All three of my children have birthdays within a few months of each other, so I’ve spent the last few months talking about birthday parties with them. What do they want to do? Who would they like to invite? The answers seem to change by the day, so at some point I have to just make a decision and run with it.
In the past, I’ve done small at-home parties to save money. Well, they were supposed to be small at-home parties. And I thought they would save me money.
Of course that didn’t happen. Somehow those parties went from having a few friends over to something much more elaborate. After renting tables and chairs for the kids and some parents, buying pizza and drinks for everyone, buying and planning different crafts and activities to keep everyone having fun, making cupcakes, and making goody bags for everyone, I was way over budget.
I spent too much money, spent too much time on the party, and didn’t really get to enjoy it very much. Instead of having fun with the birthday child, I spent the entire party hosting and taking care of the guests.
Now we have a better way to party – with Chuck E. Cheese!
Last week, we headed to our local Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate my daughter’s and son’s birthday. They were born on the same day three years apart and both wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese for a party – easy peasy!
Everything was taken care of for me. I mean everything – from the email or printable invitations, to the food and drinks, to the decorations, to the prizes and goody bags. And of course Chuck E. Cheese handled the most important part – the fun!
When we arrived, our party helper had everything all set up for us with an entire reserved section for the party. The kids were thrilled to see an adorable Superhero cape & mask for the birthday boy and a princess cape and tiara for the birthday girl, along with superhero and princess table top photo cutouts for fun photo opps.
The kids all saw the cups of tokens sitting at their places and were off to have some fun!
Our party helper was great at keeping me informed about what would be coming up, so I’d have time to plan. I was able to walk around and get pictures of the kids playing and even had time to relax and chat with other parents for a while.
One of the things that I absolutely love about Chuck E. Cheese is their stamp system for children’s safety. Children are stamped with an invisible ink stamp that matches their parent’s stamp and are not allowed to leave without that parent and the matching stamp. So I can relax a little and let the kids play on their own because I know that they’re staying safely inside.
After the kids had played for a while, it was time to eat. We got 2 big pizzas for the kids and a few of the parents had the salad bar. The food was a big hit and the kids enjoyed talking about the different games and how many tickets they’d won as they ate. Instead of running around to pass out food and refill drinks, I was able to sit and enjoy a salad and a slice of pizza with the other parents. Loved it!
One the kids were finished with their meal, it was time for cake and a surprise. The kids enjoyed their cake and then were thrilled to see Chuck E. Cheese himself headed directly to our table! Our hostess and Chuck E. Cheese led everyone in a dance that went along with the birthday themed show up on stage and then we had time to take pictures with Chuck E. Cheese.
The kids absolutely loved it!
Before the kids headed over to trade in their tickets for prizes, there was one more awesome surprise – the Ticket Blaster!
The birthday kids got to take turns in the Ticket Blaster to see how many tickets they could catch. All of the other kids were cheering them on, laughing and telling them where the magic ticket worth 1,000 tickets was.
All the cheering must have worked, because one of the kids was able to grab the magic ticket!
The kids shared some of their Ticket Blaster wins with the other kids and everyone headed over to choose their toys from the prize area. As my kids passed out the goody bags and thanked everyone for coming, we heard over and over again how the kids had a great time.
Chuck E. Cheese was a hit – for the birthday kids, the guests and definitely for this mom!
Learn more about birthday parties at your local Chuck E. Cheese.
We might have to have a party there. Looks fun!
It looks like they had a ball! I’m going to take my grandson there and see if he would do a party. It does look so much easier than doing one at home.
That looks like a great plae for a party. I’m going to try to get my little boy to go there. (:
This is one of my son’s favorite places to go so I was looking for party info. Thanks it looks great!
That looks like fun! We are going to see about doing a party there for our daughter’s birthday. Thanks!
Thank you! I was looking for an alternative to our local bounce house that closed down. Didn’t even think of CEC!