier, including Rosie the Riveter plane design parties!
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A Sweet Celebration
Kids can capture their creativity in sweets at a CuRious Candy party that gives them delicious materials to make an edible work of art. Glitter tattoos, a variety of entertainers, custom piñatas, and candy cloud centerpieces add to the festive confections. Arty Parties at HiArt! take on so many forms, but one particularly sweet offering is Candy Sculpture. Kids can work on any artistic edible from Times Square to a sugar-capped tsunami in the venue’s light-filled studio. And it’s probably no surprise that Dylan’s Candy Bar throws an epically sweet soiree with candy-themed games in a colorful party room with gumball tables, peppermint stools, and lollipop chandeliers. Guests will enjoy custom making their own ice cream “messipe” with a party at CoolMess. It’s a delicious delight!
First Birthday Fun
Little ones will love the unstructured, open play at the Playroom NYC where a climbing jungle gym, Broadway dress-up room, doll house, and ride-on cars await party-goers ages 1-5. There’s even a light switch wall that illuminates a NYC skyline for curious little hands. A staff of expert party planners will help you throw a fun, 90-minute fete at Citibabes in SoHo. Kids up to age 6 will have a ball in the 1,500-square-ft indoor playground, dive into age-appropriate art projects, and flip for the bouncy castle before digging into cake or cupcakes. The littlest Gymboree devotee will get a kick out of a birthday party in addition to their usual weekly gym class. Feel free to choose a fun theme and then create a personalized party for your soon-to-be-1-year-old. Get as hands on or stay as laidback as you like planning a party with MAGIC Activity Center. Choose a theme and DIY to your heart’s delight or let MAC take care of the details.
Superhero Soiree
Let the little ones ages 1-9 run, jump, and fly for 90 heart-pumping minutes at a Kidville Superhero Birthday Bash. After a mask-making art table activity, a state-of-the-art gym awaits with an obstacle course, a jumpy castle, freeze dance, and a zip-line mission before refreshments. The NY Kids Club transforms its state-of-the-art gym to fit just about any birthday theme, including a superhero command center for kids with an awesome imagination. Parties are made to entertain ages 1-12 and feature active fun like adventure obstacle courses. Gymtime Rhythm & Glues does customized celebrations for ages 1-12 with themes like Superman, Spiderman, Batman, and more. Activities offered include gymnastics, sports, cooking, art, music, and tae kwon do!
STE[A]M Celebrations
Kids who code will love a LAUNCH Math & Science Centers birthday bash. A 90-minute party can involve anything from rocket science and electronics projects to chemistry and physics experiments to coding with Scratch and Python. The new SciTech Kids STE[A]M Maker Lab on East 81st Street is a wonderful space for kids 4-15 to tap into their problem-solving selves. Themes and projects vary but can include CSI & Fingerprinting, Minecraft MODS, and Design Your Own Video Game. If Minecraft is your kid’s thing, check out Pixel Academy where boys and girls ages 7-14 can build and game on custom servers, experience Minecraft in virtual reality, and play around with 3D scans in an amazing tech makerspace. Animal enthusiasts will crow for a Mad Science Party at the Art Farm in the City. After spending quality time at the award-winning petting zoo, children settle down to see an interactive show and science experiment. And little LEGO lovers can take their obsession to a new level at a RoboFun party where kids construct LEGO robots and then navigate them through an obstacle course.
